theyknowwhatimean I'm planning on watching it tonight!  I didn't have online access all the time in the past week or so and was in a bit of a rush.
I'm looking forward to it though.

Try to walk in my shoes! (but they don't belong to you...? )

I know, I'd love to spend a bit more time on here but irl stuff gets in the way I suppose. I'm also ill at the moment again
Where I stand on it? Well, I've seen the first episode and I liked it much better than I thought I would. Besides the fact that Madame Vastra is heavily included in the episode (she's one of my least favourite characters, I just find her unlikable and her attitude towards Clara bothered me) and its duration (not a fan of the hour long ones), I can say I'm satisfied. It's nice to hear the Scottish accent again, and it seems like Clara and the Doctor have a good chemistry. Also, it was really amusing to see Clara be all confused about the regeneration etc. I know you've said season 8 is weak, but I can't wait to continue watching the rest of it.

As far as HP play goes, I was quite excited when it was announced at first, but when I've found out it's not, in fact,  a prequel - that kind of diminished my interest. I mean, it's good to have another HP thing going on and I appreciate with what they did with the cast but I'm not that all interested in next-gen. Yeah, I saw there's going to be a book release. I think I'll wait for the reviews, if it really proves to be something spectacular I might do it.
Anyhow, I'm more interested in seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and the whole "American wizarding school" story. The writing that's been posted on Pottermore about Ilvermorny was such a good read. And yay for a new sorting quiz. Although according to it I'm a snake.

What about you?

Oh I'm sorry to hear you've been ill. Nothing serious, I hope? 

Did I say that? I dunno that it's "weak" exactly, it's just more of a slow burner - it took me two runs though to fully appreciate it. 
There aren't many "classic" episodes in it, like Smith and Tennant both had for their respective first seasons; but on the other hand, apart from one episode which, admittedly is quite dull (although still with some good dialogue in it), there aren't any complete shockers either. So I'd put it above series 7. 
Deep Breath definitely did overstay its welcome a bit, you're right, but there was some good writing from Moffat in it, and they explored some interesting new directions with the Doctor-companion dynamic - the scene with the Doctor and Clara in that restaurant being one of the more successful examples of this, I think.
If you liked that scene, there's a bit more of that kind of thing to come in the rest of the series... but I won't say any more, lest I influence your viewing of it...


Well I've got my copy of The Cursed Child down for pre-order, so when I've read it, I'll give you my word whether I think it's any good or not.
Fantastic Beasts will be interesting one, to see whether J.K. can make the jump over to screenwriting from having just written novels before, without scuffing her landing and falling on her arse - not everyone manages it successfully, after all. She's got a trilogy of movies planned as well, hasn't she? I can't say I'm massively excited about it, myself, but being the massive whore I am, I'm sure I'll go and see it when it comes out. 

15:10-16:35: Tom Baker talking about the anxieties involved with masturbation, for young boys brought up on dogmatic Catholic teachings...

"It wasn't just a mortal sin; I mean, when you spilled your seed, it was genocide! ... I was doing genocide sometimes three times a day!" 

I get where he's coming from (don't!), with regards to the doctrinal ways of the Church imposing great strain and pressure on folk - especially younger folk not yet able to control their emotions and habits - but, by jove, if to hear him saying such things in that wonderful voice of his isn't the most hilarious thing! 

Have you watched any Who before?

I think he's outstanding in the role, myself, but undoubtedly, it took the writers a bit of time to get the balance right, between the character's strange and mysterious alien side, and the more likeable characteristics he's procured from his time spent on Earth -- you know, the things that might actually make all those gorgeous young women want to travel the Universe with him in the first place.

So, if you haven't watched Doctor Who before, I would suggest doing so before you have a look at Capaldi's take on the role. If you have a bit of knowledge of the context of the show at the time when Capaldi took over* it makes the bits where perhaps his characterisation can seem a bit jarring, make a bit more sense, basically (and also, with a show with the lore that Doctor Who has, it's inevitable you're gonna get a lot of one-liner references to the various eras of the show - you'll enjoy all that a lot more if you have at least a basic knowledge of the modern era of the show (2005 to now)). 

In the meantime though, if you want some more Capaldi in your life, I'd highly recommend watching the satirical sitcom, 'The Thick Of It', in which he plays the despicable Malcolm Tucker. Up until he landed Who, that was his most well known role. It's quite clear, once you've seen The Thick Of It, that the writers of Who were dropping in little references and paying homage to that character, in Capaldi's first few episodes as the Doctor. The Thick Of It was such a well-known show over here, at the time, they had no choice but to address it, really. Especially when folk were making videos like this...  






*Basically, when Capaldi came to the role, he was following on from two immensely popular incarnations of the character - David Tennant's laddish 10th Doctor, and Matt Smith's boffin 11th - courtesy of two intensely likeable onscreen performers (who just happened to appeal greatly to the show's stock of fangirls).
Realising they were in danger of getting predictable (the showrunner said of Capaldi, "I sort of realised we couldn't just go for another Matt Smith-type. We couldn't go for another quirky young man with interesting hair - people would start to notice that that's what we were doing. People would start styling their hair in improbable ways in the hope of being cast."), they got the more mature Capaldi in (he was 55 when he landed the role - Tennant and Smith were 34 and 27 respectively), famous for the thoroughly unlikable Malcolm Tucker, and tried to have the Doctor be a more distant, abrasive figure you had to work a little harder to like. Sometimes this worked, sometimes it didn't, but it was a change they needed to make AT THAT TIME.
And now that they've toned it down a bit, I have to say I think Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor is fast becoming one of my absolute favourites.  

My top 10 favourite episodes:
1. The Doctor's Wife (Smith)
2. Heaven Sent (Capaldi)
3. Blink (Tennant)
4. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (Tennant)
5. The Day of the Doctor (Smith)
6. Turn Left (Tennant)
7. Amy's Choice (Smith)
8. Listen (Capaldi)
9. The Impossible Planet / The Day of the Moon (Smith)
10. The Stolen Earth / Journey's End (Tennant)

Honourable mentions: 
The Long Game (Ecclestone); The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People (Smith); Midnight (Tennant); The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion (Capaldi)




My top 5 favourite 'specials':
1. The Day of the Doctor (Smith)
2. A Christmas Carol (Smith)
3. The Time of the Doctor (Smith)
4. Last Christmas (Capaldi)
5. The Husbands of River Song (Capaldi)

Nice to see that - Heaven Sent is one of my favourite episodes of the entire series. An amazing script from Moffat, brought to life by a spellbinding performance from Capaldi and incredible direction by Rachel Talalay.