Doctor Who 8x4 Listen

One of my favourite episodes. Who need CGI monsters when a blanket will do! So scary with a lovely bit of timey wimeyness as well - yes, wimeyness is a real word, honest

i love this episode so much, and seeing you go though the same emotions and fear i went though is so special. thanks for a great reaction as always:)

For me, this is where the Capaldi era really takes off. After the pressure and stress of Series 7 and the 50th anniversary, the arrival of Capaldi seemed to give Steven Moffat a bit of a creative "second wind". Since taking over as showrunner, Moffat had mainly been doing the big, flashy blockbuster episodes (season openers, finales, Christmas specials etc.), but for this year he deliberately reserved a slot in the schedule where he could write a small-scale "chamber piece". I love how he can keep finding new and original shapes for his stories -- "Listen" is simply unlike anything the show has ever done before. Very unusually, the Doctor is driving the story from the outset, following his own interests; his casual outfit lets us know that he's having a day off from randomly arriving somewhere and getting involved in other people's concerns. And then, of course, the "small-scale" story just keeps expanding in scope until it stretches to the end of the universe and the deepest reaches of the Doctor's own life. Not to mention the very beginnings of the show itself -- Clara's final line ("Fear makes companions of us all") is a quote from the very first story back in 1963.

I think Peter's accent is one reason his speech's are so good. Side note, the Doctor's accents don't seem to be that random. 9 was thinking of Rose so he got a more southern English accent when becoming 10. 10 was probably thinking of Rose too but that's debatable so 11's accent was similar to 10s but slightly posher. 11 was thinking of Amy and thus, 12 got a Scottish accent. And the War Doctor was thinking of Clara which is why the 9th Doctor got a Northern accent. Obviously this is just a theory and is probably just immense coincidence. 11's accent is the only one that sort of ruins this theory as there's no posh(ish) person he would've been thinking of when going from 10 to 11.

This is the episode that sold me on Capaldi. I was so excited when he was first announced but I only started to really get his Doctor after this. He's a phenomenal actor and his Doctor might seem rude, but he's just frustrated. He wants to understand people but he wants them to keep up with him and live up to his expectations. Maybe this episode explains a lot about the Doctor. He is afraid of the dark because he doesn't know what's there. When he was a child he hid away, but when he grew up he learned to confront it. He might still be afraid inside, but he needs to understand it to overcome it.

With all the recommends in the comments I felt I should go see what else Capaldi's done. Holy fork! He auditioned for the role of Benjamin Sisko? For Deep Space 9 fans that's a massive deal. Holy fork again!

Watching this ep for the first time gave me 'Midnight' vibes but I love these sort of episodes and the the look on Clara's face when she has the has the revelation of being on Gallifrey is just perfect and still makes my spine tingle whenever I go back to rewatch.

Recently listened to Watership Down audiobook narrated by Peter Capaldi, I highly recommend it.

Beautiful episode. Beautifully written and acted.

Ahh. One of those weeks Doctor Who broke the internet.

An absolute banger of an episode, one Capaldi was made for! Amazon Prime has a show called The Devils Hour in which Capaldi is the main character, the vibes are very much like this and I highly recommend it!

So if you think about it Then doctor got the "Fear is a super power" thing from Clara in the barn but she got it from him in Ruperts room. So where did that speech originally come from?

This is a beautiful episode and both versions of the fear speech are phenomenal. I agree that Peter Capaldi has the most amazing voice for storytelling (to the point where I've sought out all the audiobooks he's narrated). Lovely reaction.

You're right about Capaldi. He's really good with speeches or otherwise monologuing, and aside from that his delivery of the Doctor's quips and insults is perfect. It's interesting that they mentioned how the boy may never become a time lord. There has always been debate in the fandom about whether the Time Lords are the actual race of Gallifreyans or just the ruling class of Gallifrey. There is also the suggestion that it's a qualification or rank achieved after attending the Time Lord academy (which was mentioned a little in the classic series, alongside the fact that the Doctor and Master attended together as part of their backstory). Supposedly the Doctor only scraped through with 51% on the second try ;)

Peter Capaldi is such a good actor.

I honestly think this episode would have done as well as Blink if it was released 7-8 years prior! It’s so good!

if you like peter capaldi’s storytelling, you should check out his audiobooks! his readings of 1984 and Watership Down are just stellar and had my heart racing