One of the best stories this season, at least to me. Next to the Weeping Angels two-parter and of course Silence in the Library, I don’t know of any first of two parters I’ve enjoyed more.

The Doctor in episode 1 could not possibly be the clone. Because in that episode the Doctor who died knew of his relationship with River but the Doctor at the end of the episode, which is the Doctor in Rebel Flesh, had not even kissed River yet. So then the Doctor who was cloned last night cannot be the carnal knowledge Doctor of episode 1.

@Professor Zed
The Sontaran Strategem clones were made from an alive ‘goo’ but the ‘goo’ from last night is alive and intelligent. Hardly the same. The fake Martha and guards were controlled, the doppelgangers truly weren’t. They were just going along with what the humans wanted.

@Mikki – no, Amy is always alone when the Eyepatch Lady appears. Remember she is off by herself outside the little girl’s room at the orphanage when she first sees her.

Anyone else think Amy is an insane asylum somewhere and dreaming all of this?

i was a bit dissapointed at the silver eye patch lady didnt say n e thing a was watch very closely to see what she says and she says nothing it was a bit of a downer that she didnt

@shawn
she appears in the next episode as well shawn so she might say summat there

tbh it wasn’t as amazing as last weeks ep, but it’s doctor who so i still loved it! the clone doctor looks really weird… awwww bless rory; i thought he was great in it and acted it well and matt, karen and all the others too. haa bless. amy’s getting a taste of her own medicine with rory and another girl i actually think the real doctor will be the more vicious and sort angry than the clone one will, atm he is abit on edge and suspicious of people… and the pregnant scanner thing; did anyone see it started to get abit slower- as though it was coming closer to a decision whether she is or not… hmmmm anyway LOVED IT!!

Brilliant ep for Rory, though I have a horrible feeling that he’s destined to die yet again at some point, with that throwaway line.

What was the Doctor wanting to do at the beginning of the episode, when he was trying to get rid of Amy and Rory? That seems like something that’s fairly unresolved, and won’t probably be resolved next week.

Great moral dilemma, loved it right up until the moment that Ganger!Jennifer didn’t realise that it was just the one human who had tried to harm them, and then decided to instigate a war. I can believe the factory owner woman starting the “them and us” process, but I can’t believe it of Jen. If she’s got the same heart and mind and soul as the human!Jen, she wouldn’t do that so quickly, particularly not after the time she’d spent with Rory.

Ditto the foreshadowed Doctor vs Doctor scenario: the Doctor wouldn’t fight. The Doctor doesn’t fight. I smell inconsistency.

Very scary – scariest Eleventh Doctor story so far, in my opinion.

I think that sums it up for me. I look forward to watching next week’s ep, when I get back into the country on Tuesday.

@TSG
It isn’t inconsistent – it is about how we are shaped by the way we are treated.

I suspect there are three doctors (pay attention just after the doc goes to find the Tardis).

I was camping this weekend so didn’t watch it on Saturday. But came home today and my sisters were saying it was a really boring ep…. So obvs I was like okay I won’t expect much. But it was not boring AT ALL. I loved it. It was interesting to keep it moving and I know the cliff hanger was obvious from like the whole lips thing… but still it was good.
@JC You saying it reminded you of Autons, I absolutely agree. And as the doctor was saying it’s early technology and he was saying to Amy they don’t want Rory they want them… and how Dobbleganger-Jen was like we noticed your eyes when you arrived.. I think that the Autons used to be like this and were “almost human” but slowly over time developed and so they can still see the Auton in Rory.. I know some people will be like “but I thought Rory was human cause of the whole Big Bang thing” I know but that is just a maybe isn’t it. But there you go I think some how the dobblegangers can sense Rory is on their “side”…. What do you think?

I figured it out. hasnt anyone else??? The Doctors Doppleganger is the Doctor that was killed in the first ep. The real doc was the one in the spacesuite. When the Doctor finds out what is gonna to happen he has to set the timeline up to keep events going. The other Doctor knows this too and accepts what has to happen.

For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t manage to watch this episode as it aired. Something many millions seem to do these days…

Anyway, I heard quite a fair bit of negative comment on ‘The Rebel Flesh’. Add the fact that Matthew Graham previously wrote my least favourite episode of DW since its 2005 return, and you can imagine by the time I sat down to watch it yesterday I wasn’t expecting much.

BUT, I thought it was a good episode. As others have said, adult themes, interesting story and solid performances from all the actors. Of course it’s slightly reminiscent, in parts, of previous stories, but that’s difficult to avoid with a 48 year old show that has aired hundreds of stories.

Looking forward to the concluding episode.

PS. Yes I do know that Matthew Graham also co-created and wrote episodes for ‘Life On Mars’ and ‘Ashes To Ashes’. Both fantastic, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that ‘Fear Her’ is a birrova stinker )

Dull…sorry….didn’t really care about any of the characters….just not written very well….was worried when Matthew Graham got this slot and a two parter as well !! Yikes ! As ‘good’ as Fear Her was a few years back

I feel strongly that something is missing this series…..don’t think Murray Gold is firing on all cylinders and although I love the ongoing links…with this episode I just thought…hmmm…so what ?

I am afraid that I am not surprised that DW is now being watched so much on I-player–it is no longer must-see TV

Have been a huge fan since Sea Devils and have always loved it….thought Matt Smith in series 5 was excellent but something not there…will keep watching cos I love it so much but…just not sure what it is…but for the first time ever and I mean ever….not that bothered if I miss it as it is broadcast !!!

Hope that the next two weeks are an improvement…sigh…but not hopeful…

Not all negative…loved the first two and The Doctor’s Wife but they would only be ok episodes in a DT series or CE series….but will keep watching cos it my programmes

Help me !!! Thoughts ???

@Jace
It still has an audience of around 8 million, thats a HUGE audience.

DT era is OVERRATED, series 5 and 6 are miles ahead of series 3 and 4 as a whole IMO.

I think it was a great episode, it was based around a moral concept rather than action and adventure, and I thought it was a nice change of pace. I’ll be interested to see where it ends up going next week, but I find myself kind of routing for the “gangers”.

Well, I’d argue it wasn’t overrated to 10th Doctor fans like myself. Furthermore, I consider myself a better Doctor Who fan (better personally, not than other fans of course) because I was such a fan of David Tennant’s Doctor, who I believe with Christopher Eccleston, lay very strong foundations for Matt Smith’s Doctor to build, and yet I’m able to appreciate Series 5 and 6 for what they are.

@Glenn
That 8m EXCLUDES iPlayer (c’os it can’t distinguish between repeat watches and timeshifting).

And almost everyone I know with Sky+ uses it for timeshifting of practically EVERYTHING, so overnights are increasingly useless as a guide.

The audience has held up pretty solidly since the reboot, with a couple of exceptional highs.

@Glenn
Please don’t get me wrong – I still love the series but just feel something is missing but can’t quite put my finger on it…still think Matt is a great Doctor and the combination with Rory and Amy is superb….it’s just…just…I don’t know…

I rewatched The Rebel Flesh yesterday, and started Frontier In Space today. This current two-parter does feel reminiscent of last year’s Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood (though I’d argue that Rebel Flesh is better so far)and therefore of Malcolm Hulke’s storytelling. A very good thing, I reckon.

I loved the RTD era, and I love The Moff’s era even more. I think it’s just… different. It’s the same, but different. Which is what Doctor Who does best!

i think david tennants era was amazing due to his acting but the storylines were too predictable and almost ‘childish’ compared to steven moffets writing. series 5 & 6 have been beautifully written and have enough to keep casual watchers and more intent watchers (like us) keen. however this series hasn’t seemed very linked together compared to last series. i dunno maybe it’s because series 5 had the crack arch going throughout the series and it only had a few strong archs and maybe this series has too many? or because the series is split in two so some archs have to be resolved inbetween and there have been quite a few episodes which have been co-written but oh well… i dunno the episodes this series don’t seem to link together apart from the 2 parters DOES ANYONE ELSE AGREE WITH ME? anyway i love doctor who so wouldn’t dare critisize it

As a writer I think it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to make everything that comes next BIGGER and assume it automatically makes it better, but that’s not always true because sometimes with making things bigger you make the important things smaller. There was a lot more heart in season 5 than we have now. We cared not just about the story lines but the people in them. If I were new to DW, I wouldn’t think this show was worth watching because nothing I’ve seen this season has made me give a crap about the characters. A good story needs heart as well as excitement.

I think the reason why David Tenant remains the fave doctor despite Matt’s excellent performances is because the Tenth Doctor had a heart and he often wore it on his sleeve so that we cared about what he cared about. And he did it while righting the wrongs of the universe.

Gotta say, the ending was kinda predictable, AND dont say “Why did you not come on here before and say what the ending was?”, cause it was like 10 minutes into the episode before I realised what was going to happen. I actually switched off 30 minutes into the episode, found it all rather boring. And for gods sake does Karen Gillan know the meaning of ACTING, and not pulling the same two faces throughout an episode, and everyone on here, dont start attacking me, these are just my opinions… hope all this improves….

@The 13th Doctor
I think the current TARDIS Team is exceptional. I thought complaints over Karen (which I always thought were unfounded anyway) would die away after her first series; generally, people have a go at acting abilities when actors start on the series, but soon forget their complaints.

I agree that the ending was predictable… but man, was it creepy to see the Flesh as the Doctor!

Oh, and I think Matt shows the Doctor’s heart in a different way to David Tennant; little looks and mutterings – stuff like that.