Doctor Who

[Guest]

Genesis of the Daleks deserves to top lists of best Doctor Who story ever.

Amazing that it was Tom Baker's 4th story ever (one of which was a shitey Sontaran two parter). Really enjoyed Nyder in the Joseph Göbbels character playing off Davros at Hitler. The Doctor with the ultimate moral dilemma. Incredible stuff. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Autistisches Nilpferd

[DA Baracus]

@Bully Wee Villa, are you not reviewing the McGann movie?

[Bully Wee Villa]

Yes, but am doing the stories in an odd order whereby I watch a few of each Doctor (or one of each Doctor in the case of Colin Baker/Eccleston as they don't have many stories) at a time before finishing on each Doctor's final story. Because there is only one McGann story I'm counting that as McCoy's final episode so will get to it in about a thousand episodes time...

Edited February 12, 2023 by Bully Wee Villa

[Bully Wee Villa]

Tennant…

The Christmas Invasion – like his father-in-law, Tennant spends most of his first story asleep, but this has a lot more going for it than Castrovalva. Rose is still pretty decent and hasn’t turned into a crazy weirdo yet, and this is probably Jackie’s best story. Having the Doctor sword fight the alien menace in his pyjamas is different, I suppose. It works better than the usual zap them with a sonic screwdriver cop out anyway. Yeah, this is a perfectly good new Doctor story. 7/10

New Earth – one of the problems with watching these out of order is that I’m buggered if I can remember much about Cassandra’s previous appearance. Still, it doesn’t matter too much. This is a fairly lightweight episode that only works if Tennant and, in particular, Piper, do a good job of selling the central bodyswap conceit, and they both do it very well. So it’s decent fun if hardly likely be regarded as an all-time classic by anyone. 7/10

Tooth and Claw – I don’t really get the obsession TV and film writers have with Queen Victoria. Even if you like the monarchy, she’s a bit dull, isn’t she? If you have to shoehorn a monarch into the series, I’d rather a blood-splattered MacBeth or Richard III episode, please. So, I’m not pre-disposed to like this and, like the monarch, it’s a bit dull. I only watched it a week or so ago and I’ve largely forgotten what happened. There’s a werewolf and the karate monks from the BBC2 ident, for some reason. Meh. 4/10

School Reunion – it was nice that Liz Sladen got something of a send-off. The Sarah Jane scenes are easily the best bit of this story. Don’t feel in any rush to bring K9 back again anytime soon though, nobody over the age of four ever liked him. Outside the Sarah Jane scenes there isn’t really very much to this at all. A second successive entirely forgettable plot/menace. 5/10

[scottsdad]

Just one update from me: The Robots of Death.

Very enjoyable. The robots were very creepy with their static faces. A lot of suspense - someone answering the door causing a bit of angst. 

Surely this was designed to give kids nightmares:

[Bully Wee Villa]

Matt Smith…

The Eleventh Hour – the story, as is often the case for a new Doctor, isn’t much to write home about. Insert any generic alien invasion story since about 1967. There’s also no way they would get someone like Olivia Coleman and only have her on screen for about five minutes, now. Still, the main thing is, does it do a good job of introducing the new Doctor and companion? The answer is a resounding yes. When Smith was announced I had a bit of a strop that he was so young as the Doctor should have gravitas and be different to the previous incarnation. Within one episode I realised that viewpoint was bollocks as Smith totally inhabited the role from the start (though this wasn’t the first episode he filmed, so maybe that helps). Both the Amelias are good too, albeit Rory doesn’t make much of an impact yet. I’d forgotten he was in this episode before this rewatch. 7/10

The Beast Below – there are bits of this that I like. The weird grumpy face fairground men are good fun and the onscreen chemistry between Doctor and Amy is excellent for about the first two-thirds. I can forgive most of the gaping plot-holes that proliferate Doctor Who scripts, but I’m confused by this. How are Scotland getting about? Or Nicaragua, America, China or Tuvalu for that matter? Do they all have whales? Anyway, the Doctor turns into a right stroppy git towards the end, then seemingly gets over it again in seconds. It all felt a bit weird. Still, nice to see Sophie “Scream of the Shalka” Okonedo, as I’m sure her agent calls her, again. 5/10

Victory of the Daleks – a nowhere near as good version of "Power of the Daleks". It’s all a bit of a mess. I can’t think of much else to say about it. 4/10

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone – bringing the Weeping Angels back was inevitable after the success of “Blink”, but I’m glad they’ve done it fairly well here. The idea of making an image of an Angel an Angel is a good way of keeping them fresh, and it was also enjoyably creepy getting to hear them “speak” for the first time, via the medium of a living corpse. Amy has her best story yet, and River is still an interesting character here before they milked her to death later on in the series. 8/10

[Bully Wee Villa]

Deep Breath – the new Doctor is always asleep or weird and they’ve mainly gone with the latter, here. It works well enough, though. I enjoy his piss-taking out of Clara. Watching at the time I thought she overstayed her welcome and should have gone a series earlier but she’s excellent here. This is decent fare, though it probably didn’t need to be (*checks Wikipedia) 76 minutes long. The Missy teaser at the end was a nice touch. If you are going to do a series arc, introducing a mysterious “new” character is much more interesting than “is the Doctor going to die?” (of course they aren’t) or “what’s the Doctor’s name?” (nobody cares). 7/10

Into the Dalek – well, they are at least trying something new so it’s an improvement on “Victory of the Daleks”. I don’t mind the Dalek story here, but I really can’t be arsed with the Clara/Danny Pink plot. Moffatt has a comedy background but his attempts here to make sci-fi “Coupling” fall flat, with none of the humour landing. When the Doctor and Clara are bickering it can be quite funny, but the meal between Clara and Danny is painful. 5/10

Robot of Sherwood – I don’t mind them having Robin Hood in it (I liked the Atlantis episode so can’t complain too much about historical accuracy) and it’s surprising he hasn’t appeared before, really. However, there is enough Robin Hood mythology to make a decent story without any robot nonsense. The worst part is you just know someone has thought “wow, robot and Robin start with the same letters, that gives me a brilliant idea…”. This is another story that relies on you finding the humour funny, and again it falls flat. Both The Doctor and Robin come across as bellends pretty much throughout. I don’t even remember where the robot came from, nor do I care. Clara is decent enough and at least Danny isn’t in this one, I also like the Patrick Troughton cameo. Other than that, meh. 4/10

Listen – what could be better than Danny Pink? How about… three lots of Danny Pink? I can’t really be arsed with this one at all. It has begun to feel like The Doctor is a bit part player in his own programme. Some people liked the open ending of this one as it retained the show’s mystery. I thought it was a cop out. 4/10

Edited February 16, 2023 by Bully Wee Villa

[scottsdad]

2 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said:

Deep Breath – the new Doctor is always asleep or weird and they’ve mainly gone with the latter, here. It works well enough, though. I enjoy his piss-taking out of Clara. Watching at the time I thought she overstayed her welcome and should have gone a series earlier but she’s excellent here. This is decent fare, though it probably didn’t need to be (*checks Wikipedia) 76 minutes long. The Missy teaser at the end was a nice touch. If you are going to do a series arc, introducing a mysterious “new” character is much more interesting than “is the Doctor going to die?” (of course they aren’t) or “what’s the Doctor’s name?” (nobody cares). 7/10

Into the Dalek – well, they are at least trying something new so it’s an improvement on “Victory of the Daleks”. I don’t mind the Dalek story here, but I really can’t be arsed with the Clara/Danny Pink plot. Moffatt has a comedy background but his attempts here to make sci-fi “Coupling” fall flat, with none of the humour landing. When the Doctor and Clara are bickering it can be quite funny, but the meal between Clara and Danny is painful. 5/10

Robot of Sherwood – I don’t mind them having Robin Hood in it (I liked the Atlantis episode so can’t complain too much about historical accuracy) and it’s surprising he hasn’t appeared before, really. However, there is enough Robin Hood mythology to make a decent story without any robot nonsense. The worst part is you just know someone has thought “wow, robot and Robin start with the same letters, that gives me a brilliant idea…”. This is another story that relies on you finding the humour funny, and again it falls flat. Both The Doctor and Robin come across as bellends pretty much throughout. I don’t even remember where the robot came from, nor do I care. Clara is decent enough and at least Danny isn’t in this one, I also like the Patrick Troughton cameo. Other than that, meh. 4/10

Listen – what could be better than Danny Pink? How about… three lots of Danny Pink? I can’t really be arsed with this one at all. It has begun to feel like The Doctor is a bit part player in his own programme. Some people liked the open ending of this one as it retained the show’s mystery. I thought it was a cop out. 4/10

On Robot of Sherwood, I have a recollection that they had to hastily re-do the ending as it involved decapitating a robot, and there was something in the news at the same time about folk being decapitated. It sort of threw the whole episode - a slow build-up to an event that never happened. Surprising as the MArk Gatiss episodes are usually alright. 

I never, ever took to Danny Pink. He seemed a bit aggressive and controlling. I wasn't exactly dancing a jig when he got bumped off but I can't day I thought he was a loss to the show. 

[Bully Wee Villa]

That rings a bell, might have been around the time Billy Connolly got in trouble for a decapitation joke. Also never warmed to Danny, sure he's a nice bloke as he's a Villa supporter. I saw him in something else the other day and he was fine so must be the way he was written rather than the actor.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Bully Wee Villa

[GordonD]

There was one episode where the Doctor kept saying that he couldn't believe that Danny Pink had left the Army and become a schoolteacher. I can't help thinking that this was a reference to the Brigadier doing the same in the Fifth Doctor story 'Mawdryn Undead' (the part was written for Ian Chesterton but William Russell wasn't available).

[Bully Wee Villa]

Maybe, but there are loads of times the Doctor lines up alongside soldiers to face a greater evil, so his obsession with it once Danny Pink turns up always seemed a bit off. We get that he's a pacifist, but if he refused to engage with a single soldier, ever, then pretty much the whole Third Doctor spell would have had to be rewritten for starters.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Bully Wee Villa

[Bully Wee Villa]

Whittaker…

 

The Woman Who Fell to Earth – the main talking point here is the new Doctor and not just a new Doctor but, shock horror, a new gender too. And she’s mostly fine. If I was being critical she has a habit here of being a bit too manic and trying to talk too quickly, but I never have any problem with accepting her as the Doctor pretty much from her first appearance on screen. Yaz and Graham settle in fairly well and the latter’s relationship with his wife is portrayed convincingly so that it carries some weight when she, inevitably, gets bumped off. I cared about them more than I did Clara and Danny anyway… The teeth monster bad guy is not bad, either, though I’m already struggling to see the point of Ryan. Off to generally a solid start. 7/10

 

The Ghost Monument - a fairly bog standard “companions get introduced to their first alien world” story. Already struggling to remember much about it other than Whittaker has calmed down a bit and this time it’s Yaz who is largely superfluous while Graham and Ryan have a nice scene. The alien world is quite good to look at, it doesn’t just look like a quarry as is often the case. That’s about it, I think. It isn’t bad, it isn’t particularly amazing either, just alright. 6/10

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Bully Wee Villa

[scottsdad]

42 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said:

Whittaker…

The Woman Who Fell to Earth – the main talking point here is the new Doctor and not just a new Doctor but, shock horror, a new gender too. And she’s mostly fine. If I was being critical she has a habit here of being a bit too manic and trying to talk too quickly, but I never have any problem with accepting her as the Doctor pretty much from her first appearance on screen. Yaz and Graham settle in fairly well and the latter’s relationship with his wife is portrayed convincingly so that it carries some weight when she, inevitably, gets bumped off. I cared about them more than I did Clara and Danny anyway… The teeth monster bad guy is not bad, either, though I’m already struggling to see the point of Ryan. Off to generally a solid start. 7/10

The Ghost Protocol – a fairly bog standard “companions get introduced to their first alien world” story. Already struggling to remember much about it other than Whittaker has calmed down a bit and this time it’s Yaz who is largely superfluous while Graham and Ryan have a nice scene. The alien world is quite good to look at, it doesn’t just look like a quarry as is often the case. That’s about it, I think. It isn’t bad, it isn’t particularly amazing either, just alright. 6/10

I liked Jodie Whittaker in the role. A lot of those scripts though were dreadful. She was badly let down. 

I watched her run before watching any of the classics. I assumed that the Doctor plus one companion of the opposite sex was the norm because of that. So having 3 companions was at first very strange. But the old ones are far more fluid about the number and make-up of the team. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Was Danny Pink the PE teacher?

[Bully Wee Villa]

Yeah the PE teacher/Clara love interest.

[Ewanandmoreagain]

On 10/02/2023 at 23:21, Autistisches Nilpferd said:

Genesis of the Daleks deserves to top lists of best Doctor Who story ever.

Amazing that it was Tom Baker's 4th story ever (one of which was a shitey Sontaran two parter). Really enjoyed Nyder in the Joseph Göbbels character playing off Davros at Hitler. The Doctor with the ultimate moral dilemma. Incredible stuff. 

Just beeping zap the ****ers Tom !

Anyway the old dalek ( and cyberpeople) stories were always pretty good eg the one where the daleks , and their servant creatures , were travelling thro time etc to attack an anti - dalek conference

I think the doc. was Pertwee ( and the original Small Faces keyboard player was the hero who blew himself up with all the daleks )

[scottsdad]

The Talons of Weng-Chiang

A very enjoyable story. The best bit was the extremely well written supporting characters, particularly Jago and Litefoot. These two would have made great companions for another adventure or two. The Victorian era Holmes-ish stuff was enjoyable and the plot was very good.

The only downside is the racial stuff. The Chinese characters were basically stereotypes and the jokes about "yellow" would never be made these days.

[Bully Wee Villa]

Hartnell, part two…

The Keys of Marinus – another fairly weird early instalment, this is effectively a bunch of mini-adventures hung loosely on the central plot of discovering the eponymous keys. And, it generally works quite well. The nature of the story means that some elements work better than others. I like the Voord and the psychic brains in jars world (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it) but am less keen on the courtroom episodes. Others may prefer other episodes, but I’d say it’s unlikely any Doctor Who fan would get bored watching this one as there is always a massive change of scenery just around the corner if you’re struggling. This is an interesting experiment. 7/10

The Aztecs – I tend to like the historicals and, as far as I’m concerned, this is the best of the lot. Firstly, it looks good. The BBC is much better at making convincing recreations of the past than they are at conjuring up alien worlds that don’t look like a quarry in Wales. Susan is mostly missing and, let’s be honest, that’s no great loss. The Doctor doesn’t have much to do other than accidentally getting married and delivering a fairly famous “not one line” speech about not changing history. Which the show will stick to for the rest of time unless it is vaguely inconvenient to do so or they’re on a planet that doesn’t really matter (ie anywhere but Earth). Ian is still doing his action hero bit with varying degrees of success. Still, this is Barbara’s story, she’s excellent throughout as the Aztecs' would-be saviour doomed to watch history repeat itself. Also credit to John Ringham as an enjoyably over the top baddie. This is a classic. 10/10

[scottsdad]

18 hours ago, Bully Wee Villa said:

Hartnell, part two…

The Keys of Marinus – another fairly weird early instalment, this is effectively a bunch of mini-adventures hung loosely on the central plot of discovering the eponymous keys. And, it generally works quite well. The nature of the story means that some elements work better than others. I like the Voord and the psychic brains in jars world (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it) but am less keen on the courtroom episodes. Others may prefer other episodes, but I’d say it’s unlikely any Doctor Who fan would get bored watching this one as there is always a massive change of scenery just around the corner if you’re struggling. This is an interesting experiment. 7/10

The Aztecs – I tend to like the historicals and, as far as I’m concerned, this is the best of the lot. Firstly, it looks good. The BBC is much better at making convincing recreations of the past than they are at conjuring up alien worlds that don’t look like a quarry in Wales. Susan is mostly missing and, let’s be honest, that’s no great loss. The Doctor doesn’t have much to do other than accidentally getting married and delivering a fairly famous “not one line” speech about not changing history. Which the show will stick to for the rest of time unless it is vaguely inconvenient to do so or they’re on a planet that doesn’t really matter (ie anywhere but Earth). Ian is still doing his action hero bit with varying degrees of success. Still, this is Barbara’s story, she’s excellent throughout as the Aztecs' would-be saviour doomed to watch history repeat itself. Also credit to John Ringham as an enjoyably over the top baddie. This is a classic. 10/10

It's a few months since I watched the Hartnell ones but the one that sticks in the mind the most is The Keys of Marinus. It was just a bit bonkers and a bit of fun. William Hartnell taking a few episodes off in the middle, leaving Ian and co to do the main work of the show, was very different to what happens nowadays. I liked it a lot as it really was just a set of mini-adventures.

Oh, and this:

[Bully Wee Villa]

Troughton part 2…

The Moonbase – not relating to the plot, but the animation for the missing episodes is much better here than for stories that were released on DVD later. It’s a shame they didn’t stick with whoever made these, presumably they asked for too much money. As for “The Moonbase”, I’ve always thought it’s a bit too similar to “Tenth Planet” a bit too soon after “Tenth Planet” came out, but without the iconic scene at the end. It’s also increasingly clear that the writers brought in Frazer Hines as an afterthought and still don’t really have much idea what to do with his character, so he spends most of the time asleep. It’s a nothing story for Ben while Polly spends most of it being condescended. Is the Doctor asking Polly to put the kettle on an in-joke or an indication of the show’s contempt for its female companions at this time? She does get to save the day in the end so will give them the benefit of the doubt. Troughton’s Doctor seems more like Troughton’s Doctor now, but the Cybermen have downgraded in design since Tenth Planet, in my opinion. This is the most forgettable Cybermen story in the black and white era. Certainly not awful but pretty far from good. 5/10

The Macra Terror – downsides: again they find next to nothing for Jamie to do except for a silly dance at the end, and the story is completely missing. There are quite a few upsides, though. Our heroes land somewhere that is basically 1984 (the book not the year) crossed with Hi-De-Hi and spend their time trying to avoid being pinchered by giant crabs. If that sounds like ridiculous fun, it is. I am a fan of stories where the monster isn’t just human beings with different painted skin or funny clothes, and this B-movie style effort is well worth watching. I had a soft spot for this story in recon form so I’m glad they went to the trouble of animating it, even if the animation isn’t as good as early efforts like “The Moonbase”. I’m also glad the Macra got a brief cameo in the David Tennant era. Recommended. 8/10

The Faceless Ones – another forgotten classic. Perhaps the best known thing about this is that it’s Polly and Ben’s farewell performance, so I’ll address them first. To be honest, it’s a pretty poor send-off. With the BBC too tight to pay them for the entire story they disappear after episode two and then turn up again for a half-arsed cheerio thirty seconds before the end of episode six. Overall, I do like Polly and Ben, but don't think they will ever be listed among the all-time best companions, not helped by the fact that so much of their catalogue is missing. Still, the programme has struggled to accommodate three companions since Jamie’s arrival so it’s no surprise that their departure coincides with his best story yet. He even gets a love interest in the form of Pauline Collins. She’s pretty decent and would have made a far better companion than Victoria, I reckon. She’s also much better here than in that Queen Victoria vs The Werewolves and Karate People nonsense I watched the other week. It’s a shame she turned them down when they offered to keep her on. The story is full of plot-holes, like why has nobody but one rogue Scouser spotted that hundreds (thousands?) of passengers keep disappearing? But it remains an enjoyable “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”-type effort and one of the best of the "aliens taking over humans for nefarious reasons" adventures that Doctor Who tries every now and then. 8/10