My Top 10 New Who Episodes

This week sees the 10th anniversary of Doctor Who returning to our screens. A lot of people seem to have done a list like this and I thought it would be fun to do one too. So, here are my top 10 favourite new series Doctor Who episodes.

10: Blink (2007- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring David Tennant and Freema Agyeman)

Many people regard this as the best Doctor Who episode ever. I wouldn’t quite go that far but I have to agree that it is excellent. I think the big reason this idea is so good is the villains, the Weeping Angels. Statues that move but only when you are not looking. It’s a terrifying idea. It’s also notable for the fact that the Doctor barely appears so it’s a case of him solving things from afar. Guest star Carey Mulligan, now quite the famous actress, is superb as Sally Sparrow here too. A real joy.

9: Turn Left (2009- Written by Russell T. Davies, Starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate)

Another Doctor-lite episode, this one is a sort of celebration of New Who up to this point. Thanks to Donna not saving the Doctor’s life in a parallel timeline, this sees what happens to Earth when the Doctor is not around to save it. Basically, things don’t go well. It’s a great idea and there are some really deep emotional moments, like when Wilf realises history is repeating itself.

8: The Parting of the Ways (2005-Written by Russell T. Davies, Starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper)

This was the Ninth Doctor’s last stand. I adore the Ninth Doctor and this is his greatest moment. The companion/Doctor relationship is shown to be perhaps the strongest it has ever been- the Doctor saves Rose by sending her home but then Rose stubbornly returns and saves the Doctor by looking into the time vortex. The Ninth Doctor’s recorded message is incredible, there are loads of daleks and there’s the wonderful first appearance of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.

7: Father’s Day (2005- Written by Paul Cornell, Starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper)

An episode all about a companion, this one. Rose asks the Doctor to take her back to the day her Dad died and proceeds to save his life, thus changing history. Monsters happen. It displays the daughter/father relationship beautifully and in a way conventional drama can’t do. The monsters are pretty good, in my opinion anyway, the Doctor sacrifices himself and the resolution is heart-breaking.

6: The Doctor’s Wife (2011- Written by Neil Gaiman, Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill)

Neil Gaiman gave the TARDIS a voice in this wonderful episode. That’s a great idea in itself but the whole idea of a sentient asteroid is brilliant and there’s some terrifying scenes in the TARDIS corridors featuring Amy and Rory. For me, those are perhaps the scariest scenes Doctor Who has ever had. Suranne Jones is brilliant as the TARDIS and there’s also an Ood there too to make things more fun.

5: The Girl in the Fireplace (2006- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring David Tennant, Billie Piper and Noel Clarke)

I would adore this episode simply for the scene where the Tenth Doctor stumbles into a spaceship, apparently drunk, and tells the monsters they are thick. That is my favourite scene in all of New Who. The whole premise of this episode is wonderful, Sophia Myles makes a wonderful Madame de Pompadour and the pay-off at the end of the episode revealing the connection between the spaceship and 18th century France is a staggering silent reveal.

4: Asylum of the Daleks (2012- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill)

I’m not quite sure why I like this episode so much. In terms of a dalek story, it’s not great but it is a brilliant story in terms of the show’s main characters. The Doctor having to solve a typical Doctor-ish problem whilst trying to save Amy and Rory’s marriage is a wonderful idea. It leads to Rory being at his sarcastic best and some really touching relationship drama. Not to mention the whole Oswin being a dalek thing and a gorgeous soundtrack!

3: School Reunion (2006- Written by Toby Whithouse, Starring David Tennant, Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen)

I’ve never liked this episode because it saw the return of Sarah-Jane and K9. That’s like an additional bonus. Sarah-Jane’s return shows us the best of Rose Tyler and her relationship with the Doctor. I love the scene where Rose and Sarah-Jane try and compete with each other and the Doctor having to defend the way he treated Sarah-Jane. I also think the Krillitane are the best aliens created for New Who and would really, really like to see them return.

2: The Day of the Doctor (2013- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt)

How could I not include this celebration of fifty years of Doctor Who? For a start there’s two brilliant Doctors, Smith and Tennant, together. Plus a whole new one, John Hurt, who turned out to make a truly wonderful Doctor. A heart-breaking decision for the Doctor and the pure triumph of him being able to fix his greatest regret. It’s a great celebration, topped by the presence of Tom Baker as the Curator.

1: The Eleventh Hour (2010- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan)

Only two episodes in New Who had to completely reinvent the show. The first was Rose, which whilst excellent has some truly awful bits in it (plastic Mickey, that wheely bin). This though sees a hilarious introduction to a new Doctor and a sad one for a new companion. The fairly tale feel of it is really something special- there’s no way this story would have felt the same in a London suburb. Apart from the whole thing of introducing all the new stuff, the standalone plot is superb. I still think the line “the human residence will be incinerated” meaning the whole world rather than a house is so very clever and so sinister. In my eyes, this was an hour of perfect Doctor Who.

This list is of course simply my own opinion. I’m quite pleased that I’ve got quite a range of Doctors and surprised that as many as half of my favourites were written by Steven Moffat. I haven’t deliberately left out the Twelfth Doctor but I feel for an episode to be a true favourite it needs time and repeated viewings. It’s always fun to discuss these things so if you agree or, God forbid, disagree with my list then please do let me know with a comment!

Oh, and to celebrate ten years of New Who over on my blog Classic Who Catch Up I am about to start looking at the Ninth Doctor era. Please do take a look!

Nothing O'Clock

Author and legend Neil Gaiman has a new collection of short stories out called Trigger Warning. One of the stories is Nothing O'Clock, a Doctor Who story which was written for the show's 50th anniversary. It's not a new story but as it is reaching a new audience in the collection I thought I would review it here anyway.

Neil Gaiman is a master of short stories and after writing two brilliant episodes of Doctor Who (The Doctor's Wife and Nightmare in Silver) this was always going to be something special. It is set around the early part of Series 5, somewhere between The Eleventh Hour and The Vampires of Venice, and sees the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond fight off the Kin, sworn enemies of the Time Lords. 

The Kin are a great and genuinely scary monster and I could really see them appear on the show one day. They look like a man wearing an animal mask and you must never answer them when they ask you "What's the time?". My goodness they give me the shivers and their "monster-power", for want of a better phrase, is wonderful. 

Gaiman tweeted this image recently which shows what the Kin are supposed to look like:

Having written for the characters before Gaiman has no trouble nailing the eleventh Doctor and Amy and even has Amy joking about the fact this Doctor makes up words. Gaiman also has a little girl in the story who is well described and really does what a little girl would do. So many authors struggle to make children seem realistic but Gaiman does it with ease. 

Gaiman merges his fantastic TV writing to his brilliant short stories and creates this work of art. A must read for any Doctor Who fan and still a really enjoyable read for a non-fan. The rest of the collection is also pretty awesome, so I recommend checking out Trigger Warning!

Assimilation Squared

You may have heard about a series of comics called Assimilation² that combine the universes of Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation (another show I’m a huge fan of). The series has now finished and I’ve recently caught up- as with any comics, it’s virtually impossible to keep up with any series due the limited availability in the UK. Normally I would warn you of spoilers now but I’m not going to have a detailed look at the story because I suspect many people might still want to read this. Instead I’m going to pick some of my highlights from the series- there may be some minor spoilers but I shall try my best to avoid any major ones!

Before that though, a basic summary of the plot. The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in the TARDIS on the holodeck of the USS Enterprise. Before they know it they need to help the crew take on an alliance between the Cybermen and the Borg. But can the Doctor get Captain Picard to trust him?

1: The TARDIS on the Enterprise

The TARDIS lands in the holodeck of the Enterprise. Except it looks like San Francisco. It’s only when the Doctor notices a certain android is present that all is not as it seems.

2: The Fourth Doctor and the Original Enterprise Crew

Data looks into the Enterprise’s records and discovers that the crew of the original Enterprise met the Fourth Doctor. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Bones join forces with the Fourth Doctor to fight off classic series style Cybermen. It’s a great link into the history of both shows- and there’s even some jelly babies!

3: The Doctor meets Guinan

The Doctor meets the oldest person on the Enterprise, bar tender Guinan. Being pretty much the eldest beings in their respective universes, they have a lot to talk about.

4: Doctor Who Continuity

There are plenty of references to past Doctor Who adventures and what the characters have been through. Amy and Rory mostly take a back seat in the story but every now and then they do something brilliant. (The panel above sees Amy explaining to Picard some of the events of The Eleventh Hour).

5: Picard in the TARDIS

The legendary Captain Picard enters the legendary TARDIS. He says the legendary line. The Doctor is very happy and so is everyone reading.

6: A universe ruled by Cybermen

The Doctor shows Picard a possible future, where both the Doctor Who and Star Trek universes are taken over by the Cybermen. We see them take over Raxacoricofallapatorius (home of the Slitheen), the Judoon (as seen above), the Klingons, Vulcan (home of Spock) and the Star Fleet academy.

7: The Next Generation Continuity

There’s not as much continuity from Star Trek as the episodes tend to be more standalone, but there’s lots of talk about the history of the Borg and when Picard became on of them. The Doctor, Amy and Rory even ending up meeting Locotus, the Borg version of Picard!

8: The Cybermen/Borg Alliance

The idea of some of the most feared beings from both universes working together is brilliant. This makes the whole idea of the squared bit of the title make sense- it’s both an alliance between the Doctor and the Enterprise crew AND an alliance between Cybermen and Borg. But will either alliance last?

9: Data looks into the heart of the TARDIS

Data does a Rose Tyler and looks into the heart of the TARDIS. It would destroy any human and forces Time Lords to regenerate. But can an android contain it?

To avoid being obvious, I am stopping at nine. Didn’t expect that did you? I was very excited when this series was announced and then quickly began to worry that it would be too hard to do. Well it turns out the writers created something fantastic. It combines Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation brilliantly in my opinion, making this a great read for fans of both shows. It also has fantastic artwork that captures the likeness of all the actors brilliantly. All in all, a truly wonderful thing.

The series was released over 8 issues but you can buy it as a graphic novel in two volumes. The first volume is on sale on Amazon in the UK right now, link here. If you live elsewhere, Google is your friend! Thank you for reading and there’ll be more from the Time Vortex very soon!

The Power of Three

This week Doctor Who gave us the invasion of the small cubes and the time the Doctor came to stay. There’ll be spoilers so if you haven’t seen the episode yet you probably want to avoid this post- basically, run!

This episode felt like a Russell T Davies era episode: an invasion of Earth, rolling news coverage and very character driven. It’s the first invasion of contemporary Earth story we’ve had in a long time. The plot consisted of millions of small cubes landing on Earth and then not doing anything. The Doctor was forced to come and stay with the Ponds as they are in the process of deciding whether they should keep travelling with the Doctor.

Seeing the Doctor come to stay is good fun and provides most of the many laughs from the episode. He has no patience and can’t sit still and do nothing. He did loads of keepie-uppies and played on the Wii. My favourite scene which I think summed up the whole episode was when the three characters were sat watching The Apprentice (with the real Lord Sugar putting in a cameo) and the Doctor talks about inventing the Yorkshire pudding. That is perfect TV.

The episode also did a fantastic job at referencing classic Who but did so in a way that it didn’t matter if you don’t get the references. The Doctor mentions past companions dying (Adric!), how his metal dog used to hover (K9) and there was return of sorts for classic monsters the Zygons, hidden under the Savoy hotel. Perhaps the best classic reference was in the form of character Kate Stewart, the person now in charge of UNIT. Kate is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the former leader of UNIT and the character that met the most Doctors (Two, Three, Four, Five and Six). Kate fitted in perfectly with the show and Jenna Redgrave had her character nailed. I really hope Kate Stewart becomes a semi-regular character in the future!

I did have a few problems with the episode, though they are fairly minor niggles. The resolution of the plot felt a bit rushed. If Doctor Who was an hour long this episode would have been perfect. However, I loved the cubes and really want one. I liked the way that they all did different things, from squirting water to playing the Birdie Song really loudly. My other problem was the massive coincidence that meant one of the seven locations across the world just happened to be the hospital Rory works in. That was handy.

Still, I do think this was a great episode and Chris Chibnall has really proved himself as a writer. And this episode sorted a problem I had back when I was talking about Asylum of the Daleks. Amy is now working as a journalist as opposed to a model, which seems a much more likely thing a TARDIS traveller would do!

On a completly unconnected note, I was wondering how old the Doctor is now. We could follow his age fairly easily until series 6. Something like 200 years went by for the Doctor between episodes and as he’s been doing lots of travelling without the Ponds it seems likely even more time has gone by. Just how old is he now? I’d like that to be cleared up please.

The horrible thing is now that there’s only one more episode left and it will be the end of the Ponds. This is the point where we have to speculate wildly about what might happen. For one thing Christmas has been mentioned in every episode of the series. I suspect if that’s more than coincidence it’s actually to do with this year’s Christmas special, where Oswin will return. A more important thing to note is how the titles to each episode are getting darker. There’s also been quite a lot of flashing lights and lights turning off in the episodes so far. Given what happens when lights flicker and the Weeping Angels are around this could be a sign of things to come. Maybe.

It’s worrying that it’s the Weeping Angels that the Doctor has to face next week. He’s not really defeated them properly yet. Sure, he beat four of them in “Blink” but that was only four. “The Time of Angels” was only resolved because of the crack in time which sucked the Angels in. Can the Doctor defeat a whole city’s worth of Angels? And how will the story of the Ponds end?

A Town Called Mercy

The Doctor gets to wear a stetson again and visit the Wild West for the first time in forty six years. Join me to discuss the episode and talk about morals. There’ll be spoilers so if you haven’t seen the episode yet you probably want to avoid this post- basically, run!

I was particularly excited about this episode. It was written by Toby Whithouse (creator of one of my fave shows, Being Human) and writer of some of the best Who episodes (School Reunion, The Vampires of Venice and The God Complex before this one). It’s also the first Doctor Who western since The Gunfighters in 1966, a First Doctor story which is one of the worst of the era. It was originally going to be called “The Gunslingers” which is how this week’s ‘monster’ got it’s name.

It appears that in comparison to last series, Series 7 is going for fairly simple plots. The town of Mercy is looking after Kahler-Hex, an alien Doctor who is providing the town with electricity and healthcare. He can’t step outside the town’s border though for fear of meeting with the Gunslinger, Kahler-Tec, a cyborg. Hex experimented on innocent soldiers to create cyborgs which ultimately won a horrible war. The Gunslinger wants revenge for what Hex did to him.

The Doctor sees what Hex did in Hex’s ship and then does a very un-Doctery thing. He decides Hex deserves to be executed and drags him outside of the town. It’s only because of sheriff Issac’s sacrifice that Hex survives and it takes Amy Pond to make the Doctor change his mind. She tells him to be better than Hex. The Doctor argues that because of his mercy many people have died, referencing the Master and the daleks. He knows that saving Hex would involve putting the whole town in danger and he doesn’t want to do that. Plus I get the feeling he has turned a little dark and wants people that do bad things to die- he did that in the last episode with Soloman. The situation is summed up later in the episode: “You’re both good man but sometimes you forget that”.

I suppose this episode brings up a major issue within the world. Is the death penalty right, can it ever be right? Many countries have withdrawn it from the legal system but it still remains in many others. People have strong opinions about this and some will argue that murderers and terrorists etc should die for their crimes. The Doctor was kind of taking this view in this episode but normally he turns to the other side of the argument- that killing someone for their crimes makes you no better than them. And I think he’s right about that fact.

In the end the Doctor helps Hex escape by having Rory and various residents put a Kahler symbol on their face and run around confusing the cyborg’s sensor. When Hex got to his ship though he blew himself up, wishing no more to die because of him. Let me share with you what Kahler-Hex says which really sums up how brilliant Toby Whithouse is as a writer:

“In my culture, we believe that when you die, your spirit has to climb a mountain, carrying the souls of everyone you’ve wronged in your lifetime. Imagine the weight I will have to lift: the monsters I created, the people they killed. Isaac! He was my friend. Now his soul will be in my arms, too.”

Fantastic! And the Gunslinger lives on to protect the village and everyone’s pretty much happy. Apart from a little tension from the fact the Ponds want to return home again and the Doctor looking a bit miffed about this but expect much more on that plotline next week.

There was also some great fun bits this week. Rory had a couple of good lines, although the Ponds were largely absent from the episode, but the best had to be the horse. The preacher says “He’s called Joshua” to which the Doctor replies “No he isn’t. I speak horse. He’s called Susan and he wants you to respect his life choices”.

I feel I should also mention how much like a Western the episode felt. The set was fantastic. They filmed the episode in Almeria, Spain in the same sort of area where all the classic Western films were filmed. Murray Gold did a fantastic job with the music, as always and Whithouse made it feel like a Western despite the sci-fi elements what with a stand-off at high noon and everything. All in all I think it was a great episode and it was my favourite for some time, though some may have found the episode too dark and serious. But the Doctor has always been on the edge of darkness and has carried a gun many times in the past. And if you think of what he did in the Time War the events of this episode were nothing.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

It’s Doctor Who Series 7 and there is the most literal title ever- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. Join me as I discuss the episode and show off with various factlets on the episode. There’ll be spoilers so if you haven’t seen the episode yet you probably want to avoid this post- basically, run!

So the episode opens with the Doctor assembling the cast. Queen Nefertiti of Egypt forces herself on the Doctor and then he’s speaking with what appears to be an Indian version of Torchwood who are going to blow up a spaceship which is heading towards Earth. The Doctor goes to investigate but first picks up Edwardian hunter Riddell and the Pond’s, complete with Rory’s Dad Brian.

It then leads into an adventure where a creepy old man called Soloman has taken over the spaceship and plans to sell the dinosaurs. The Doctor and the gang have to stop him and prevent the pressure cargo from being blown up by that Indian agency. Simples.

This is a really uncomplicated episode and it works well because of that. But this post is no-where near as simple because I’m going to shift all over the place and go on about various things. Keep up.

Chris Chibnall, writer of this episode, is clearly the man in charge of the Silurian's. He brought them back in Series 5 and the dinosaurs were on the ship because the Silurian's were trying to save them, until Soloman came along and massacred all the Homo Reptilia. It was a complete surprise to see a Silurian on the screen but a great one. Great work Chibnall!

So fairly soon after their arrival on the spaceship the Doctor, Rory and Brian are transported to a beach which is also on the spaceship apparently. The beach is the only beach that Doctor Who has access to film on apparently. It was Bad Wolf Bay a couple of times AND appeared in the Time of the Angels two-parter. Brian Williams is a fantastic character what with always carrying a trowel and golf balls, brilliantly played by Mark Williams (you know him as Arthur Weasley). It was interesting to see what Rory’s dad is like and it kind of explains a lot. He refused to be called a Pond (the Doctor assumes anyone related to Amy is a Pond) and the scene at the end where he had a packed lunch sat on the edge of the TARDIS looking at the Earth was perfect. There’ll be more of Brian later in the series too!

The other characters introduced are quite interesting. Queen Nefertiti is a strong, independent woman which is something you don’t tend to see from historical women. And played by a very attractive actress I might add. Riddell on the other hand is a game hunter who is really sexist. He should be a character the Doctor hates but his heart is in the right place and he is a genuinely great character. I kind of want to meet him. The pair of them get on rather well and at the end we see them both back with the Edwardian tents. That even works historically as Nefertiti disappears from the records for no apparent reason. It works for me.

There’s two very camp robots in this episode voiced by famous comedy double-act David Mitchell and Robert Webb. They’re not the villains really though, just servants of Soloman, playing by David Bradley (who you know as Argus Filch). Soloman is creepy, especially when he wants to take Queen Nefertiti as his prize. And all the kids of the world hated him when he shot the triceratops. Not to mention the fact he wiped out thousands of Silurian's. But still, the Doctor killed him. Put the missile target in Soloman’s ship and sent the ship flying into space. That was a very un-Doctory thing to do. Suddenly the Doctor is becoming very dark again, which we haven’t really seen since David Tennant’s time. In the next episode he is supposed to do something really un-Doctory. This is all part of the series arc and it’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

There was a touching scene, or rather a scary one, where Amy is talking to the Doctor saying she is always listening out for the TARDIS sound (aren’t we all?). The Doctor says he does still care and that the Ponds will probably be with him until the end of him. Then Amy says it’ll be the other way round and there’s an awkward silence. Is Amy going to die? I really doubt it but I think to the Doctor she’ll effectively be dead, in a similar way to Rose and Donna are both living their lives but “died” at the end of a series all the same.

All in all a fun episode. It felt very much like Classic Who at times but with good CGI and prosthetics (top marks to the team for that, it looked incredible). Dinosaurs last appeared in Doctor Who properly in a Third Doctor story called “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” where toy dinosaurs were super-imposed onto London. It’s not supposed to be very good. Chris Chibnall wrote the episode after next as well which is great, though it’ll be very different to this one!