#impossible planet is the best 2 parter of doctor who

[chaoticrosesimp]

Drawing collab with the amazing artist TDS_whovirak of TenRose (impossible planet and Satan pit) They do amazing Doctor who fanarts , and they draw Ten amazing check them out on Twitter HERE

@TDS_whovirak (on twitter)

https://twitter.com/TDS_whovirak

(Rose was drawn by me and Ten was by @TDS_whovirak and then we did our own version of the coloring! )

[denimbex1986]

'...If there is one thing Whovians are known for, it’s being fiercely protective of their favourite Doctor.

Since Christopher Eccleston came aboard the TARDIS as the ninth Doctor in the 2005 reboot, the coveted role has been passed on to David Tennant as the 10th (and 14th) Doctor, Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor, Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor and finally, Jodie Whittaker, who made history as the first female Doctor.

Over the past 18 years and counting, we’ve seen these five Time Lord incarnations travel through time and space defeating deadly threats and ferocious foes with the help of their ever-rotating list of human companions...

8. Season 2 (David Tennant)

We can already hear angry fans hammering at the door for ranking Tennant’s second season so low, sorry not sorry! This season has some truly stellar episodes – for example, the existential nature of “The Impossible Planet” two-parter beautifully reflects on the place of faith and religion with in a sci-fi context.

We get werewolf Queen Victoria, the ever-iconic Cassandra, terrifying Cybermen, and “Love and Monsters” remains one of the most divisive episodes in NuWho history. No doubt, the tragic “Doomsday” finale – which sees Rose (Billie Piper) trapped in a parallel universe – will go down one of the most heartbreaking moments in the show’s history.

But it has its fair share of less impressive episodes (compared to higher ranking seasons), with a few worth a skip (I’m looking at you, “Fear Her”).

Best Episode: “The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit”

4. Season 3 (David Tennant)

We are back with more David Tennant, this time his season with Martha Jones (Freema Ageyman). Not only did Martha make history as the first full-time Black companion (and facing vitriol from racist fans) but she proved all the bigots wrong by having a completely magnificent run.

We got Shakespeare, a platoon of Judoon on the moon and a guest appearance from Andrew Garfield, but what truly set this season apart was its second half, which has the most rewatchable run of episodes in a row.

Kicking off with the “Human Nature” two-parter, we hit NuWho’s most name-dropped episode “Blink”, capped off with an epic finale (starring John Simm as the deliciously mad Master) and some Kylie Minogue just in time for Christmas in “Voyage of the Damned”. What a time to be alive.

Best Episode: “Blink”

1. Season 4 (David Tennant)

This is by far the most predictable season to top the list and with good reason. David Tennant’s final season as the 10th Doctor alongside companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) made for some of the most memorable episodes in the show’s history and incredible levels of rewatchability.

From the introduction of River Song in the heart-pounding “Silence in the Library” two-parter to magnificent stand-alone episodes such as “Midnight” and “Turn Left”, this is an almost no skips season (aside from “The Next Doctor”, sorry!).

To cap it all off, season four includes one of the most twisted (and creepy) episodes from the whole show, “The Waters of Mars”, plus Martha’s swan song and John Simm as the Master once again. 10/10, no notes.

No wonder fans were clamouring to see Tate and Tennant take over the screen again for the 60th anniversary specials!

Best Episode: “Midnight”'

[casasupernovas]

Part 2 of my Doctor Who post featuring Black and Biracial actors in the Russell T Davies Era of Doctor Who!

Next up, in Rise of the Cybermen we have Don Warrington as The President and Mona Hammond as Rita-Anne, Mickey's Aunt. Fun fact - Mona Hammond is actually Chinese and Jamaican!

After this we get The Satan Pit and Impossible Planet two parter, with Shaun Parkes as Zachary Cross Flane. David Tennant fans will also recognise him as Rocco from Casanova.

Next we have Kathryn Drysdale as Bliss in Love and Monsters.

Then we get Nina Sosanya as Trish, an actress who has worked with David Tennant sever times and was also in Casanova, and Abisola Agbaje as Chloe in Fear Her. We then get the best character in Doctor Who history, Abdul Salis as Kel the Council Guy.

Then we get the finale, Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, and the most significant of black actors in this show, and that's Freema Agyeman as Adeloa Oshodi who would later reappear two episodes later in Series 3...

Part 3 coming up!

[gingerteaonthetardis]

For the ask thingy: 2, 5, 11, 17, 22, 23, 34, 42, 57, 59, 60, 73, 85, 91, 93!

If you’re ok with that quantity of questions of course! No pressure!

whew, thank you!! this took me a little while to get through, but it was fun!

2. your age at the time of the revival?

i was twelve! but my parents were never into the show, and we didn't watch much tv anyway, so i didn't even know about doctor who until high school and i didn't actually watch it until it came to netflix when i was in college.

5. which dw character did you play on the playground?

i dressed up as the tardis for halloween one year and my partner dressed up as eleven. we looked very cute and i still have my blue onesie!

11. who is your doctor?

nine. unquestionably nine. i'm pretty sure i saw some episodes out of order—one with eleven first (which got me sort of tentatively interested), and then one with ten (which sparked some early-onset dt thirst), but when i finally decided to go back and start over with nine? that's when i fell in love with the show, and with the doctor, and with rose.

17. best multi-doctor story?

the one that exists in my head, lmao. no, but really, the fiftieth is the only one i've ever really sat down and watched and we all know how i feel about that...

22. favourite secondary companion?

does jack count? because i always love me some captain jack harkness. i'm so predictable. runner-up is c'rizz, though, again, i can't tell if he counts as secondary. i love my weird lil alien <3

23. least favourite companion?

it's a tie between clara and river. which bums me out, because i really do enjoy jenna coleman as an actress, and she's so lovely... just. neither of them are for me, alas.

34. best two-parter?

the impossible planet/the satan pit, absolutely top tier in terms of stakes, secondary casting, rose and the doctor dynamics, the introduction of the ood, the helmet kiss, the speech, the doctor opening up to a stranger as he descends into the pit... all of it's so good!!!!

42. favourite series?

series one my beloved <3

57. in your opinion, what makes a monster good?

this is such a hard question!! for me, monsters are at their best when they have the capacity to really take away your sense of self. possessions and body-snatchers really work for me. the gelth, the flood, the gas-mask people... i mean, it can obviously done in a silly way (see: the slitheen), but even that is just genuinely terrifying. for your body or some part of you to continue while your mind and memories are gone... and that taps into the sort of fundamental fear of the doctor themself, every time they regenerate. the pervasive threat of loss of identity is a core part of the show.

59. best dalek story?

dalek in series one. but then, robert shearman could write anything and i'd probably love it.

60. best one time villain/monster?

i'm a fan of the good old lupine wavelength haemovariform. so scary, and so sad.

73. favourite tardis design?

i am very, very partial to twelve's tardis. all the bookshelves... the sunken console area... the color palette... it's all very good.

85. monster you’d like to defeat/fight?

does the master count? i want to defeat them purely so they don't come back.

91. historical event would you like to see in dw?

i don't know about historical events, but i want the doctor to go back in time and kick margaret thatcher's ass so, so badly. nine being like, "did i not specifically mention the welfare state?" is exactly what i want to see.

93. who would you completely erase from the dw universe?

i mean... does it need saying?

[goth-dean]

So, here's why I think Rose and Dean are not the same, if you ready to discuss it. Biggest points of difference between them:

Dean's first reaction to the unknown is aggression or defense position, sometimes both. He is ready to fight at any given moment, and that's not only because of how his life is, it's definitely part of his personality, (because Sam, for example, has different reaction). Rose's reaction is always curiosity and kindness, she doesn't have that aggressive part in her, she only fights when it's absolutely necessary, as the last measure, even her season 4 version. She is in general a very peaceful person and it's one of her defining qualities.

One of the biggest parts of Dean's personality is his conflict with his own emotions, he feels too much and doesn't want to, he shuts down his own feelings, his brain literally erased/changed his own memory once because he couldn't deal with trauma. Rose, in my opinion, is one if the most emotionally stable characters in the whole of doctor who. While she feels a lot and is driven by her feelings, she has no conflict with them.

An important quality of both these characters is that they love very strongly, but they do it very differently. Dean's love and devotion to people is unfortunately often controlling in it's nature. For example he loves and protects Sam but he believes that it gives him the right to control his actions, sort of "I love you so I know what's best for you". But he also genuinely cares a lot, and not only about his brother and Cas, but about literally every person they get to know, he sees someone good and immediately assigns them part of his family. Rose's love is more selfless in a way, she is ready to do everything for people she chose to love, and has no desire to control them with her love. But at the same time she can be very careless in relation to other people in her life who love her, remember how she treats Mickey, for example. She is nice to everyone, but she doesn't get attached to a lot of people.

So while they sure have similar traits, as their bravery and confidence in some situations, and devotion and the giant force of their emotional attachment, for example, and they do some things that can be easily paralleled, still some key parts of their personalities are too distinctly different in my opinion to call them similar characters.

--

that all being said, I also definitely agree with you that the satan two-parter episode is in fact a good parallel to destiel plotlines, and we can also find other parallels because Dean and Rose have things in common, and this is quite interesting

This took me a long time to answer and required a lot of thinking, but here goes:

Ok, reactions to new/unknown. you have to factor in context, Dean's a hunter, Rose is just having a fun time traveling with the Doctor. Rose at times shows confusion/distaste for aliens (the end of the world and the ood in impossible planet) Dean shows distaste/ an urge to fight. obviously their reactions to new things would be different because the context is MASSIVELY different. and even though Dean does often feel the urge to fight/kill "monsters" he (in the later seasons especially) is shown to have some level of empathy for them and Rose is very empathetic. Also, Dean desires a peaceful life, he doesn't want to hunt and fight. I truly believe that if he had the chance to get out of hunting he would.

It's true that Dean represses his emotions and that Rose doesn't. but she is extremely emotional, same as Dean. she's impulsive, so is Dean. she doesn't handle it well when things don't go her way, neither does Dean. while Rose isn't really controlling of people she loves, she can BE controlling and is extremely bossy a lot of the time, particularly in series 2. in tooth and claw she organizes the prisoners to get away from the "werewolf", in the impossible planet/the satan pit she leads the crew. she can also be manipulative to the people she loves, forcing the Doctor to take her to see her dad, twice, even though he told her it was a bad idea, to Micky, making him come to Cardiff in boom town.

As far as Rose not getting attached to many people where Dean does, again consider context, Rose and the Doctor are traveling all of time and space, not much opportunity to have the "found family" that Dean does. Although she does convince the Doctor to let Adam tag along, but that doesn't end well. they also "adopted" Jack. she also does care deeply for the people she comes into contact with, even though she and the Doctor don't bring them along. Dean does this many times as well, think about all the people he’s met that he was shown to care about, but didn’t see again.

There's also a lot to the relationships between Rose and the Doctor and Dean and Cas. Like Rose leaving Jackie and Micky to travel with the doctor, and the way that dean will sometimes ignore Sam to spend time with Cas (the hamburgler conversation while Sam's trying not to drink demon blood, or dean being with cas while Sam's at the church with Crowley). the fact that both pairs have an extremely intense relationship that was most definitely at least somewhat romantic, yet not explicitly stated to be so until the very end.

Also, more similarities, for fun

"I've got a G.E.D. and a give 'em hell attitude" - Dean Sympathy For The Devil

"I've got no A levels, no job, no future, but I'll tell you what I have got, Jericho Street Junior School Under 7’s gymnastics team. I got the bronze" - Rose Rose

Deans reactions to being sexulized/touched/"manhandled" by demons

"Don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wonder you dirty old man!" - Rose The Unquiet Dead

Dean talking about women at any given time, but mostly him talking w/ Cas about April at the bar (I don’t remember the ep but hopefully you know what I'm talking about)

Rose talking to Gwen about boys in the Unquiet Dead

Dean not leaving Purgatory/selling his soul to save Sam/risking his life every five seconds to protect the people he loves

Rose going back for the doctor in the series 1 finale/refusing to leave in the Satan Pit

Dean gets stuck in the Bad Place

Rose gets stuck in Petes world (ok these aren't things they did, but they're things that HAPPENED to them so I'm gonna say it counts)

Rose and Dean are two sides of the same coin. of course there are going to be things that they do and react to in different ways. But that doesn't change the fact that they are VERY similar characters.They’re just living very different lives.

[hypexion]

Now that I’ve “reviewed“ all the modern Doctor Who episodes, it’s clearly time to make a Top Thirteen Episodes list! Except I haven’t given the episodes any kind of score, so ranking them is Clearly Impossible.

So instead I’ll just say which stories of each series was my favourite, which is basically the same thing, right? So let’s get right into it as I try to work out which episodes deserve the top spot and/or immediately pick a specific stand out story.

Series 1: It’s got to be Dalek. There are a few stand-out episodes in Series One, but Dalek is the best of the bunch. It really digs into what the Time War means for the Doctor and how it has transformed his relationship with his oldest enemy. Along with that, it also looks into what a Dalek really is, and how a creature made of hatred will ultimately destroy itself. It’s good stuff.

Series 2: The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit together create a surprisingly deep and at times terrifying story. It’s tense, it’s engaging, and unlike a lot of two-parters, almost nothing goes to waste. And as ridiculous as the Doctor defeating Satan with the power of belief in Rose Tyler might sound, The Satan Pit makes it work. Especially since Rose kills Satan. That’s canon!

Series 3: Yeah, it’s Blink. If I was just going on single episodes, The Family of Blood might grab the prize, but I don’t like it’s first part. Blink does have the weird quality of being incredibly unlike a regular Doctor Who episode, but it uses that to its advantage. Blink is a clever, self-contained story that plays around with time travel in a way that’s still understandable. The Weeping Angels provide a unique threat, with the ability to push the tension even when they’re not on screen.

Series 4: There’s something about Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead that works. Despite being an almost perfect warning of where things will be heading, the limited scope and primal fear provided by the Vashta Nerada pull things together into something better. While future episodes might taint it a little, by its own merits this story is razor-sharp, pulls no punches, and manages an intriguing mystery or three without falling apart from its own complexity.

10th Doctor Specials: The End of Time is the big ending for the RTD era, and it’s the best of the specials. Everything comes full circle with The Return of Rassilon and the Time Lords, the resurrection of the Master, and the Tenth Doctor’s final adventure. Plus there’s bonus Wilfred Mott action, which is always a treat. Sure, the ending drags a little, but it’s not just a farewell to a Doctor, but to an entire part of the show.

Series 5: If picking The Eleventh Hour as a favourite is cheating, then cheat I will! Something about this episode just made the Eleventh Doctor click with me. It’s all go go go from the beginning, with the Doctor tearing through things, defeating the baddies and acquiring the vital bowtie. A top introduction for a top character.

Series 6: The Doctor’s Wife makes the TARDIS into a character who can interact with everyone else. And it takes this one-in-a-continutiy shot and scores like a hundred points. It’s an eclectic mix of whimsy, darkness and just a pinch of horror, that comes together to make a powerful episode about a Madman and his Blue Box. Perhaps what makes The Doctor’s Wife so good is how obviously it could have gone so wrong, yet it didn’t.

Series 7: To me, A Town Called Mercy is the essential “Dark Doctor“ episode. Rather than all the pomp that episodes trying to focus on it use, A Town Called Mercy instead has a single moment of pure, unambiguous wrongness, when the Doctor throws Kahler-Jex out of the town to die. But unlike Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Girl Who Waited, this happens in the middle of A Town Called Mercy, meaning it actually has to be addressed. There’s a part of the Doctor who’s a killer, but in the end, that’s not who he is.

The Day of the Doctor: Hmm, somehow, The Day of the Doctor is the best episode in The Day of the Doctor. Weird. Must be a “timey-wimey“ thing!

Series 8: Oh no it’s gotta be Robot of Sherwood. “Good taste“ dicates I choose Mummy on the Orient Express or Flatline but the Doctor meeting Robin Hood and hating all of it is just too amazing. Like those other two episodes setup a lot of Twelve’s character but Robot of Sherwood has Robin Hood, robots, and Merry Men. Truly, we must embrace that Doctor Who has never been serious and pick Robot of Sherwood as a favourite.

Series 9: By process of elimination, my favourite pair here is Under the Lake and Before the Flood. This series is packed full of multi-parters, meaning the obvious contender of Heaven Sent gets dragged down by what it’s attached to. But hey, the Fisher King manages to be generally competent, and it all ties together quite nicely, unlike a lot of the time trickery type episodes. Plus they’re the only episodes that don’t feel like they’ve been mangled by the series gimmick, which helps.

Series 10: Thin Ice is a (mostly) fun little period piece, with bonus violence against a racist. It’s also got some really good characterisation for both the Doctor and Bill, with the spots of darkness in the episode spurring them on. And in the end, compassion wins, showing that even grumpy Twelve is a softy at heart.

Series 11: The Woman Who Fell to Earth is the best new Doctor episode since The Eleventh Hour, and it’s a bit above the rest of Series 11 as well. It gets right into the Doctor stuff, with Thirteen making a fighting start. Honestly the odd Doctors seem to be doing best, while the evens spend a lot of time sleeping. This episode also does a good job of juggling the three companions, which can’t hurt when the other episodes tend not to.

Series 12: It’s another wacky one with Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror. Honestly half the reason it gets the pick is that by the time it ends, everything in it is resolved. The rest of Series 12 is a mass of loose threads, which don’t all get tied off. On it’s own merits, however, it’s a punchy episode that feels very much like an RTD era adventure, with a cool mix of action and positivity. I think it stands on it’s own merits, even without the boost of the rest of the series being a bit of a mess.

Christmas: The Runaway Bride for Ten, because it’s got a nice bit of action, some fun bits and some sad bits, without being a total downer, and also Ten doesn’t spend most of the episode in a coma. For Eleven, I’m going to be weird and pick The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, mainly because Eleven’s Christmas episodes aren’t that great and this one is about the best of them. For Twelve, it’s Husbands of River Song, for being a fun time adventure that’s only marginally Christmas related, while also having some somber moments.

New Year: Thirteen would be sad to know she doesn’t get a Christmas special, but Resolution is close enough, and is actually one of the better modern Dalek episodes. Sure, it’s no Dalek, but it plays in a similar space and manages to make an unarmored Dalek a complete and total threat.

And those are my picks! Honestly it seems to be a pretty varied set of episodes, although it looks like “wacky historic“ is making a good showing. Also some episodes that are part of multi-part stories ended up suffering since they got attached to the rest of their stories. It’s not a very scientific process, so there’s probably no “favourite factor“ that could be distilled from these episodes, beyond “puts effort into making the premise work“, which seems more like a bare minimum than something special. I guess it’s notable that I didn’t pick any finales, but did pick two new Doctor episodes.

Maybe I’d have more conviction in my negative opinions?

[guardianreadersofthegalaxy]

Dom’s mini Who reviews - the rad episodes

Blink – Overrated? Yes. But I can’t deny how much this scared the crap out of 14 year old me. Moffat holds off on characterisation to focus on what he does best: stacking enough interesting sci-fi concepts on top of one another to fill 45 minutes of television.

Daleks In Manhattan/ Evolution Of The Daleks – Hugely underrated! Human Dalek Sec may have dicks on his head but I didn’t notice that at first. Huge credit goes to director James Strong, who does some really inventive camera work. The costume and set department too.

The Eleventh Hour – Matt Smith comes straight out of the gate with his quirky, unpredictable take on the Doctor. Moffat establishes the fairy tale tone of the series before pivoting into a more familiar, Davies-style invasion plot. My only complaint would be that the first 15 minutes feel like a prologue.

Flatline – The TARDIS shrinking is both a great opportunity for physical comedy and a way to save money by keeping Capaldi on one set. Pair that with a body horror, Lovecraftian alien design and Clara taking centre stage and you’ve got a really great, tense monster story.

The Girl In The Fireplace – This gets unfairly forgotten among Moffat’s early episodes. The clockwork droids are hella creepy and the juxtaposition of the space ship and Versailles is a great use of the show’s premise. The ‘love’ between the Doctor and Reinette does comes out of nowhere but Tennant and Myles do their best to sell it.

The God Complex – The hotel setting gives this a Shining-esque, claustrophobic atmosphere. The minotaur looks great and is wisely semi-obscured for most of the episode. The supporting cast are excellent, particularly Amara Karan. Best of all, there are real consequences for the Doctor’s relationship with Amy & Rory

The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit – NuWho’s first base under siege story and still one of the best. Like many Davies era two partners, all the good stuff’s in part 2. TIP focusses on setting the scene, getting you to care about the characters and building mystery. TSP is all payoff and boy is it good.

Mummy On The Orient Express – The Doctor goes a bit too Sherlock here for my liking, but his scenes with Clara are lovely, particularly the last one. The scenes with the Mummy are all brilliantly tense. I think they could have left it ambiguous as to whether the Doctor really saved everyone, but that’s a small gripe.

Oxygen – Another great base under siege with a horrific dystopian concept. Top notch satire and an anti-capitalist message. I’d say more but I need to save my breath.

Rise Of The Cybermen/ The Age Of Steel – Like Series 2’s other great two-parter, all the good stuff is in the second half. Still RotC does a good job establishing the world and teasing the Cybermen so it’s all the more satisfying when they show up. TAoS is a rip-roaring action story and Mickey’s departure actually beats those of many other companions.

Tooth & Claw – This doesn’t get nearly enough praise. It’s running down a corridor from a monster perfected. The shaky cam and spooky cinematography make for a great tone and Victoria’s stoicism contrasts brilliantly with The Doctor & Rose’s blasé attitude. Oh and the music rules.

Under The Lake/ Before The Flood – The production design and watery cinematography are all spot on. BTF does a nice riff on Prisoner of Azkaban. It’s an interesting change how the supporting characters have a chance to leave and actually decide to participate. The only drawback is it’s another Doctor-death fake out.

Utopia – What’s better than a man in a long coat sprinting down a corridor? Two men in long coats sprinting down a corridor! This deftly juggles so much, Jack’s reintroduction, a standalone story about humans at the end of time, the return of the Master and one of the best cliffhangers ever.

World Enough & Time/ The Doctor Falls – After five attempts, Moffat finally wrote a great finale. A trademark timey-wimey concept, body horror, the culmination of Missy’s arc and 12’s heroic last stand. My only issues are 12’s speech to the Masters (I don’t like speeches) and that TDF suffers from an over-extended runtime. But the gorgeous music makes up for that.

[an-american-whovian]

• The Story Thus Far:

This is the one that started it all fer me! The reason I bleed all things Doctor Who -- like my anus bleeds beer shits of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

My Series 2 review of NuWho (just rolls off the tongue).

• Goodbye, My Liveeer -- Goodbye, My Friend:

In all honesty, I don't know how it happened -- one day I came across a fan made Doctor Who video to James Blunt's 'Goodbye My Lover' on YouTube. More specifically, the episodes 'Army of Ghosts'/'Doomsday'.

It had that bit in which he asks, "How long are you going to stay with me?" To which she replies, "Forever." Then to see the whole conclusion with her getting sucked into a parallel universe/the stuff on Badwolf Bay all to that terrible song.

I was sold. (Mostly 'cause I was fresh off a break up, myself.)

• But I'm Getting Ahead of Myself:

As I watched all four minutes and twenty six seconds of that corny ass shit, I recalled Classic Who and asked myself, "Wasn't Doctor Who some big nosed dude with a long scarf and really bad special effects? Who's this hot bitch -- and the blonde!?"

Well, according to the nerds at Brainstorm Comics in Wicker Park, Chicago, it was this long running sci-fi series that had finally made a comeback after a long hiatus.

Then I remembered the TV Movie on Fox. That came and went like another one of their illfated shows, 'M.A.N.T.I.S.' (NO ONE ever remembers that one.) Then I remember as kid watching a different dude play the Doctor. This guy wore beige clothing and hung out with teens.

Total pedo' vibes.

Well, luckily fer me, those nerds at Brainstorm had a rental section and I proceeded to rent series two of NuWho -- 'cause i wanted to see how we got to that conclusion. (Then I proceeded to copy it onto VHS -- as was the fashion at the time.)

It was all downhill from there.

• Controversial Statement Up Ahead:

If a US network ever had the AUDACITY to do Who -- it would pro'ly look like this series (one could kinda say the same about series five, too). Handsome lead; hot companion. Easily to digest science fiction stories and culminating in a two part epic in which the hero fights off giant metallic salt shakers with plungers as they wage war against the British equivalent to the Borg. (Yea, I know -- Cybermen came first. I said it fer comparisons sake, ya nerd.)

Also, anyone remember that episode of 'Community' in which they do an American version of 'Inspector Spacetime'? They're TOTALLY supposed to be Tennant and Piper-esque. (The show would then go ahead and predict that the first female Doctor would go onto suck -- "but not because she's a woman".)

• Onto the Good Shit:

'The Christmas Invasion' is a fun festive romp -- that has the Doctor in it fer about ten minutes. Extra points fer 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' reference. It's, also, where I learned that out there they call baby oranges "satsumas". (Y'all are funny.)

'New Earth' brings back Cassandra from the series one story 'The End of the World' -- along with that giant head with dreads that lead into testicles known as The Face of Boe (love the enigmatic shit with him). The body switching stuff is fun; but how the Doctor saves the day is just plain lame. "Lemme dump all these cures into one giant concoction and bukkake this whole hospital!" *high fives all around!*

'School Reunion' brings back Sara Jane -- and till this day I use her "Everything has its time and everything ends" speech (almost to a fault). It's got Giles from 'Buffy' in it -- so that's dope. Be that as it may, I don't like how the kid takes credit fer blowing up the school at the end. Like, dude, eveyone's gonna think yer a prepubescent psycho.

'Girl in the Fireplace', The Cybermen two parter and 'The Impossible Planet'/The Satan Pit' are all time classics in my book. (Fun Fact: TO THIS DAY I refer to my basement as "The Satan Pit".)

• Controversial Statement Part Deux:

I don't hate 'Love & Monsters'. 😳 Like, I think Elton insinuating at the end that he skull fucks a slab of cement with his girlfriend's face is pretty fucked up and the Abzobaloff looks like it was designed by a child (oh, wait, it was) -- it's still a lot of fun and a different take on a Doctor Who story. (DW is ALWAYS at its best when it takes chances!)

Like, ELO is prominently featured in the episode. How can anyone hate that!?

• All Filler and No Thriller:

'Tooth & Claw' is just too boring to even talk about. I can't even remeber a characters name or which Queen was ruling at the time.

'Fear Her' HAS TO BE one of the worst episodes -- EVER. The less said about it the better.

• Let's Cut This Short -- Like the Doctor Gets Cut Off on Rose:

Series two isn't as great as series one; but it's not too far off. Yea, jokes are gonna be dated like bad CGI werewolves. Deal with it. Have you ever seen 'Warriors of the Deep'!?

It's all worth while fer a balls to the wall finale.

"You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?", asks a Cyberman.

"We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You are superior in only one respect."

"What is that?"

"YOU ARE BETTER AT DYIIIIIING.", adds the Dalek. *DROPS MIC!*

Finally, don't tell me you dont get all chocked up when Ten tells Rose, "I'm inside the TARDIS. There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close; and it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I'm in orbit around a supernova.

I'm burning up a sun just to say good bye." 😭

ALL THE STARS AND FRESHLY ROTTEN TOMATOES.

• Epilogue; i.e. Controversial Statement No. 3:

Are Timelords low key pedos!? Like, the Doctor is over 900 years old at this point and Rose is, like, 19 or 20.

Talk about a midlife crisis, bruh.

[doctorhoe]

Season two! 😊

my favourite episode

definitely 'the impossible planet'/'the satan pit'. everything — from the visuals (minus the CGI satan) to the dialogue is beautiful. it also contains my favourite tenrose quote (you know the one.)

my least favorite episode

the girl in the fireplace. it just sucks, let's leave it at that.

a moment that made me cry

doomsday, obviously. but also the cybermen two parter when mickey and rose go into different directions and the doctor has to choose who to follow even though we all (especially mickey) already know who he is going to choose. and I cried like a baby when mickey left.

a moment that made me laugh

that dungeon scene in new earth where the doctor is possessed by cassandra never fails to crack me up honestly.

my opinion on the finale

I hate how I keep hearing that 'people just like it because of the nostalgia'. like.....THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT. rtd managed to create a character that we as an audience loved and that was why that episode was so moving. that's literally not a bad thing. what I'm saying is that this finale is one of the best and it shows in how well remembered it is to this day. it left an impact few episodes have.

my favourite character arc

I LOVE mickey's character arc in season 2 but I still gotta go with rose: she truly starts believing that she can be with the doctor forever, and I love how everyone is telling her that it just can not go on like this but she ignores it. she never tells the doctor how she feels because she thinks she has time – forever. and that ending with them them only having two minutes left to say all that is left to be said is just beautifully tragic. did I mention just HOW great doomsday is?

[redflost]

Rewatched ‘The Impossible Planet’/‘Satan Pit’ Doctor Who 2 parter and it’s just absolutely incredible. Its delving into concepts of faith and belief are nuanced. It’s got really great characters who feel like a proper crew. It’s genuinely scary, there are moments that chill me to my core. The music is Murray Golds best, it’s old and eerie and sets a tone immediately. And even though you know that in the end they will get out and be fine, the stakes feel real. I could see this as a stand-alone Sci-Fi movie in itself. It’s genius. #doctorwho https://www.instagram.com/p/CBtu3y7p7J9/?igshid=p9u9jcy8af9

[isagrimorie]

The Doctor Who showrunner wars is still in full swing despite the three Doctor Who showrunners being friends IRL, and some things they’ve done and implemented can all boil down to preference.

I wanted to weigh in with my thoughts on this.

I like some things RTD did in his time in Doctor Who, I am very grateful to him for bringing the show back from the war but I also remember slowly getting disgruntled with his writing.

He is a drama writer, and one of the best; RTD has a way of turning a phrase that just fires up the imagination like:“Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been-King with his army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres.”

He has also written and help re-write my favorite two-parter of Revival!Who Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, Midnight, Turn Left, and Children of Earth. The problem is as much as he loves both camp (sometimes the results can work, sometimes it doesn’t), RTD’s cynicism does leak through.

He tried to fight against those instincts in Doctor Who but you can see the strain show as he struggled to keep that cynicism away from the show.

There’s also the part where his frequent joke targets are middle aged women. And TBH, I was tired of Ten’s God Complex (“I am the final authority!”) and how the narrative rarely call him out on it. Unlike Nine, he started to believe his own press and the press of other people

I wasn’t keen on the way he joked about appearances of women above thirty, and tbh, I was tired of Ten’s God Complex (“I am the final authority.”) and how the narrative refused to call him out on it.

Ten believing his own press could have been interesting if the narrative didn’t think he was right. For example, The Water of Marscould have been interesting but I thought WoM resolved Ten’s Time Lord Victorious moment far too soon and easily.

I thought they could have explored more about the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ moment for at least another episode, or have The End of Time comment on it.

Apart from series 1, all of RTD’s series finales were heart-wrenching; each finale I ended up feeling like I was going twenty rounds against a meat grinder.

It was why I loved and will continue to love series 5 and how refreshingly happy the ending was.

No one was trapped in another dimension! No one had to single-handedly stop an apocalypse and have their family enslaved, or mind-wiped.

In the scheme of things, I think in certain aspects, Moffat’s storytelling style is more on line with my tastes. The fairytale seasons. Even Twelve becomes a fairytale Doctor, and I wager that his arc in series 8 is remembering the joy and becoming the fairytale Doctor again.

Another reason why I love series 5, coming directly from Ten’s Lonely God thing, was that a lot of people called out the Doctor on their God Complex and made their self-loathing a lot more text. I also loved the fairy tale aspect of his seasons.

But like with RTD not everything Moffat’s done is my favorite, there were some stories that had missteps, and one of those missteps was Moffat trying to out clever himself. Credit to him for swinging for the fences but he also started to spread himself too thin working on two shows, and the seams showed.

One of the criticisms about Moffat’s writing is character work, and he had no interest in the Companions’ families.

I’m in the middle. I have issues but also (especially after rewatching) I was more forgiving, as an example, in the end I didn’t care as much about the state of Amy’s parents.

No, that’s wrong, I did care.

I cared the first time I watched Angels Take Manhattan, I cared so much that when Amy and Rory disappeared I was so angry because all I could think about was Amy’s parents and Brian (Rory’s dad). I cared to the point that it was one of the reasons why I stopped watching.

On subsequent rewatches, I’ve reconciled with the idea that Companion families and family dynamics (the Companion’s parents) isn’t something Moffat was interested in. It took Chibnall to give Rory a dad (interesting that parent-child dynamic is really something Chibnall is drawn to).

Honestly, if family dynamics isn’t something he is interested in, that’s fair. Also, Amy’s parent’s weren’t a factor since series 6 and Amy’s parents might have well fallen back into the Crack for all we know.

Rewatching also helped me come to terms with some narrative choices I wasn’t fond of. Binge (re)watch tended to sand down any rough parts and I find rewatching can help me hold the shape of a story more.

Still, it took a while to realize Eleven acting big and bombastic was deliberate. Moffat needed Eleven to be big and loud, and full of himself so he can also go crashing down. It falls in line with what River describes the Doctor she knew: “Now my Doctor, I’ve seen whole armies turn and run away. And he’d just swagger off back to his Tardis and open the doors with a snap of his fingers.”

One of the things I wasn’t satisfied with Moffat’s writing (and there were plenty) was how series 6 dealt with child loss. Or, how s6 initially didn’t deal with child loss. The writing would eventually address it, and most prominently in The Wedding of River Song in a fantastically chilling scene between Amy and Kovarian.

But even then I felt it wasn’t enough. Emotional continuity during this time was very low.

This brings me to River. I loved her the moment she stepped on screen in Silence in the Library but my love for her character cooled because of series 6. My theory is Moffat wrote himself into a corner trying to out grand series 5.

For those taking notes at home, I watched Doctor Who sporadically during series 7 and then stopped watching at Angels Take Manhattan. I stopped watching until Day of the Doctor happened.

**DotD* reignited my love for Doctor Who! So much so that I went back and binged series 7.

I liked s7 well enough except for how Amy and Rory left, that still sticks in my craw. I would have been okay if the Ponds left at the end of the Power of Three. Unfortunately, for Revival!Who, there’s an expectation now that Leaving Stories should be hard and tragic, and breaks your heart. I don’t always need grand leaving stories.

TBH, with the exception of The Day of the Doctor, Series 7B is one of my least favorite Moffat seasons.

One of the many factors was the way the writers kept giving Matt Smith big speeches. The writers know he can do big speeches so they kept writing big speeches for him. It was their default.

Also, as one podcast speculated series 7B could have been where the writers realized (belatedly) that Smith was actually quite hunky. This and Moffat being too busy to manage the next half of the season because of The Day of the Doctor can explain the disaster that was the Time of the Doctor.

TotD remains as one of my least favorite Doctor Who episodes ever. (Well, not ever, there are some series 2 and 3 episodes that stand above it).

And then the Capaldi era.

This was the turn around where I started loving Moffat’s work again. It wasn’t easy to get to that point though, and like the previous series, there was a time I fell off the Doctor Who wagon because the first half of Capaldi’s season didn’t click with me.

I found him far too mean and unlikable which broke my heart since I loved Capaldi.

But a binge, again, sanded down all sins (well, notall) and now the difficult and prickly series 8 is something I really enjoy because knowing where Twelve ended up in his character journey helped.

This is why, I don’t mind getting spoiled about a show, as long I only get the broad strokes but not the details. I love finding out what his journey was and I don’t think I would have come back if I didn’t know where he ended up.

I think I saw snippets of Zygon Inversion speech on YouTube, and then I decided to give Husbands of River Song convinced me to finally watch all of Twelve’s run.

And now Twelve is my favorite Doctor.

Moffat’s writing didn’t magically become perfect (to me) but I loved the themes he chose to tackle for Twelve. Twelve is another PTSD!Doctor but unlike Nine, he had an opportunity to grow from that trauma. (And get fresh ones — thanks Time Lords!).

I love that Moffat used Twelve’s stories as a way to interrogate Ten’s stories culminating in Heaven Sent/Hell Bent.

IMO, Twelve’s relationship with Clara is similar to Rose and Donna. Twelve and Clara developed quite a co-dependent relationship by the time series 9 rolled around. They never quite achieved the height of smugness that was the first minutes of Impossible Planet nor have they ever been as obnoxious as Ten and Rose were in Tooth and Claw. Possibly because the Doctor’s older at this point and knows the perils, and similar to Donna because of how Donna kept Ten grounded. And, of course, because of the mindwipe argument that was definitely Moffat’s answer to the mindwiping of Donna, and as Moffat said in the War Games commentary, to the mindwipe of Zoe and Jamie.

And then we have Bill with Twelve, showing the very final form of the Twelfth Doctor. Twelve as a grown-up, feeling settled with himself, finally. He learned a lot of lessons and committed himself to stay in one place.

I love the relationship he built with Bill and while I do love, love, love Jodie Whittaker, I was sad to have only one season of Bill and Twelve. Especially since after Lie of the Land Missy’s story began to have more prominence over Bill’s.

(And there’s the whole Missy thing which tbh would make this a longer post than it already is!).

TLDR. Both showrunners aren’t perfect, sometimes their views don’t align with mine. I loved series 1 because it was my entry point into Doctor Who but there are also things about RTD’s run I wasn’t happy with. Same with Moffat there were things I adored and things that really didn’t sit well with me.

There were points during both showrunner’s time on the show I had to take time off.

Now with Chibnall, the same thread runs through: I like most of his stories in series 11 but it also isn’t perfect and has a lot of room for improvement.

/EDITED

[ploppythespaceship]

Doctor Who Rewatch - Series 2

Good Things:

Whenever there’s a poll to see which Doctor fans think is the best, David Tennant is nearly always in the top three. There’s a reason for that. He’s practically flawless in the role.

Rose and Nine had excellent chemistry, but Rose and Ten kick it off the charts. You can tell that David Tennant and Billie Piper are genuinely very close friends.

I also felt the series had just the right amount of romantic undertones, so you could tell there was something there without it taking over the entire show.

The cinematography and audio mixing have noticeably improved from the previous series.

As ever, Murray Gold’s score is perfection. Each character has a distinct theme, as do the episodes, and it all ties together in such a wonderful way. This wouldn’t be the same show without his score.

I love Sarah Jane’s return and how it’s handled. Classic fans will love seeing her back, while new fans can appreciate the character with the context they’re given. Setting her up as a parallel to Rose is excellent for their character development as well.

Mickey’s entire arc is lovely.

Rose’s departure is absolutely gutting -- in the best way. It’s so fitting for both characters and it’s so, so good.

Best Episodes:

“School Reunion” - as I’ve said, I love Sarah Jane’s return, and the story is simple but effective. It also gives Mickey a chance to shine. Plus, Anthony Stewart Head is always a bonus.

“Rise of the Cybermen” / “The Age of Steel” - I love the use of the alternate universe, and how the Cybermen are played as truly horrifying. The classic show made them so cheesy that it was easy to forget how disturbing the concept is.

“Army of Ghosts” / “Doomsday” - well written, fun to follow along with, and absolutely heartbreaking. Honestly, standing ovation for these episodes.

Bad Things:

The editing is still a bit goofy. So many scenes are edited quickly, like they’re fight scenes or something. It’s odd.

The CG is also pretty bad, and a lot of the plots rely on it quite heavily. “School Reunion” and “The Satan Pit” stand out the most for this.

While I love Sarah Jane’s return, I don’t like how she and Rose bicker all the time, with “the missus and the ex” dynamic. It’s much better when they actually get along.

As touching as Rose’s departure is, there’s quite a few plot holes. How did Pete know precisely when to show up? Why wasn’t Pete drawn into the void like his daughter? The editing for the scene is also pretty abysmal. A lot of the cuts just don’t match.

While the lead in to the Christmas special (Donna showing up on the TARDIS) is funny, it does cut the very emotional moment short and feels awkward. It would have been better to let the episode end on the sad note and start the special with Donna appearing on the TARDIS later.

Worst Episodes:

“The Christmas Invasion” - the last fifteen minutes of this episode are perfect, but the rest of the episode is very boring. No one’s actions affect the plot in any way, and Rose is absolutely insufferable for the duration.

“The Girl in the Fireplace” - I used to love this one, but it fell very flat for me on rewatch. It tries to sweep you away with its Moffat-y charm and brilliant dialogue, but there’s very little real substance to it. The Doctor’s relationship with Reinette is very forced, and Rose and Mickey get jack shit to do (which, considering it’s Mickey first adventure on the TARDIS and his only one before his departure episode, shouldn’t be the case). It’s not an awful episode by any means, but it’s certainly over hyped.

“The Impossible Planet” / “The Satan Pit” - these ones start off with some excellent world building and character establishment, to the point where you think it’ll be fucking brilliant. But the farther along the story goes the more dull it becomes. The supernatural overtones don’t work for me, and the pacing is far too slow. A poignant discussion about faith here and there can be incredibly profound, but I swear it takes up half of this story. So while there’s a few phenomenal scenes, overall this two parter falls flat.

“Love & Monsters” - oh good grief. This one’s garbage. We’re thrown into the life of a character we don’t care about, and the cheesiness is just taken too far for anything to be taken seriously. The best parts of the episode are the scenes with Jackie Tyler -- which begs the question, why wasn’t the whole episode about Jackie? That could have been an excellent episode, rooted in a character we already care about. Not this random guy.

[lunawho47]

30 Days of Doctor Who Challenge

Day 2: Your Favorite Episode of Classic Who

I’m going to assume that with this topic they actually are referring to my favorite serial and not my favorite singular episode.  My favorite serial of Classic Who is the final serial of the Second Doctor: the ten parter entitled “The War Games,” by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke.  This is the longest serial that the BBC has all the episodes archived; while the First Doctor serial of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” is twelve episodes, it’s also missing most of them.

Now, most would probably say that while the beginning and ending of The War Games are some of the best episodes of the Second Doctor era, that the serial itself is way too long and the middle episodes are a drag to get through.  I would argue (obviously).  For one, we meet yet another of the Doctor’s species in this serial (we had previously met The Meddling Monk in the First Doctor era) in the character of the War Chief, but interestingly, this fellow member of the Doctor’s race answers to an even higher authority.  The villain in this serial is one we never come across again -- the War Lords.  And it is through the Time Lords’ response to the atrocities committed by the War Lords that we get our first glimpse of exactly how powerful the Doctor’s previously unknown alien race truly is.  We never see the War Lords again in Doctor Who because the Time Lords punish them for their crimes by writing the entire planet out of existence and making it so they never were in the first place.  

In addition to learning not only how powerful the Doctor’s people are (as well as what their race is called, as the final episode of The War Games is the first time the Time Lords are mentioned by name), I find myself always drawn into this story simply because of the nature of its topic.  The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are drawn into the adventure when they land in what appears to be the trenches of World War I.  In trying to escape after being put before a firing squad as “spies,” they find themselves running from a Roman legion.   As time goes on, they begin to discover that battlefields from all of the Earth’s wars throughout history have been brought to another location and put together side by side in different “war zones” in order to better understand the best battle strategies for the warrior race of the War Lords.

Throughout the course of the story, we see glimpses of the American Civil War, the Jacobites in Scotland, Roman legionnaires, we meet Pancho Villa, we see soldiers try and charge across No Man’s Land in WWI.  It is, truly, an insanely in-depth serial that ends in a way that is almost impossible to predict.  I mean, if I was a viewer in 1969, I would never have guessed that by the end, we would be seeing what the Doctor’s home planet looked like or that the Doctor would be as afraid of his own people to the extent that he was.  And when you think about the fact that this ten episode serial was a last minute story that Dicks and Hulke were only told they would have to write a mere 3 weeks before production was due to start and...well, the fact that it’s as well done as it is, is almost mind boggling.

While I sometimes can’t re-watch this one as much as I would like, due to its length, I always enjoy it when I can find the time to sit down with it again.  It was a great ending for the Second Doctor’s run, and so much of the basic lore that we associate with the show today was first brought into existence with the final episode of this serial.  So, thanks Dicks and Hulke.

[the-desolated-quill]

The Hungry Earth - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

The day Steven Moffat announced he was finally going to relieve us of our torment and leave the show for good, my reaction was mixed to say the least. On the one hand, yes that bastard is no longer going to be ruining one of my favourite shows, but on the other hand he’s being replaced by Chris Chibnall. A writer who’s almost as incompetent as Moffat and has written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who and its god awful spinoff series Torchwood. (And to those who occasionally ask me if I’m going to be reviewing Torchwood at some point, the answer is a definitive no. I have got other things to do, you know. Stop pestering me). While he has earned some of my respect since then by casting Jodie Whitaker as the first female Doctor (and about time too), I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t deeply concerned about the quality of the show moving forward.

I mention this because this two parter, The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood, was written by Chris Chibnall and I feel perfectly demonstrates all of his weaknesses and shortcomings as a writer.

In a small Welsh village in the year 2020, some scientists have drilled deep into the Earth’s crust, further than anyone has ever done before. But something is drilling up to the surface to meet them and has left some bio-programmed dirt (just go with it). Some guy called Mo, upon seeing this suspicious patch of dirt with steam coming out of it, does what any smart, sensible person would do and sticks his hand in it.

So he gets dragged underground, and soon enough Amy joins him in an admittedly tense scene where the Doctor desperately tries to hold on to her.

From there, this giant energy dome thing seals the village off from the outside world and the whole thing becomes a bog standard base under siege story. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with a base under siege story. It’s just the base under siege story has been done so often in Doctor Who now that it’s hard not to let your eyes glaze over while you’re watching it. Of course it’s possible to revitalise the base under siege narrative, like The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit did, but The Hungry Earth most certainly doesn’t. So the whole thing was a bit of a snoozefest for me if I’m honest. Everything you think is going to happen does happen and with an extra dose of stupidity. 

The Doctor tells everyone to set up shop in the church, but wouldn’t the TARDIS be safer? I know you can’t fly it because of the energy dome thing, but surely it’s better than a church. Then he gets everybody to set up a security surveillance network that covers the entire village in 8 minutes flat, which is remarkably daft even by Doctor Who’s standards, and it never goes anywhere. Then he gives Ambrose a strict telling off about her rather sensible decision to stockpile weapons. Sigh. I think I’ve mentioned numerous times before how much I despise New Who’s pacifist bullshit considering that the Doctor has always been pretty violent and has frequently used guns before despite claims to the contrary. I wouldn’t mind except the Doctor then completely contradicts himself a few minutes later. How is knocking the Silurians out with a sonic pulse any less violent than hitting them over the head with a cricket bat? And then, after bonding with the kid Elliot, he stupidly lets the kid run off to fetch his headphones just two minutes before the Silurians are due to arrive. What a pillock! Not that I was upset to see Elliot get taken. He’s a bland, one dimensional kid whose only character trait is he’s got dyslexia. Also I can’t fucking stand children. Especially fictional children. if I was there, not only would I hand Elliot over to the Silurians, I’d offer to gift wrap him for them as well. (Yes I am an arsehole. How did you know?).

Yes The Hungry Earth sees the return of classic series ‘monsters’ the Silurians, and my God do I wish Chris Chibnall wasn’t writing a Silurian story.

The thing is the Silurians have only ever had one good story, Doctor Who And The Silurians, way back in the Jon Pertwee era, and it was phenomenally good. A seven part serial that’s nuanced, morally complex and with a truly shocking ending that cemented the Doctor’s frosty relationship with UNIT. It’s one of my all time favourite Doctor Who stories and I recommend everyone should watch it. In all honesty, I’d have been okay if the Silurians never came back after that because it was a truly brilliant one shot story, but if we must keep bringing them back, they could at least find some way of moving the story forward. Instead all the BBC ever seem to do is just repeat the same story over and over again to diminishing returns. The Sea Devils was basically the same as Doctor Who And The Silurians only without the moral complexity, the reptiles now emerging from underwater rather than underground, and the pantomime villain the Master was in it for virtually no reason. Warriors Of The Deep tried to use the Silurians and Sea Devils to make a Cold War allegorical narrative that really didn’t work. And now here we are with The Hungry Earth. So this is the fourth time they’re telling story now and I’m sure you all know the drill (no pun intended). Reptiles want their planet back. Humans don’t want to give it back. Whatever shall the Doctor do? Been there, done that, got the T shirt.

Now let’s quickly address the elephant in the room. The new look for the Silurains. For the benefit of @captainivyb and others who may not be familiar with the classic series, this is what the original Silurians looked like:

YYYYYYeah. What can I say? It was the 1970s. But Doctor Who And The Silurians is still good, honest!

The new makeup definitely looks more convincing than the original Silurians, but I’m not too fond of it. They just look a bit too human for my liking. Couldn’t they at least have kept the third eye?

A definite highlight for me was seeing the Doctor interrogating Alaya, the Silurian they take hostage. It’s a really good two hander between Matt Smith and Neve McIntosh, who both add a lot of dramatic weight to a scene that, let’s be honest, doesn’t really deserve it. The reason Doctor Who And The Silurians worked so well was because all of the characters, human and Silurian, were well written and complex. It wasn’t a simple case of good vs evil. Both sides had a point and both sides do horrible things to the other, motivated either by fear or self preservation. Chibnall tries to replicate this here, but he’s not doing a very good job so far. While McIntosh gives a good performance with the material she’s been given, the character of Alaya is boringly one note. A rabid zealot with no sympathetic qualities whatsoever. The humans too are drawn with very broad strokes. Most of them aren’t even remotely interesting and despite the Doctor insisting that they can just trade hostages and everything will be okay, they’re still talking about dissecting Alaya. There’s no slow buildup or anything. No nuance or depth. They just jump straight to the most violent option. So much for showing the best of humanity. Frankly I’m amazed the Doctor still thinks a peace can be brokered between the two species considering this is the fourth time he’s tried to do this now and it’s always ended in disaster.

The only character I gravitated towards in any way was Nasreen, played by Meera Syal from The Kumars At No. 42. I enjoyed her open mindedness and scientific curiosity, and right from the off both she and the Doctor seem to have a mutual respect for each other. And Syal is always a ton of fun to watch in everything she’s in. In fact I liked her so much that at the time I may or may not have written Doctor Who fanfic with her as the companion... Well I’d sit down and watch that.

So that was The Hungry Earth. Bit dull and uninspired, but maybe things will get better in Part 2, right?