Fourteenth Doctor Review

Fourteenth Doctor

Fourteenth Doctor

Doctor: The Fourteenth Doctor

Companions: Melanie Bush, Donna Noble, Wilfred Mott, Kate Stewart

The Fourteenth Doctor era brings back David Tennant, and the justification why is shockingly shaky. However, David Tennant continues to show why he’s one of the best.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Wild Blue Yonder: 10/10

Liberation of the Daleks: 9/10

The Star Beast: 8/10

The Giggle: 8/10

So, RTD chose to bring back David Tennant, not just as the Tenth Doctor again, but as a full regeneration of the Doctor. Was it worth it putting Tennant’s face twice in the line-ups of Doctors? Honestly, despite the quality stories and I think the greatest Doctor costume of all time, I’m not so sure. The reason posited that this face came back was that the Doctor needed to go to rehab by living the quiet life with Donna while Gatwa has all of the Doctory-Doctor stuff covered. Despite paying as much homage as possible to the Moffat and Chibnall eras, the effect is that it appears the Doctor went through everything they did as Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker…and chose to return to this form as Tennant. Simply too much revolves around Tennant in the show now, and unless the scales are balanced later, his figure looms so large that I think it creates too much issues. Still, I’m not that upset with it for one obvious reason: Tennant is such an exceptional Doctor. Him and Donna might be my second favorite companion duo only behind the unimpeachable heights of Capaldi/Clara.

Now, his best moments.

5. Got to give a shout-out to Liberation of the Daleks and the Doctor’s uniting of all the dream-Daleks and dismissal of Georgette at the end was classic.

4. Deducing the truth behind the eponymous giggle in The Giggle was some classic Doctor-detecting that was Tennant at his best.

3. In Wild Blue Yonder, the Doctor’s discussion with NotDonna revealing his trauma from the Flux and the Timeless Child gave me some faith in the second RTD era.

2. The Doctor having to bring back Donna thinking he’s going to kill her in The Star Beast is so heartbreaking and well-played by Tennant.

1. “Oh, I think you’ll find we’re really quite something!” The delivery of this line leading into the chase and first analysis of the Not-Things is excellent.

In the end, this ends up as the highest-rated Doctor era ever! Quality tends to win out. I just wonder if a decade from now we’ll look at the Fourteenth Doctor as an aberration, something that flowered into a beautiful re-opening of the show’s history, or an entertaining but ultimately wrong-hearted misfire. Time will tell, it always does…

8.75/10 The best Doctor Who era ever apparently!

Eighth Doctor Review

Eighth Doctor

Eighth Doctor

Doctor: The Eighth Doctor

The Eighth Doctor era consists of a mess very un-Doctor Who television movie, then a coda that reawakened him to a new generation

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Night of the Doctor: 8.5/10

Doctor Who: The Movie: 7/10

Paul McGann is a paradox, at once he is the least seen Doctor on screen but is also the most covered in expanded media. Two decades of audio stories have well proven what a great Doctor he has turned out to be, and the reinvention of the character with short hair and a darker look has proven to be a smash hit. Not included here are his three audio stories for Time Lord Victorious, which are a good showcase for his character development. Ultimately on screen, the TV Movie proved to be more of an exercise in what not to do.

Now, his best moments.

5. McGann’s utter sarcastic contempt to the Sisterhood of Karn when they first arrive to present him with the regenerative elixir is a lot of fun.

4. The Doctor remembering Gallifrey and running around like a lunatic, kissing Grace for no reason is a lot of fun. Then he phases through a glass door!

3. His gambits with the Daleks in Mutually Assured Destruction are excellent, from taunting the Scientist floating around in zero-G to setting up the Strategist, McGann is on great form here every step of the way. Yes, I’m counting some TLV in here.

2. Every time in the tv movie when the Doctor somehow knows about the future of the people he meets, it’s a very weird power but McGann delights in it.

1. The final lines of ‘physician, heal thyself’ are perfect, a fitting capper to a performance as the Doctor that has decades left in it on audio.

Paul McGann has become a cult favorite Doctor, and with his recent appearance in The Power of the Doctor, he’s not going away any time soon.

7.75/10 Trust me, go check out some EU

Thirteenth Doctor Review

Thirteenth Doctor

Thirteenth Doctor

Doctor: The Thireenth Doctor

Companions: Tegan Jovanka, Ace McShane, Captain Jack Harkness, Kate Stewart, Yasmin Khan, Graham O’Brien, Ryan Sinclair, Dan Lewis, Vinder

Jodie Whittaker shattered our expectations for who the Doctor could be portraying the first female Doctor. Sadly, her era never figured out what it wanted to do with all that promise and optimism until it was far too late.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Demons of the Punjab: 10/10

Rosa: 9.75/10

Eve of the Daleks: 9.5/10

The Ghost Monument: 9.25/10

The Haunting of Villa Diodati: 9.25/10

Fugitive of the Judoon: 9/10

Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children: 9/10

Can You Hear Me?: 9/10

Kerblam!: 9/10

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos: 8.9/10

Spyfall: 8.9/10

Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror: 8.75/10

The Power of the Doctor: 8.6/10

Praxeus: 8.5/10

Resolution: 8.3/10

Flux: 8.25/10

Legend of the Sea Devils: 8/10

Revolution of the Daleks: 8/10

Arachnids in the UK: 8/10

It Takes You Away: 8/10

The Woman Who Fell To Earth: 7.5/10

The Witchfinders: 7.5/10

Orphan 55: 7.5/10

The Tsuranga Conundrum: 6/10

Future Doctor Who fans will look back and recognize the heavy lift Jodie Whittaker had to convince us that the Doctor could be a woman. Even liberal fans were unconvinced, but there was no doubt she was absolutely the Doctor. Still, she ranks as one of my least favorite incarnations, because I just found her too bubbly and motor-mouthed. Compared to the brooding intensity of the Twelfth Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor couldn’t have been more different, bursting with life. Series 11 tried to start this way with a fresh look at the universe, but too many of the stories were mediocre or bad. Some think almost every episode was hideously bad, I disagree, most were mediocre but even more importantly the show just couldn’t deliver those exhilarating and emotional climaxes that made so many of us love Doctor Who. The best story was the depression examination of fanaticism and the price of the partition of India in Demons of the Punjab, very different from eras best episodes being roller-coaster thrill rides like The Eleventh Hour or Mummy on the Orient Express. Another fatal flaw was bringing three companions along for the ride, Bradley Walsh’s veteran acting skills as Graham made his character immediately the most compelling while Yaz often got left out due to Graham and Ryan being family. Yaz finally emerged once they left showing us her potential in Flux and the 2022 specials, but it was too little too late.

Another factor working against this era was everything utterly changed, even more drastically than the RTD to Moffat handover. The aspect ratio changed, the cinematography was completely different, the famous ear-blastingly loud Murray Gold music was replaced by the subtler Segun Akinola. Combined with Series 11 not having a single returning monster, then things like the Master not even mentioning Missy once going right back to being evil, you’d be forgotten for thinking this was a brand new show. Even more baffling was Chibnall deciding to commit hard to add completely unneeded mythos into the story with the Doctor being the ‘timeless child’, the mysterious originator of regeneration whose gifts were exploited to build Gallifrey. Oh, Gallifrey also got off-screened which wasn’t a huge loss for me but was a weird decision. Things got better in Flux with actually interesting Gallifrey-backstory reveals like the primeval war between ‘space’ and ‘time’ and how Gallifrey conquered time. Chibnall wanted to restore the Doctor’s mystery, but the Doctor’s early history was already plenty mysterious. What’s so aggravating is the other new addition, Jo Martin’s wonderful Fugitive Doctor in my mind actually does restore a lot of mystery to the Doctor! There’s seemingly another Doctor out there in a police box and they don’t recognize each other! What’s even going on? Are there tons more Doctors out there? To me, that is a good story.

So where does that leave Jodie Whittaker? I think she had an incredibly hard job and also has been a hell of an ambassador for the show, she’s already asking for when she came back. I hope to see her (and hear her in Big Finish) for a long time to come. Still, I don’t think her motormouth performance is entirely without blame for the disappointing quality of the era, there a lot of moments where you can’t help but think David Tennant would’ve somehow made this work. On the other hand, the whole Thirteenth Doctor storyline was her struggle to understand her own identity and feeling constantly at sea with the developments around her. Some have said her characterization is sexist, I would disagree and also point out how Eccelston’s Ninth Doctor famously never is the one to save the day in his season. Still, it is difficult to point to a punch the air moment for her Doctor with the most embarrassing being Ko Sharmus leaving her off the hook in The Timeless Children. In the end, the Chibnall era just failed to live up to the high standards set previously. Reviewing something only watching it once and lost in the hype is difficult, my score for The Timeless Children being an 8.5 is a full letter grade high for example. Also, how did The Ghost Monument get such a high score, I can barely remember that episode? Still, I don’t think the Chibnall era was abominable, just mediocre. One thing’s for sure, the days of Doctor Who tottering off on its own are over. RTD is back with Disney and Sony and a whole new exciting era is still beginning. But, I’ll always appreciate the risks and the joy Jodie Whittaker brought to the role. See you soon, Doctor.

Now, her best moments.

5. The Doctor gives a ‘wtf man’ face to Aisling Bea’s Sarah in Eve of the Daleks when she deviates from the plan in one of the time loops that sends it every time I see it.

4. After the Doctor’s brutal honesty toward Graham in Can You Hear Me?, the Doctor finally has an honest emotional conversation with Yaz at the end of Legend of the Sea Devils. It’s really the closest she ever comes to opening up to her companions.

3. Partly this is on here so I can shout out Jo Martin, but the Doctor’s bickering and interaction with the Fugitive Doctor in Fugitive of the Judoon is such a highlight. Two women, both the Doctor, one Black, and it feels perfectly correct. Almost unthinkable in 2017.

2. The Doctor’s impassioned defense of Percy Shelley and his poetry mattering in The Haunting of Villa Diodati is where we finally got to see her get properly angry. The content of the speech is debatable, is an artist’s life worth more than someone else’s if they will inspire others? Regardless of where you fall morally, it’s a great performance.

1. A lot was asked of Whittaker in The Vanquishers playing three of herself, but she delivered her best performance. Flirting with herself, dealing with threats from all angles, Whittaker shined brightest when sneering and snarking at the Grand Serpent. If only we got more snark from her.

The Thirteenth Doctor unfortunately did prove to be somewhat unlucky with things never breaking Jodie Whittaker’s way. Through it all, she kept her head held high, and proved that you don’t have to be a man to be the Doctor. For all the young girls and women I’ve seen dressing as the Thirteenth Doctor, that may be the greatest legacy of all.

8.121/10 A unfortunate missed opportunity

Seventh Doctor Review

Seventh Doctor

Seventh Doctor

Doctor: The Seventh Doctor

Companions: The Brigadier, Mel Bush, Ace McShane

Sylvester McCoy transforms the role of the Doctor into the universe’s most mysterious and unpredictable man putting on a brave new spin to the Doctor.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

The Curse of Fenric: 10/10

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: 10/10

Remembrance of the Daleks: 9.25/10

Battlefield: 9/10

Survival: 8.5/10

Silver Nemesis: 8.25/10

The Happiness Patrol: 8.25/10

Dragonfire: 8/10

Delta and the Bannermen: 8/10

Paradise Towers: 8/10

Ghost Light: 7.5/10

Time and the Rani: 7/10

The Seventh Doctor came in at a creative low point for Doctor Who, out of gas creatively. His first season the Doctor was a pretty generic figure just given some odd quirks for the seeming reason just to make him weird. That all changed with the introduction of Ace and the show’s dramatic late 80s revival. There’s something intoxicating to me about McCoy, he at once seems jovial and interested in stagecraft much like the actor himself, but he is one of the fiercest Doctors in condemning evil. So often they cut to the Doctor and his face is filled with unholy rage at whichever dark plotter he’s facing. The Doctor always seems to know more than he’s letting on, even when he’s putting cat food on the sidewalk. Through it all, he’s resolutely punk, leading rebellions and lying in the park with Ace listening to jazz music. The Seventh Doctor successfully made the character back into a man of mystery, and I adore McCoy’s skillful portrayal.

Now, his best moments.

5. The Doctor’s early rage and takedown of Gavrok in Delta and the Bannermen presages what is to come for the character. The Doctor doesn’t pull any punches in denouncing evil, and this is an earlier sign of that.

4. “Unlimited rice pudding!” The Doctor’s first chess master story comes in Remembrance of the Daleks, highlighted by his sneering battle of wits with Davros. In one fell swoop, the Doctor deals the Daleks their greatest defeat.

3. “is that honor?” The Doctor talks down Morgaine in Battlefield from launching a nuclear weapon describing the impersonal horror that it will cause, devastating her so completely that she backs off. Unlike many ‘good guy talks sense into evil’ speech, this one feels earned.

2. The Doctor (and McCoy himself) show off magic tricks and showmanship in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, with the Doctor holding rapt the attention of the Gods of Ragnarok until he is able to defeat them. It’s the perfect mix of the Seventh Doctor’s clownish sensibilities but his deadly cunning underneath.

1. The showdown with Fenric in The Curse of Fenric is one of the Doctor’s greatest moments across all their incarnations. Starting with the Doctor’s desperate monologue that evil doesn’t need a name to be evil, it concludes with the Doctor breaking Ace’s heart to save the world. Never has the Doctor seemed more cruel, but the day is saved.

In-universe the reasoning for the Doctor’s sudden change when Ace joins the TARDIS are a bit suspect, but I think we can point to his worrying about the danger of Fenric. Some of the Doctor’s era feels like we should know about epic missing stories, creating the Hand of Omega, or the first time that the Doctor trapped Fenric. More than anything, it affirmed to be the value in the classic series and distilled it to its essence: Doctor Who is about squaring up and facing evil, with the benefit of time and space travel allowing for stories set in a bizarre alien circus to a small English town in World War II. Through it all, the Seventh Doctor may just be the greatest champion of good and righteousness, even if he has to break a few eggs to get there.

8.479/10 An era that saved the reputation of Doctor Who

Eleventh Doctor Review

Eleventh Doctor

Eleventh Doctor

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Madame Vastra, Clara Oswald

Matt Smith’s iconic performance as the Doctor portrayed an impossibly powerful, old character, who preferred to act absurd and silly to try and forget his dark past and nature.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Vincent and the Doctor: 10/10

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Blood: 10/10

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang: 10/10

The Eleventh Hour: 10/10

A Christmas Carol: 10/10

The God Complex: 10/10

The Day of the Doctor: 10/10

A Good Man Goes to War: 9.5/10

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People: 9.5/10

A Town Called Mercy: 9.5/10

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe: 9.5/10

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon: 9.25/10

The Power of Three: 9.25/10

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: 9/10

Closing Time: 9/10

Hide: 8.9/10

The Rings of Akhaten: 8.75/10

The Angels Take Manhattan: 8.75/10

Cold War: 8.5/10

The Crimson Horror: 8.5/10

The Time of the Doctor: 8.5/10

The Girl Who Waited: 8.5/10

The Doctor’s Wife: 8.5/10

Amy’s Choice: 8.5/10

The Beast Below: 8.5/10

The Name of the Doctor: 8.25/10

The Bells of Saint John: 8/10

The Snowmen: 8/10

Asylum of the Daleks: 8/10

The Wedding of River Song: 8/10

Let’s Kill Hitler: 8/10

The Lodger: 8/10

The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood: 8/10

Victory of the Daleks: 8/10

The Curse of the Black Spot: 7.95/10

The Vampires of Venice: 7.95/10

Nightmare in Silver: 7.5/10

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS: 7.5/10

Night Terrors: 6.75/10

For me, the Eleventh Doctor falls behind the Twelfth and Tenth in my reckoning of new series Doctors. I think a main reason for that would be how evasive he is as a personality, there are precious little times we get to see what the Doctor actually thinks and would like. The Tenth has several moments of morose vulnerability, and his ego crescendos in The Waters of Mars in a way that never happens for Eleven. The Eleventh Doctor in many senses is a narcissist, he runs away from death for 200 years, and he makes a last-ditch attempt to convince Amy to leave Rory and travel with him. He’ll even place a phone call to ensure Clara doesn’t leave his future self. In the end, him finally committing to defend Trenzalore is a fitting end. That said, the show has scarcely felt more magical than it did in Smith’s dynamite entry in Series 5, a mysterious wife in River, a fierce companion in Amy, and time-bending mysteries galore.

Now, his best moments.

5. “Take it all!” Much older than he was during his Stonehenge speech, the Doctor’s heart-wrenching pain as he pours out his life and existence to the Old God. It doesn’t work, but you can feel how the Doctor in purple has changed since we first met him.

4. The Doctor’s warming and introduction to Victorian Clara is the clear highlight of The Snowmen, as Clara pieces together his plan and gets introduced to the neon TARDIS in a stunning sequence.

3. “…ok.” It’s a small moment, but as the Doctor explains the plan to save Gallifrey with his past incarnations to the General, everything suddenly goes quiet and the General tells him to do it. The silent “ok” carries the weight of lives of guilt.

2. “Who da man!” Bursting onto the scene in The Eleventh Hour, no TARDIS, no sonic, the Doctor still gets it done and saves Earth from incineration. When Prisoner Zero mimics him, the Doctor doesn’t even recognize himself yet. It was a bit of a long day for him.

1. “Hello Stonehenge!” Although it turns out it didn’t work, the Doctor’s speech to his assembled enemies attempting to get them to flee solely based on his reputation is a tremendous piece of acting and where people fell in love with this Doctor.

Sometimes the Eleventh Doctor era got too complex, with relationships not quite as well defined as I would’ve hoped. For being known as the fairy tale era, the man at the heart of it was surprisingly dark and manipulative. With its emphasis on River, putting the Silence front and center as the arc villains, the Eleventh Doctor era feels weirdly divorced from the rest of the show when the Twelfth Doctor would heavily feature UNIT and the Master again. Still, pound for pound, this grades out as the strongest overall era of the show. Series 7 is definitely weak, but consistently fine enough to keep it holding this title. From the tears of Vincent van Gogh, to a heart-stopping 52nd century showdown against Weeping Angels, to the return of Gallifrey, Moffat brought the excitement.

8.726/10 A full letter grade decline

Sixth Doctor Review

Sixth Doctor

Sixth Doctor

Doctor: The Sixth Doctor

Companions: Peri Brown, Mel Bush

Through no fault of Colin Baker, disastrous production decisions and a mediocre stable of writers turn in a very disappointing era.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Timelash: 8.25/10

The Trial of a Time Lord: 8/10

The Two Doctors: 7.9/10

Vengeance on Varos: 7.75/10

Attack of the Cybermen: 7.5/10

Revelation of the Daleks: 7/10

The Mark of the Rani: 7/10

The Twin Dilemma: 6.75/10

My favorite Doctors are the Third and Twelfth Doctors, because I just love the idea of the doctor being crotchety but a good soul at heart. With more input from Colin Baker, he could’ve followed in this mold, but it all turned into one big misfire. The Trial of a Time Lord showed what he could do with more time, and not being given dialogue where he was constantly insulting Peri. This is one of those cases where I think the score for the era is justified, but is going to sell the potential of Colin Baker short. As a character, he’d get a higher score, but as an era, it’s clearly a low point for the show. I’m glad Big Finish has successfully rehabbed the reputation of a man who deserved better.

Now, his best moments.

5. “Dilettante??” Overhearing the Rani calling him a dilettante in The Mark of the Rani, the Doctor’s immediate indignation sums up the ego-Doctor of Season 22.

4. The Doctor’s constant belittling of the Valeyard is amusing, calling him anything that ends in -yard, though I think ‘Brickyard’ might be my favorite.

3. “I don’t think I’ve ever misjudged anybody quite as badly as Lytton.” Following the brutal events of Attack of the Cybermen, the Doctor quietly admits that Lytton was actually a good man, working against the Cybermen.

2. “…you killed Peri?” The Doctor is stunned seeing the supposed proof of Peri’s demise, as ordered by the Time Lords. For once, the Doctor is left hopelessly speechless, until he doubles his resolve to get to the bottom of events.

1. “Ten million years of absolute power, that’s what it takes to be really corrupt!” The Sixth Doctor gets a stinger in right at the end of his tenure, with a cathartic dressing down of the awfully corrupt and self-obsessed society of Time Lords. It’s a perfect capstone to Colin Baker’s tenure.

Colin Baker with better writing and influence could’ve been right there among my favorites, but after his unceremonious firing remains wrongly the face of the perceived collapse of the classic series. It’s an entirely unearned legacy on his part, but it unquestionably was an issue in this era as a whole. I’ve said my piece, now I suggest you check out some Big Finish and see the Sixth Doctor at his best.

7.519/10 A full letter grade decline

Fifth Doctor Review

Fifth Doctor

Fifth Doctor

Doctor: The Fifth Doctor

Companions: Susan Foreman, The Brigadier, Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka, Vislor Turlough, Kamelion, Peri Brown

It’s easy to forget what a big change the Fifth Doctor was from Tom Baker’s seven season run, but with a talented and capable actor in Peter Davison the show kept up its quality.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

The Caves of Androzani: 10/10

Earthshock: 10/10

Black Orchid: 10/10

The Five Doctors: 9.25/10

Castrovalva: 9/10

The Visitation: 9/10

Enlightenment: 9/10

Warriors of the Deep: 9/10

Mawdryn Undead: 8.9/10

Four to Doomsday: 8.9/10

Planet of Fire: 8.6/10

The King’s Demons: 8.25/10

Snakedance: 8.25/10

Terminus: 8/10

Arc of Infinity: 7.9/10

Kinda: 7.8/10

Time-Flight: 7.75/10

Frontios: 7.75/10

The Awakening: 7/10

Resurrection of the Daleks: 6/10

The performance of Peter Davison is one that is familiar to the more recent takes on the Doctor, but was quite new at the time. The Doctor had been an older man for the past eighteen years, and now Davison bursts onto the scene as by far the youngest Doctor. Not only that, but he brings a much more human touch to the role that hadn’t been seen before. Gone are the days of a grumpy Third Doctor or an incomprehensibly alien Fourth Doctor, the Fifth Doctor is a lot less alien. Don’t mistake me though, Davison was still completely the Doctor, with the passion for good and justice and a few bits of delightful haughty arrogance thrown in. I even think he kind of pulled off his silly cricket outfit well. Let’s give tribute to probably the most human Doctor of them all.

Now, his best moments.

5. “Brave heart Tegan.” When the going got tough, the Doctor always was there to boost and build up Tegan’s confidence. Every time Tegan was starting to feel the heat, the Doctor would help lift her back up.

4. “I never miss.” In a delightful early bit of arrogance, the Fifth Doctor perfectly shoots a door in a way to disable a lock to the astonishment of one of the era’s best supporting characters, Mace.

3. The Fifth Doctor’s entire performance in Earthshock is a sensational one, starting with his quick thinking and dramatics in defusing the bomb early in the story. Davison fully snaps into place as the Doctor in this story, and his command is a sight to behold.

2. “…there should have been another way.” The Doctor puts his life on the line to stop the Silurians from starting a nuclear war on Earth, but when it’s all over, everyone, from Silurian to human, has all died except the TARDIS team. Surveying the carnage, the Doctor can only ruefully shake his head and mourn the choices he had to make.

1. “You’re not going to stop me now!” Like his future son-in-law, Davison’s best moment as the Doctor comes right before his demise. Poisoned, and in a seemingly hopeless situation, he crashes a spaceship back on Androzani Minor because he is going to do whatever it takes to save Peri’s life. Hard to imagine a better ending.

Peter Davison revolutionized the show by proving that the Doctor doesn’t need to be out of this world weird to be an intergalactic hero. Even as the stories got more violent and darker around him, the Fifth Doctor kept up the torch of kindness and good heartedness. I think for me he slots in behind Pertwee as my second favorite classic Doctor. I think the Fifth Doctor era is too under appreciated, and at the very least, should be remembered for it’s awesome version of the theme music. Synthesizers forever!

8.518/10 A big hand for Davison

Tenth Doctor Review

Tenth Doctor

 

Tenth Doctor

Doctor: The Tenth Doctor

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith, K9, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, Martha Jones, Wilfred Mott, River Song

The Tenth Doctor’s era was Doctor Who at its most broad and bombastic, with high-stakes stories thrilling while never losing sight of its complex interesting characters, with the Doctor going on a surprisingly dark character arc powered by David Tennant’s great performance.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

The Waters of Mars: 10/10

Human Nature/The Family of Blood: 10/10

Blink: 10/10

Smith and Jones: 10/10

Midnight: 10/10

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: 10/10

The Christmas Invasion: 10/10

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit: 10/10

Girl in the Fireplace: 9.25/10

The End of Time: 9/10

Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel: 9/10

42: 9/10

Partners in Crime: 8.75/10

Tooth and Claw: 8.75/10

The Fires of Pompeii: 8.5/10

New Earth: 8.5/10

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday: 8.5/10

Planet of the Ood: 8.5/10

The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End: 8.25/10

The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky: 8.25/10

The Next Doctor: 8/10

Planet of the Dead: 8/10

Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords: 8/10

Gridlock: 8/10

The Shakespeare Code: 8/10

School Reunion: 8/10

The Idiot’s Lantern: 8/10

The Runaway Bride: 8/10

Turn Left: 8/10

The Unicorn and the Wasp: 8/10

The Doctor’s Daughter: 7.5/10

Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks: 6.75/10

Love & Monsters: 6.5/10

The Lazarus Experiment: 6/10

Fear Her: 6/10

David Tennant will likely remain the most popular Doctor of the new series, or at least it’s first twenty years. It’s easy to see why, the Tenth Doctor was handsome and charismatic and constantly charming. He’s the most immediately watchable Doctor, approachable, and oh-so human. Russell T. Davies’ approach to writing was to always focus on the characters, and with each season bringing a new main companion he had to develop arcs for Rose, Martha, and Donna. Rose’s arc ends well in Series 2, but has a less successful Series 4 comeback. The Doctor also then spends a lot of Series 3 being kind of a dick to Martha, which makes the whole season feel uncomfortable. By freeing the Doctor of any romantic issues by bringing on platonic best friend Donna, in Series 4 the performance of David Tennant finally completely snaps into place. With the RTD era being less sci-fi and more a broad show about relationships, it’s easy to see the wide appeal that this era of Doctor Who still has. Still, RTD has one last trick by shattering our faith in the Doctor in The Waters of Mars, but the Tenth Doctor affirms that he is truly the hero he was scared he wouldn’t be by sacrificing himself to save one man.

Now, his best moments.

5. “Rose Tyler…” as the Doctor says goodbye to the woman who saved him from his depression, the Doctor isn’t able to get out the words “I love you” in Doomsday. It’s a heartbreaking moment that lives on fourteen years later.

4. “I forgive you.” The Last of the Time Lords isn’t perfect, but after all the Master has been through, the Doctor still tries to help his oldest friend in the universe. The tension between Tennant and Simm is one of the things the Series 3 finale gets right, and there’s another similar moment in The End of Time that would get paid off beautifully in the Twelfth Doctor’s era.

3. “When the Doctor comes to call”. At the end of The Forest of the Dead, the Doctor thinks he witnessed the end of his wife, River Song’s life. As River Song gives one last narration, the Doctor realizes his future self (the Twelfth it turns out) is very very smart and embarks one last mad dash to preserve River’s consciousness. The smile as the Doctor snaps his fingers to open the TARDIS for the first time is heartwarming and perfect.

2. “The laws of time obey me!” The Time Lord Victorious comes out in The Waters of Mars, as the Doctor decides that with the Time Lords dead, he alone controls the laws of time. The Doctor has never been darker and more horrifying, and it is truly a shocking moment that unsettles our view of who the Doctor is.

1. “I could do so much more!” At the end of the Tenth Doctor’s life in The End of Time, his vanity still flows through. Ranting and raving at the injustice of it all, there is still no doubt. It would be the Doctor’s honor to save Wilf, and as he absorbs the radiation, the Doctor proves himself to be a true hero.

David Tennant brought his incredible acting chops to bring together the Tenth Doctor, a character more complex and complicated than he is often given credit for. Factoring in the spin-offs, the explosive popularity of Tennant, and a very widely appealing style from show runner RTD, the Tenth Doctor era represented a second peak of Doctor Who following peaks in the Fourth and First Doctor’s era. It’s hard not to see why, as the stories were frequently engaging, emotional, and rewarding. The song ended, but the story will go on.

8.25/10 A smashing era!

Fourth Doctor Review

Fourth Doctor

Fourth Doctor

Doctor: The Fourth Doctor

Companions: The Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, K9, Romana I, Romana II, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka

The Fourth Doctor era dominates the cultural imagination of the classic series, and for good reason. Tom Baker’s Doctor is always weird, never dull, and an absolutely unique character.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Pyramids of Mars: 10/10

Genesis of the Daleks: 10/10

City of Death: 10/10

The Keeper of Traken: 10/10

The Face of Evil: 10/10

The Android Invasion: 9.5/10

The Power of Kroll: 9.5/10

The Ark in Space: 9.25/10

The Stones of Blood: 9.25/10

The Leisure Hive: 9/10

Logopolis: 9/10

The Invasion of Time: 9/10

The Creature from the Pit: 9/10

Meglos: 9/10

The Androids of Tara: 9/10

The Brain of Morbius: 9/10

The Seeds of Doom: 9/10

The Planet of Evil: 8.75/10

The Invisible Enemy: 8.75/10

The Hand of Fear: 8.75/10

State of Decay: 8.5/10

The Terror of the Zygons: 8.5/10

Destiny of the Daleks: 8.25/10

Full Circle: 8/10

Warriors’ Gate: 8/10

The Horns of Nimon: 8/10

Nightmare of Eden: 8/10

The Pirate Planet: 8/10

Robot: 8/10

Horror of Fang Rock: 8/10

The Deadly Assassin: 8/10

The Talons of Weng Chiang: 8/10

The Sun Makers: 7.9/10

The Armageddon Factor: 7.9/10

The Ribos Operation: 7.75/10

Image of the Fendahl: 7.5/10

The Robots of Death: 7.5/10

The Sontaran Experiment: 7.5/10

The Masque of Mandragona: 7/10

Underworld: 7/10

Revenge of the Cybermen: 7/10

There are several distinct eras and tones for the Fourth Doctor, starting off with serious (sometimes gothic horror) stories with Sarah Jane. Several of these stories are excellent, but they did not best suit Tom Baker’s skills as an actor, which are primarily being incredibly bizarre and weird. As the seasons moved along, we hit a speed bump with Leela, a companion the show could never figure out what to do with and some stories that were just generic sci-fi mash-ups. The Key to Time righted the ship, but the Fourth Doctor finally peaked with the irresistible real-life chemistry with Romana II and stories that knew they were silly and weird, and knew that Tom Baker could carry in the day. In his final season, the show winds us down from that high to prepare us for the next era, as the Doctor is finally done in by entropy in the end.

Now, Tom Baker’s best moments.

5. “You commit mass destruction and murder on a scale that’s almost inconceivable and you ask me to appreciate it?” There is a lot going on in The Pirate Planet, but I always love some earned righteous outrage from the Doctor, and Tom Baker delivers with a scathing rebuke to the captain who has miniaturized an array of planets.

4. “That makes you responsible!” More outrage! The Doctor rips into the Deciders in Full Circle for misleading their people and perpetuating their cycle of dithering and delay. The starliner taking off into the deep reminds me of the question mark in the ocean of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

3. “We have the power do anything we want.” The Doctor gives a bug-eyed grin at Romana after the Key to Time is assembled in The Armageddon Factor, and briefly considers that they can now control the whole universe. Of course, he then shatters the Key and throws it to the wind.

2. “Do I have the right?” The Doctor ponders if he can destroy the Daleks in their infancy, to commit genocide on a whole species. While maybe future Doctors would have made that choice, it is one this Doctor simply cannot, but he still manages to delay the Daleks a millennia and hopefully save many lives without compromising his values.

1. Every single time the Doctor was weird. The Fourth Doctor did not have moments like previous Doctors that really stuck out to me, but it was every time he’s alienness and weirdness was on display. Gasping and remarking that Romana really was wonderful in State of Decay, baffling friend and foe alike with his conduct. For one moment in particular I’d give the Doctor’s insane discussion with the Countess in The City of Death, the one story that shows how weird he is beyond all else.

I still think I preferred the straight-edged Pertwee, but Tom Baker was without a doubt utterly the Doctor. In a way Tom Baker was the definitive Doctor, the baseline Doctor, the person to whom all other Doctors including his three predecessors are judged too. I personally think a few people have been better Doctors, but no one has been fully and completely the Doctor like Tom Baker was.

8.538/10 Doctor Who’s golden years, full of crackling stories, all shepherded by an iconic Doctor in Tom Baker who fully deserved all seven seasons of his run, and somehow kept getting better 

The Third Doctor Review

Third Doctor

 

Third Doctor

Doctor: The Third Doctor

Companions: The Brigadier, Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Sarah Jane Smith

Taking Doctor Who into a new more modern era, the Third Doctor era features tons of stories set in contemporary England and grounds the show for the first time.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

The Claws of Axos: 10/10

The Curse of Peladon: 10/10

Doctor Who and the Silurians: 10/10

The Sea Devils: 9.5/10

Planet of the Daleks: 9.5/10

Colony in Space: 9.5/10

The Evil of the Daleks: 9.25/10

Spearhead from Space: 9/10

The Ambassadors of Death: 9/10

The Dæmons: 8.75/10

The Three Doctors: 8.5/10

The Green Death: 8.5/10

The Time Warrior: 8.5/10

Terror of the Autons: 8.5/10

The Mind of Evil: 8.5/10

Planet of the Spiders: 8.25/10

Invasion of the Dinosaurs: 8/10

Death to the Daleks: 8/10

The Monster of Peladon: 8/10

Inferno: 8/10

The Time Monster: 7.75/10

Frontier in Space: 7.5/10

The Mutants: 7/10

Carnival of Monsters: 7/10

Compared to some of the formulaic stories of the previous era, Pertwee’s era knows when the UNIT stories have ran out their welcome and ventures into a more sci-fi direction. The Season 7 stories are long thrilling epics, and all of Season 8 featuring the Master seems not to grow old because of the variety of plots. When the show finally returns to the future and outer space, we encounter the Daleks and more exciting foes to battle. Liz’s effectiveness as a companion wears off, but Jo and Sarah Jane’s never do. The Brigadier and the UNIT ‘family’ are a constant beneficial presence, finding just as much success in aiding the Doctor as they do in disagreeing with him. While some might feel Pertwee’s era to feel out of step with later eras, I think its homebound philosophy finally grounded the show in our day and age.

Now, Pertwee’s best moments.

5. “I had to face my fear. That was more important than going on living.” After meeting his teacher K’anpo Rimpoche, the Doctor realizes that he is responsible for the crisis in Planet of the Spiders and that fixing it will cost him his life. Facing his fear of failure, the Doctor lays dying and comforts Sarah Jane.

4. “Right. Cut it open!” The head-spinning epic of The Ambassadors of Death gets even freakier when the Doctor tries to communicate with the astronauts supposedly in a recovered spacecraft. When they appear to not respond to his questioning, the Doctor demands the hatch cut open. It is a moment of drama where anything could happen.

3. “They were intelligent alien beings. A whole race of them.” The Doctor’s shock and dismay as he watches the Brigadier and UNIT kill all the Silurians is a poignant and dark ending to an absolute classic in Doctor Who and the Silurians.

2. “I want to see the universe, not rule it.” The best of the Doctor’s verbal spats with his arch-enemy in the Master comes in Colony in Space. The Doctor explains that the universe is better to be seen, not ruled, and turns down another villainous ‘join me’ offer.

1. “It was the daisiest daisy I’d ever seen.” Locked up with Jo in The Time Monster, the Doctor gives us a rare look into his Gallifreyan past. He describes the blackest day of life, and how his monk teacher on a mountain got him past it. By having the Doctor focus on the color and beauty of the daisy, the Doctor started seeing everything more beautifully. It’s a sweet, truly touching moment.

For five whole seasons, Pertwee supercharged Doctor Who into the color era with the help of all the fabulous iconic actors that did it with him: Nicholas Courtney, Katy Manning, Elisabeth Sladen, and Roger Delagdo the principal heroes of the time. This is an era that should be remembered fondly.

8.271/10 The Pertwee era was a success for Doctor Who and ensured that the show would continue for decades to come