Doctor Who Top 20 (v. ariich's Top 30 starts page 3 - NEW UPDATES AGAIN)

[masterthes]

I take it back, The Eleventh Hour is my favorite season opener

[Scorpion]

Sorry for neglecting this, for some reason I thought that I had already posted that entry and that the next one in the list wasn't ready yet. As that was not the case, here is, without further ado, my favourite Doctor Who story of all time.

01. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (S4, Steven Moffat)

Yes, Shadow Ninja and ariich guessed it. Yes, it was also extremely obvious. And yes, this is really fucking good. Everything just comes together here - the script, the amazing acting, the directing, the introduction of River Song... everything about this episode is just perfect, start to finish.

What makes a story really great for me, and that is something that Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead does to perfection if you actually have all the clues to figure out what is going on before the main characters do. Of course, I didn't do that, but the clues are all there and it makes so much sense that you're actually wondering why the hell you didn't think of that yourself. For example, if you know that the people in the mind of a person are real, then it's only logical that what seems real to that person is, in reality, not real, but it's just something that didn't cross my mind at all until the Doctor and Miss Evangelista unveiled it in Forest of the Dead.

What makes this story notable is that it is the first time that we see River Song, and she's at her best here, because at her most mysterious. She seems to know so much and the Doctor so little, and that actually makes for a refreshing change of the Doctor's usual omniscience. She has some great one-liners here and generally delivers a great performance. Well done Alex Kingston.

While Tennant is great here, he is, for perhaps the only time in his tenure (well, not counting the Doctor-lite episodes) overshadowed by his companion Donna. The beginning of Forest of the Dead is probably Catherine Tate's best acting for the show - the way that she plays the loving mother is heart-warming and the moment when her children disappear is heart-breaking. Great props to Catherine Tate as well.

The Doctor is great as well, of course, but nothing that really stands out. He just delivers a great performance, like always, but he doesn't really steal the show here.

What else is notable? Moffat's script is probably his best, with so many great ideas woven into each other. The ghosting, the Vashta Nerada, the whole concept of where the Vashta Nerada come from, the character development of Mr. Lux from a stupid and egoistical businessman to a person that will stop at nothing to protect his family.

Truth be told, I really don't know why I prefer this episode over all the others, at the end of the day. I just know that this might just be the best 90 minutes of television that I have ever watched and an story that I am unlikely to ever tire of.




Well, that's it! Thanks for following and being patient with me, and I'm looking forward to following the next list already.

[wasteland]

Great great choice for #1. Unfortunately I am unable to come up with all the necessary writeups right now, so I have to pass my turn. If you are interested, though, I can post my top 10 in the form of titles-only.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I approve of this placement.

[Scorpion]

Great great choice for #1. Unfortunately I am unable to come up with all the necessary writeups right now, so I have to pass my turn. If you are interested, though, I can post my top 10 in the form of titles-only.

You could just start with those were you have the write-ups done already and try to get the others done while you're posting. If that doesn't work out, you can still post the final ones as titles only.

[wasteland]

No, I already tried to follow that road and I only gathered failures. But maybe one day I shall come back. Before that, just move forward with all your list and let's see if you manage to prove me that I am mistaken in mine

[ariich]

If you're really not ready Marco then I can probably start soon, and do write-ups as I go along.

I'm going to do a top 30. Tonight I'll decide exactly how I'm going to order them, and hopefully make a start.

[bout to crash]

Yesss. Silence in the Library was actually the first episode I ever saw, just happened to stumble upon it one day.

[ariich]

ariich's Doctor Who top 30 starts here

A few pointers:

a. Classic Who is in! I don't like it as much as New Who, but I've come to appreciate it's charm and there are some episodes that have really stood out for me, so I wanted to include them.

b. I've gone with the typical convention (as used in Wikipedia) as using Series 1, 2, 3, etc. to described New Who, and Season 1, 2, 3, etc. to describe Classic Who.

c. Spoiler: the only Doctors entirely unrepresented are 6, 7, and 8. I haven't actually got round to watching the TV movie which was Paul McGann's only screen appearance, but from what I know about it I wouldn't expect it to make this list (which doesn't mean I won't like it of course). As for 6 and 7, I've really enjoyed Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and both had some really good stories as well, just none that have really stood out as warranting a place on this list.

d. I'm doing a top 30, rather than a top 20, and you can't stop me.

So, without further ado, let's get cracking.


30. A Town Called Mercy (Series 7, 2012, Toby Whithouse)


So, I start with a very recent episode, A Town Called Mercy, from the latest series. I remember the reactions to the episode being pretty mixed – some people really liked it whereas others weren’t all that fussed by it. But I really found myself attached to it, and even more so when I watched it again when re-watching all of New Who with my girlfriend.

I think there are two things that make me really like this episode, and a small spoiler – these are features that often stand out to me, so they’ll probably both come up again at some point!

The first is a question that I always love when it’s explored in TV, films or books in an interesting way: how do you decide between bad choices, and can you always know what the right thing to is? Kahler Jex is a really interesting character in this regard – you can sympathise with him, even though he’s done horrible things. As a family show Doctor Who doesn’t explore this sort of idea too often, but this is an occasion where they’ve done it really well, and his redemption is very moving.

The second is that there’s some really good character exploration in this episode. Even though this is more than two series in for Amy and Rory, the way they react to the above question and the way they interact with the Doctor, and with the whole host of supporting characters, still bring something new and interesting to their story.


29. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (Series 2, 2006, Matt Jones and Russell T. Davies)


I know this is a very popular two-parter, and for good reason, because it has a bit of everything that makes Doctor Who so great.

Firstly, there’s the creepiness. The story is revealed quite slowly, and so there is a genuine feeling of mystery as the Doctor tries to figure out what’s going on. And when they discover the beast, the very concept is itself fantastic. Is it the devil, or is it just a creature whose image has been called the devil by so many civilisations? Is there any difference?

Then there’s the humour. It’s quite a dark story, but in true Doctor Who fashion there are some tremendous moments of comedy. My particular favourite is during a very normal, relaxed scene where an Ood is serving Rose lunch and out of the blue says “The Beast and his armies shall rise from the pit to make war against God.”

And finally, it does what Doctor Who has been doing since the 60s which is providing a really good group of interesting supporting characters. Yes, part of their main purpose is to start getting killed off, which can sometimes be too explicit (like the episode 42 for example) but here every character is fully formed and engaging. 

[Scorpion]

Following with supreme interest. Since there is classic Who here, I expect to see Logopolis, The Caves of Androzani or The Web of Fear, which are probably my favourites of what I've seen from Classic Who.

The two choices are good. A Town Called Mercy would actually pretty much sit were you put it. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit is far too low, however.

[ariich]

Since there is classic Who here, I expect to see Logopolis, The Caves of Androzani or The Web of Fear, which are probably my favourites of what I've seen from Classic Who.

Ah, you should know that my tastes aren't always exactly what you'd expect. And remember, there are a LOT of very popular/well respected stories from the classic years and only 7 stories have made it into my list.

The two choices are good. A Town Called Mercy would actually pretty much sit were you put it. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit is far too low, however.

Yeah a lot of people really love it, I remember being a bit surprised at just how high it ended up ranking when Rob ran the DW survivor.

[ariich]

Sorry for the slight delay, my internet was down earlier. Here's the next update!


28. The Enemy of the World, parts 1-6 (Season 5, 1968, David Whitaker)


And here we have our first entry from Classic Who. For those who don’ t know much about the classic years, almost all episodes were 25 minutes long, and almost all stories/serials were made up of at least 4 episodes (same total length as a modern two-parter), often 6 and on rare occasions even up to 10.

This six-episode second Doctor story had until recently been almost entirely missing. If you want to know more about why so many first and second Doctor episodes are missing, check out this really good article: https://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/why-are-some-doctor-who-episodes-missing. Long story short, the missing episodes from this story were recently found in a Nigerian TV station, and the whole thing has been restored and released.

And what a fantastic find it was! I’ve always loved Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, but this quickly became my favourite of his stories. It’s set 50 years in our future (which, you will note, is 2018… they obviously had no idea in the 60s that Doctor Who would still be going strong now!) and features Troughton as both the Doctor and also a power hungry politician trying to take over the world. The two characters only meet once, but given the technology and the budget that the BBC had in the 60s, the moment is fantastically done.

Most people would point to Tomb of the Cybermen as the best Troughton story, but as good as that is, for me this is cleverer, more engaging, and more enjoyable. It shows the second Doctor at his best – adorable but slightly mischievous – and gives legendary companion Jamie McCrimmon plenty to have fun with as well. Even his other companion Victoria, mainly known for looking lovely but screaming like a damsel in distress all the time, gets to join in the fun and make herself useful.


27. The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People (Series 6, 2011, Matthew Graham)


Some people might find this a surprising entry, but for me this two-parter is a fantastic part of series 6.

The story in itself is top-notch, for a start. The execution isn’t perfect, but there is a lot to love that makes any small complaints negligible. The way the supporting characters and their Flesh doppelgangers interact with each other is really nicely fleshed out (pun intended). Again it’s a fab cast, each does a great job of playing the two different characters, and I like the way each has a very different relationship with his/her ganger.

Then there’s the character stuff going on. It’s a very important episode for Amy’s character development, in particular. Her insistence on being able to recognise the Doctor, and her suspicious intolerance of the Flesh, before her revelation that she was wrong all along, is not hugely surprising but is very nicely done.

And then, of course, there’s the way it fits into the series 6 story arc. The way the Doctor hides his real intention for visiting puts you on edge from very early on. And the revelation at the end is probably my all-time favourite Doctor Who moment. Despite the hints, I really did not see it coming, and as that moment built up to a climax, I was more gripped and on the edge of my seat than I have been for any other moment in Doctor Who. 

[Scorpion]

Alright, Enemy of the World shall be checked out.

Rebel Flesh / Almost People is fantastic, and not only for the great cliffhanger. I love how it looks into what it means to be human.

[ariich]

Alright, Enemy of the World shall be checked out.

Yeah definitely give it a watch!

Rebel Flesh / Almost People is fantastic, and not only for the great cliffhanger. I love how it looks into what it means to be human.

Definitely, Doctor isn't the most profound or original show when it comes to those sorts of concepts, but I think when it tackles them it does so in a really nice way. And given that it's a family show, I think it does a great job on the whole, and this story is one example of that.

[ariich]

26. Earthshock, parts 1-4 (Season 19, 1982, Eric Saward)


Another Classic Who episode, and one that is quite famous for a particular reason: it is one of the very rare occasions that a full Doctor Who companion has died. As in, actually died, not like Rory who kept dying but not really.

This is my favourite fifth Doctor story. On the whole Peter Davison is incredibly charming and does a really good job as the Doctor, but this story also explores more of the difficult side of his personality. His disagreements with companion Adric, and the way the two reconcile over the course of this story is all the more powerful when Adric sacrifices himself at the end.

It’s also my favourite cyberman story. That’s right, no Cyberman episodes from New Who have made this list. I mostly find them a bit clunky, although Neil Gaiman did a great job with them in Nightmare in Silver. But Earthshock works so well because, although the cybermen are the villains, they are not the focus of the story itself, which is usually where cybermen stories fall short.

There’s a great theme in this story, one that Doctor Who has explored many times – what could or should you change in history? What if by being there as an observer, you contribute to causing the events? If anyone wants to check this story out who hasn’t, I won’t spoil it for you, but the event in question is brilliant, and a great revelation that gives the serial a real sense of urgency. Highly recommended!

[Scorpion]

And another one to add to the list of the must-watches. I haven't checked out anything from the Fifth Doctor, as I've heard by quite a few people that he's their least favourite Doctor, so I distanced myself from him. Well, I did watch The Caves of Androzani, due to major fandom praise, but I didn't find it all that engaging as most reviewers made it out to be. As far as regeneration stories go, Logopolis and pretty much every regeneration story from New Who tops it.

Sacrilege, I know.

Anyway! Earthshock shall be checked out post-haste.

[Scorpion]

So, I was mildly disappointed by Earthshock. I don't know, I really don't like Peter Davison as the Doctor and Adric was just so annoying that I found it hard to care when he died. In fact, what really let this down was that probably every companion was pretty uninteresting as a whole, making the TARDIS crew something they haven't really been for me - a bore. Also, I don't usually rile on Classic Who for the production values, but those Cybermen just took the cake in terms of badness - so bad, in fact, that I could never take them seriously. They just looked like humans wrapped in aluminium foil.

Still! The story was pretty cool and the explanation for the dinosaurs dying out, though the solution was mighty convenient. ...All of this probably sounds like I didn't enjoy myself a lot, which is wrong, I had a good time watching the episode. It's just that I have absolutely no desire to ever watch this episode again, and that's something that even most uninspired New Who episodes haven't done to me.

In related news, update plz kthxbai

[ariich]

Yeah sorry for the lack of updates, I've been spending quite a lot of time at the hospital as my gran is really unwell (dying, really). I'm going to try and get another update or two ready for tonight though!

As for Earthshock, shame to hear you were a bit disappointed by it. With regard to the characters, I think that's the benefit of watching the series through in order, because you get to see that development. I've enjoyed every incarnation of the Doctor, because you see each one follow the last and be a little different and new. The fifth Doctor is pretty popular though, on the whole. Similar with the companions. Adric is one of the very few child companions, but a maths genius and a bit arrogant, and he has a bit of a feisty friendship with the Doctor where they bicker a lot. But he comes good at the end. Tegan is a bit annoying, I'll give you that, but Nyssa is awesome (and cute).

And as for the costumes, you just have to get used to that with Classic Who. These Cybermen are no worse than any others, and better than some. All Doctor Who "monsters" were pretty mediocre costumes for the entire run, so it's something you just have to accept and move past. Again, I think watching all the way from the beginning means by the 20th season you don't really notice anymore, it's all part of the charm.

[ariich]

Alrighty, quick update for you:

25. Asylum of the Daleks (Series 7, 2012, Steven Moffat)


What better way to follow up a cybermen story than with a story featuring the only Doctor Who villain more famous and iconic – the daleks. I’ve expressed a number of times my apathy towards the way the daleks have usually been written a number of times, but that’s been a fault with the writing and not the creatures themselves, which means just occasionally the writers tell a great story about them.

This is the most recent of those great stories. Part of what makes it great is not actually the daleks at all, but the main characters. Some might argue that Rory and Amy’s reconciliation is a bit quick, but I don’t find that at all. Knowing what we do about them and the reasons that they had fallen out both makes their story here very relatable, and also explores some nice ideas about how the Doctor affects the people he meets, and how difficult it can be going back to “normal life”.

Then, of course, there is the brilliant, surprising and incredibly mysterious to the Doctor’s new companion, who dies. This was a genius move on Moffat’s part. It’s impossible to hide the identity of new main characters these days, and so they have to announce the details pretty early on. The Moff knows that, so messes with our brains by killing her off straight away and leaving us to question what the hell is going on. The twist that she herself has been turned into a dalek is also fantastic, I genuinely did not see it coming.

And finally, there are the daleks themselves, and this is one of the best treatments of them Doctor Who has ever displayed. This episode, along with Dalek from series 1, are the only times in New Who that they are actually creepy. The fact that they are so desperate and in need of help somehow doesn’t make them feel vulnerable, but instead makes them unpredictable.

[masterthes]

I can't wait to see how the Daleks are portrayed in the 50th

[ariich]

I can't wait to see how the Daleks are portrayed in the 50th

Yeah I have a lot more faith in Moffat to do them justice than most writers.

[Scorpion]

And as for the costumes, you just have to get used to that with Classic Who. These Cybermen are no worse than any others, and better than some. All Doctor Who "monsters" were pretty mediocre costumes for the entire run, so it's something you just have to accept and move past. Again, I think watching all the way from the beginning means by the 20th season you don't really notice anymore, it's all part of the charm.

While I haven't watched as much Classic Who as you have, for some reason, even though I was expecting the costumes of the Cybermen to be bad, it still bothered me more than I thought it would. For example, Scaroth in City of Death looks exactly like a human with a rubber mask, or that alien thingy (forgot the name) from Horror of Fang Rock looks patently ridiculous, but it didn't bother me. But the Cybermen did. Maybe it's because I know the New Who equaivalent, which look pretty awesome, despite not being the most well-utilised villain. And anyway, that wasn't the main reason that I felt disappointed by this serial, or, to put it another way, I would have been disappointed by the story, even if the costuming was that of New Who. Something just felt... off, and I think it has to do with Davison's portrayal of the Doctor and Adric, both of which grated on my nerves.

[ariich]

Fair enough, each to their own. I quite like all the Doctors, and I like the fact that they're all a bit different! And as I said before, I think all the characters make more sense when you watch through in order. Anyway, bumper update time:


24. Inferno, parts 1-7 (Season 7, 1970, Don Houghton)


Another early Doctor Who classic here, featuring John Pertwee at the end of his first season as the third Doctor. It was a while ago that I watched it (maybe a year or two), but it stuck with me much more than any other Pertwee serial, and I really must watch it again sometime.

The episode is a little slow to start, but once it gets going it’s really very gripping and deals with some very mature issues for Classic Who. UNIT is drilling into the earth for scientific exploration (the eponymous Inferno project), and the Doctor is using energy generated from this to conduct his own experiments on the TARDIS console. The final second Doctor episode saw the time lords sentence the Doctor to exile on Earth, and so for much of Pertwee’s tenure he essentially works for UNIT as a scientific adviser. During the Doctor’s own experiments, he finds himself suddenly transported into a parallel universe, and this is where things start to get really engaging.

In the parallel world, Britain is a fascist regime, with the implication being that the Nazis won in the Second World War and killed the royal family. The Inferno project is occurring there, but is much further advanced, and having a huge adverse impact on the parallel Earth. There’s a lot of really good drama, and some great tension. The Doctor meets alternate, fascist, versions of many of his UNIT colleagues (his companions at the time), and the entire cast do such a good job of completely changing their personalities. The alternative Brigadier in particular is just fantastic!

The climax of the story is also brilliantly told – the Inferno project ends up destroying the Earth just as the Doctor is about to escape back to his own universe to warn his colleagues. Seeing this devastation and the way the Doctor reacts to it, and the general message about being careful what we do to our planet, work really well. Sure, the production values leave a little to be desired in places, as was always the case in Classic Who, but the storytelling and characterisation are absolutely top-notch!


23. The Eleventh Hour (Series 5, 2010, Steven Moffat)


And now back to a bit more Moffat! This episode was really important for Doctor Who, in the same way that Rose was. In some ways, Rose was more crucial in bringing the show back from nothing, but on the other hand, from what I’ve read, expectations were a little lower and nobody was quite sure what to expect. Whereas RTD’s era had become so beloved, and so expectations were through the roof when it came to this episode, where they had a new Doctor, all new companions, new show-runner and pretty much an entirely new production team. Doctor Who had only been back for 4 series, and already it was seeing another reboot.

But fortunately, as we all know, it delivered big-time. Many people would rank this episode higher, but for me this feels about right. It’s not perfect; Prisoner Zero in particular at times is just slightly on the unconvincing side, but it is loved for all the right reasons as it has a bit of everything. It is tremendously fun, a little bit silly in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, and also quite creepy in places.

My absolute favourite thing about it, though, is that it really sets up the fairytale feel that permeates so much of series 5. I think it was Terry Practchett who once said that he didn’t see Doctor Who as a sci-fi show, but as a fairytale story, and I have found myself completely agreeing with him. And it’s never been stronger than it was in this series. The way the Doctor first meets Amy as a young girl, and then again so many years later, is just beautiful storytelling. I love how Moffat shows the way that it has affected her as she grew up, and the way it affected those around her like Rory. I know much of that is explored later in the series, but this episode sets the seed for all of it and does so beautifully.

[Kotowboy]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYqI-jtCEAAy6_d.png:large




Top Comment on the new Day of The Doctor trailer on you Tube.

[ariich]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYqI-jtCEAAy6_d.png:large

Top Comment on the new Day of The Doctor trailer on you Tube.

Think you probably meant to post that in the main Doctor Who thread, but yeah that's pretty depressing if serious.

Anyway, no comments on my last update, but I'll post the next one shortly anyway!

[ariich]

Oh what the hell, it's ready so I'll just post it now. Bumper dalek update!


22. Genesis of the Daleks, parts 1-6 (Season 12, 1975, Terry Nation)


And now back to Classic Who for another dalek story, and the first story in my list to feature Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor. This is by far the best dalek story in the classic years (even back then they could be overused and get a bit repetitive). This was the story that introduced Davros, the creator of the daleks, and similarly the way he is written and portrayed is fab and much less panto-villain than he eventually became.

This serial is a really great origins story for Davros and the daleks. It deals with the reasons for their creation, and the absolute madness of their creator. Seeing the human-like kaleds (the race that eventually became the daleks) so normal and down-to-earth really does make the daleks seem that little bit darker, and more horrifying.

This was an early story for Tom Baker, in his first of seven seasons as the Doctor, but he makes such an immediate impact and even now viewers who have only really known New Who can watch him and instantly know that his character really is the Doctor. Quite bonkers, and lots of fun, but at times very sincere and intense as well.

The climax of this serial is one of the greatest moments of Doctor Who history. The Doctor has the opportunity to change events – to wipe out the daleks right at their inception and stop them from ever spreading across the universe. The way Tom Baker tries to deal with this conundrum is incredibly engaging – yes the daleks create havoc across the universe, but does the Doctor have the right to commit genocide and change the course of history? It’s one of those rare occasions that Doctor Who really makes you think, and it’s done with class. 


21. Dalek (Series 1, 2005, Robert Shearman)


And now for my favourite dalek story, one that really shows how different the ninth Doctor is to the fourth Doctor, and the journey he has been on in that time. While the fourth Doctor grappled with his conscience and ultimately decided that he couldn’t commit genocide and change history, the ninth Doctor, born out of war and destruction, has no hesitation in wanting to wipe out the daleks for good.

It was always going to be difficult for the writers to bring back the daleks in New Who, but it was inevitable that it had to happen, and to happen early on to show that continuity with the classic years. Introducing just a single dalek was a smart way to do this. The moment where the Doctor encounters the dalek is a particularly important one – up to that point the ninth Doctor has seemed so in control, so cool, and then suddenly he is reduced to panic, and anger. An anger which has never been seen in the Doctor before or since, and for me this is one of the defining moments of the ninth Doctor.

Of course, the rest of the story is great as well. We learn more about the time war, more about this incarnation of the Doctor, and more about Rose’s character in ways that really do make her more likeable and relatable that she had been previously. But we also see an interesting side of the dalek as well, having been energised with some of Rose’s compassion. The storytelling is so good here that I actually felt sad for the dalek at the end. It’s a real shame that Robert Shearman hasn’t written any other TV episodes for Doctor Who.

[Scorpion]

I've started watching Classic Who chronologically now, from the Pertwee era (no missing episodes!) so it might take some time until I come to Genesis, but I'm looking forward to it, as pretty much everyone is pretty unanimous about it being great, and I love what I've seen so far of the Fourth Doctor (The Deadly Assassin, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Horror of Fang Rock, City of Death, Logopolis).

Dalek is amazing, and my favourite Dalek episode as well. Well, not counting The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang, but that only has them tangentially in it, so I'm not counting it, and anyway, the Dalek isn't what makes that one great. Here, it absolutely is (among others, of course).

[ariich]

I've started watching Classic Who chronologically now,

Good man! The first two Doctors are still worth watching though, the stuff that's survived at least.

Dalek is amazing, and my favourite Dalek episode as well. Well, not counting The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang, but that only has them tangentially in it, so I'm not counting it, and anyway, the Dalek isn't what makes that one great. Here, it absolutely is (among others, of course).

Yeah it's not a dalek story unless they are a main feature of it. Pandorica/Big Bang has pretty much everything in it!

[ariich]

Thought I'd make this a bit more fun and nice looking, so I'm now including a little picture (often promo shots) for each entry! I've also gone back and added them for my previous entries.


20. Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords (Series 3, 2007, Russell T. Davies)


This three-part finale (I know some people consider Utopia to be separate, but I don’t) is one of the reasons that I love series 3 so much, and it remains my favourite RTD-era finale. I’m a real sucker for elements of mythology and unexpected connections, and this story played right into that.

Utopia in itself is a great story. End of the universe, almost nothing left, and somehow humanity has survived and is trying to save itself – lots of good stuff there. But what really sticks with me about the episode is professor Yana, and the way he is revealed to be the Master. Fantastic way to bring that classic villain back, and the way Yana develops throughout the episode is really quite gripping. As I said, I love that mythological feel, and the way his name tied in with the Face of Boe’s last words gave me chills.

And then there are the final two episodes, which have so many great ideas. Some flaws, for sure, but on the whole the story fits together really well, and really starts to build up this idea (that had been explored in the classic series) that the Doctor is almost god-like at times. Here it is presented in a mostly positive light, which contrasts well with the way this idea is explored later in the tenth Doctor’s era and also in the eleventh.   

I also think John Simm is so brilliant as the Master. Much like the Doctor, he is completely different to the way he was portrayed in the classic series, and yet still recognisably him. Mischievous, devious, and completely mad. I also liked the fact that Martha was the one who decided to leave the Doctor – this happened a lot in the classic series, but to date she is the only new-Who companion to do this.


19. The Beast Below (Series 5, 2010, Steven Moffat)


Steven Moffat once said in an interview that this was his least favourite of his own Doctor Who stories, but I really cannot understand why he would feel that way. While The Eleventh Hour (see entry 23 above) was a great way to reboot the series with new cast and crew, this second episode of series 5 was the one that, for me, really cemented the quality of the series, and brought out a more sensitive, tender side.

We see a really nice side of Amy here, after the feisty, sassy side we see in the opening episode. I like the fact that, into only the second episode of the series, we’re already seeing some nice development in the relationship between the new Doctor and his new companion. And some nice messages about the nature and the attitude of the eleventh Doctor, and what is important to him. Definitely some great character-defining stuff here for this incarnation.

And the story itself really is one of my favourites. The monsters are very creepy, the setting is nicely satirical, and the whole premise is very mysterious. I think it’s a good thinking-person’s episode. It gets you questioning what’s really going on throughout, and has some great twists and turns on the way through. Before Amy saved the day, I did find myself wondering who I agreed with, whether it was right to keep torturing the whale to survive. As you’ve probably noticed by now, I like these sorts of questions, when they’re asked but not answered.

[ariich]

Is anyone other than Scrop following this? What happened to Marco?


18. The Edge of Destruction, parts 1-2 (Season 1, 1964, David Whitaker)


This is probably a very unexpected choice, even for those who watch the classic series, but it’s my favourite story from William Hartnell’s first Doctor. There are other stories that have some great qualities and really set up the show in an interesting way, but no others ever really grabbed me enough to really consider putting them in this list.

Not so with the Edge of Destruction, only the third ever Doctor Who story! It’s only two 25-minute episodes long, which was very short for those days where most stories were 4-7 episodes and some were as long as 10 episodes. But it was very different to anything else they did at that time, and indeed that they did for many years after. Short, but sweet.

Essentially the premise of the story is that the TARDIS starts acting funny, doing weird things and making the Doctor and his companions act in strange ways, becoming very untrusting towards one another. For me this is an incredibly important episode in setting up ideas explored much later. The notion that the TARDIS is conscious and intelligent has subsequently been explored a fair few times, including as recently as in Neil Gaiman’s episode The Doctor’s Wife. The setting of a small number of people in a single place with weird crap going on has also been used recently, in RTD’s episode Midnight.

Those episodes are of course more slick and polished and explore these ideas better, but for its time, and considering the type of show it was back then in only its first season, taking such a risk by making such a dark and intense episode is quite astonishing. It’s also nicely done, and well-acted. Of course, when watching really early episodes, you have to accept the little flaws that were part of its production (they rarely had time for multiple takes, so small mistakes or briefly forgetting lines was always kept in). But in general, this is really top-notch stuff!


17. The Waters of Mars (2009 specials, 2009, Russell T. Davies and Phil Ford)


And now we jump from one the first Doctor’s earliest stories to one of the tenth Doctor’s final ones. This is one of the darkest stories that the series has ever had, not just because of the setting and the downright creepiness of the water monsters, but because of the way the Doctor behaves.

Of course, this special isn’t all doom and gloom. There is some nice humour dotted throughout which is funny in itself, but also stands out because of the darker tone of the episode as a whole. The light relief is perfectly balanced and perfectly placed, which is crucial given that Doctor Who is a family show, and without it the story would have been just that little bit too dark.

The supporting cast is also fantastic. Every one of them is entirely believable, and they all get a decent amount of screen time and character exposition (well, apart from the ones who die early on, but that can hardly be helped). The fact that the Doctor had no companion for this year of specials should have provided opportunity for some great ensemble cast stories, but this was the only one that did it so successfully.

As I said, though, the biggest draw here is the Doctor, the way his character loses control, and the brilliant performance from David Tennant. You really start to sympathise with him, after everything he’s suffered in recent series you do want him to just kick some arse, even though you know he shouldn’t. The climax at the end is intense, unexpected and really sets up Tennant’s final story brilliantly. And just the rarity – a Doctor Who story that doesn’t have a happy ending, at all really. I can’t think of any others like that. 

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Waters of Mars is amazing, one of my favorite episodes.

[Scorpion]

Waters of Mars is amazing. Haven't seen anything from Hartnell yet, though I have watched one story from the black-and-white era and it didn't bother me at all.

[masterthes]

Water is absolutely brilliant and scary the way the Doctor is at the end. It's almost like 900 years of patience has finally snapped and he basically says "fuck it"
I think, in essence, this is what we are going to see with Hurt's portrayal of "The Doctor". That sense that he has all this power, why not really use it?

[Scorpion]

Update?

[ariich]

Tomorrow!

Glad to see the love for Waters.