Doctor Who Community Discord

I saw art by Lee Binding of the fugitive doctor standing on an alien planet and I felt a sudden rush of disappointment in the handling of her character on the main show. The Fugitive Doctor and her TARDIS looking like it’s after Hartnell are some of the most perplexing mysteries right now in the show. Chibnall really messed with the lore and really could not write more than crazy interesting concepts which he would let down in the end. I hope RTD really runs with some of his concepts because that’s what a serial like doctor who is about.

The existence of the fugitive doctor not really making sense really bugs me and I hope a good writer can give her a creative and convoluted origin which still leaves mystery while not feeling like a tacked on fan fic doctor as she currently does. The actress who plays this doctor has been amazing in her small time as the doctor and she has such doctor energy but also with a new flair.

I know big finish will probably add more but dare I say I want a 5 part mini series of her on the run from the CIA? Or at the very least another episode where she shines like war doctor in DOTD

Spoilers ahead for The Giggle.

ALSO- I want to make it clear that just because I'm about to roast the heck out of this episode does not mean I have anything against the people involved (except maybe a tiny distaste for Russell T Davis, don't at me🙃😁). Point is, I don't want people to read this and see someone making an angry rant- This is all in good fun here. :)

When most people complain about The Giggle, they're usually complaining about either the bi-generation not making sense, or the whole "everyone thinks they're right" being poorly executed.

Both of these are valid elements to complain all day about. But here, I'm mainly taking about the handling of the Toymaker.

I first got into Doctor Who in 2012, when I was 10 years old. I practically binged all of the new series (while also getting healthy doses of Classic Series here and there), so that I got to watch the 50th Anniversary live!

I remember I made an internet post on a group-chat somewhere that if I had 1 request to make for the special (which, at the time, we knew next to nothing about), it would be to see the return of the Celestial Toymaker.

Little did I know, my request was 1 decade off.

However... Come on.

Firstly, apparently the Toymaker wasn't even going to be in this. Russell said that originally the puppet For the first ever television broadcast was going to be the main villain of The Giggle.

Sounds like a fair enough idea- I mean, don't get me wrong, for the 60th Anniversary, that idea sucks and has literally nothing to do with 60 years of Doctor Who, but apparently Russell decided against this idea.

Why?

Well, apparently It wasn't because Russell suddenly realized that he should probably do something that has to do with the history of Doctor Who in an anniversary Special, But, according to the behind the scenes commentaries, apparently he simply decided against this idea because he thought it was silly- That having The Doctor fight a puppet for an Episode would not work.

...

So he decided to make a puppet Master character, and then things just kind of cool place so that he would get the Toymaker.

I also remember reading an article somewhere that apparently Russell didn't even realize how amazing of a character the Toymaker was until he started writing the script.

...

Honestly, I'm not that surprised, considering Russell almost had Steven Taylor disguised as a cow at Unit HQ to take-on the Toymaker.

I seriously don't get Russell's mindset.

The reason the Toymaker ended up in this Episode Was now because he was a well-beloved villain who fans were waiting very patiently to see return, and this was finally the reward that an anniversary specialist supposed to give to the fans that have stuck with it all this time.

Apparently the Toymaker Is only in this episode because Russell highly underestimated the idea of having a Puppet as its main villain.

If Russell realized that that idea was actually brilliant, we wouldn't have gotten the Toymaker...

What????

Also- Sorry, But we are in desperate need of elaboration on that Steven Taylor cow thing. Russell brings it up so casually and with absolutely zero detail. What do you mean Stephen Taylor is a cow? Like he's in a cow suit? Was it going to look convincing? Was a Unit aware it was Steven in a cow suit? Did he shapeshift? Has he been working with Unit as a disguise of a cow for years? If so- ... Why????

And how can you possibly think of writing something like that, and not fully go through with it?

Now instead of Steven Taylor's triumphant return being whatever this cow thing was, he's just gonna be one of the bunch of companions in the Tales of the TARDIS shorts. Oh, well.

But back to the Toymaker- How could you bring back the single coolest villain in Doctor Who and do him dirty like this?

Firstly, you have Neil Patrick Harris, a guy well known for his singing, and instead you just have him lip sync to a random pop song. It's a cool scene, I'm not going to lie, but you could have had him... Actually sing something? You went out of your way to get Neil Patrick Harris for him to be silent during the music-number?

But then also- Just compare the two Toymaker stories.

I don't care what anyone says about the original 1966 serial. It is my favorite First Doctor Story- If you don't like the original Celestial Toymaker story, then I assume you also don't like stuff like Squid Game, right? Because The Celestial Toymaker is basically just Squid Game in Doctor Who, 1966.

The Celestial Toymaker is a masterpiece, in-my-opinion. When I see people complain about this story, is usually to do with the fact that Episode 4 surviving reveals the budget was way too-low for these ambitions and that the Games aren't that innovative.

I think these are valid criticisms, but anyone who says them won't be able to deny that this story did it leaps and bounds better than The Giggle.

I was genuinely excited for The Giggle. The poster showed The Doctor and Donna with the Toymaker and a bunch of poker cards.

I literally thought doctor who was going to try an actually do Squid Game. We would get to see The Doctor and Donna crawl their way through the Toymaker's world and play several Games- Maybe even the same ones Steven and Dodo had a play.

But, instead we get iconic games such as- Catch (which The Doctor has not reason to pick this Game, and catch is also a Game that's more about the throw than the actual catching of the ball), and then... Cut the deck and whichever card is highest wins. And the Toymaker might have cheated during this Game, but it's not too clear because this Game is so overly simply that it's impossible to even call it a Game. "The simplest Game of all." No, it's not a Game, it's just a bet based on nothing. The Toymaker probably memorized the shuffling of the Cards for all I know.

Yeah, forget about Liar Game and Usogui and Alice in Borderland and other masterpieces of Game fiction- This is where it's at.

Of course, the "everybody things they're right" thing was poorly executed, and the bi-generation thing made even less sense, but honestly, if given the chance between having these things make sense, or having an actually Good sequel to the Celestial Toymaker, I would take Neil Patrick Harris singing spice girls with the Episode 3 dancers while The Doctor and Donna frantically look for a key in a pie while an old married couple squabble away any day of the week.

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe (6/10) - A pretty bad story, and one of Moffat's worst. It's still not terrible, but not worth a watch in my opinion.

Series 2 (7/10) - Some episodes are good, some are horrible. Rose is a good companion, and the 10th Doctor is a great Doctor. But some episodes are poorly written. Don't get me wrong, some episodes are great, most notably Doomsday.

A Christmas Carol (7/10) - Moffat does a great job writing this. I also enjoy Matt Smith and Micheal Gambon's performances.

Planet of the Dead (8/10) - In my opinion this special is overrated. I enjoyed it, but I felt like the other specials were much better.

Series 3 (8/10) - I wholeheartedly agree with the fact that Martha is an underrated companion. In fact, some of the episodes are my favorites. Human Nature/Family of Blood is one of Tennant's best.

Series 5 (8/10) - Some episodes are great, some are overrated. The Eleventh Hour is a great jumping on point for people who haven't started the show yet. Victory of the Daleks is probably one of the worst New Who Dalek episodes.

Series 6 (8/10) - This is a great season, but Let's Kill Hitler is the worst River Song story by far.

The Next Doctor (9/10) - Russell T Davies clickbaits us with this special. I enjoyed it though.

Deep Breath (9/10) - It was a great introduction to the 12th Doctor in my opinion.

The Runaway Bride (9/10) - It was a decent special, and Donna's entrance into the Tardis at the end of Doomsday was great.

The Snowmen (9/10) - I love this special, its one of the best Christmas specials.

Series 7A (9/10) - I separate Series 7 into two parts, like some people do. Series 7A is notably worse than 7B, but still stories like A Town Called Mercy and The Angels Take Manhatten are fabulous.

Voyage of the Damned (9/10) - Wasn't this the most watched New Who episode of all time? Its a great episode in my opinion.

The Christmas Invasion (10/10) - I love the 10th Doctor's first special, and in my opinion it is underrated.

The Waters of Mars (10/10) - This could possibly be David Tennant's best Doctor Who performance. Everything about this special is fantastic.

Series 7B (10/10) - I think Clara is a great companion. Series 7B is by far Matt Smith's best season.

The Time of the Doctor (10/10) - A fantastic ending to Matt Smith's era as the Doctor.

Series 1 (10/10) - The first series is magnificent. I wish Eccelston could've stayed longer.

The End of Time Parts 1 & 2 (10/10) - This episode does something no other regeneration story has ever done; it features the Doctor actually traveling through time so that he can say goodbye to his companions before he regenerates. Tennant's performance is as usual outstanding.

Series 4 (10/10) - Most people say The Stolen Earth ruined Rose; I disagree. I think the Journey's End ending was great. I also think that Donna Noble is one of the best New Who companions.

The Day of the Doctor (11/10) - This is a fantastic story. The 50th anniversary special was the best New Who special in my opinion.

Part I, in which I give my general reflections on the Moffat era, is here. To summarise, the Moffat era was always my favourite era of Doctor Who growing up. I have recently rewatched it with a close friend who prefers the RTD era and am reflecting on my overall thoughts on it, how they have changed, what it does well, and what it does less well.

This is the part in which I rank my overall impressions of each series for which Steven Moffat was showrunner. As before, any comments are much appreciated, even if you violently disagree with me.

There will be a third part in which I rank my ten favourite, and five least favourite, episodes from the era.

7. Series 7A (2012)

I'm ranking the two halves of Series 7 separately, because I view them very differently.

The Amy and Rory half of series 7 is my least favourite run of episodes in the Moffat era by some way. It's not bad necessarily, except for Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, but there is a curious listlessness to it; it feels aimless and directionless to me. Amy and Rory's plot arc is adequately resolved by the end of series 6 and there is really no need for a five episode coda to their story, particularly one that brings up some plot elements that it doesn't have time to address in any depth; for example, the idea that Amy and Rory have broken up because of Amy's inability to have children, while possible and potentially an interesting dynamic to explore, is pretty much a throwaway plot point, and insufficient work is done to make it feel in character. The Angels Take Manhattan just about manages to stick the landing in terms of hitting the right emotional beats, despite the fact that the plot doesn't hang together too well. All in all, this is the only time where I feel that the dual production schedules of Doctor Who and Sherlock really compromised the quality of the final package. I'll make an exception for A Town Called Mercy, a beautiful and thought-provoking tale about redemption and forgiveness that, for me, is something of a forgotten classic.

6. Series 10 (2017)

I know that I may attract some criticism for placing series 10 so low, but I'd like to emphasise that this doesn't mean I don't like it. Series 10 is a very solid, compelling run of episodes, and so far I'd say it's the last very good series the show has put out. I just don't find it quite as interesting as some. As far as I understand, Moffat intended series 9 to be his last, and was asked back because Chibnall was finishing Broadchurch and would not be ready in time. This is kind of obvious to me because series 9 wraps up all outstanding character arcs, meaning that the ideas in series 10 - a multi-Master episode, a three-parter, Mondasian cybermen etc. - while all cool, feel like they lack urgency compared to earlier series, as if Moffat is just throwing at the wall 'here are things I thought would be cool but didn't find ways to use earlier.' The three-part episode starts off really well but becomes a fairly conventional alien-invasion story; it's never less than entertaining, but is slightly underwhelming (I have been told that Moffat intended to write The Lie of the Land but couldn't because of family illness, so that might explain it). Bill is wonderful, and she is the perfect example of representation done right. There is so much more to her than her sexuality, which isn't even treated as a big deal. I don't dislike The Star Beast but I think in its heavy-handed messaging it was a slight retrogade step. The season finale is brilliant, I have a few quibbles but all in all it's a really satisfying climax to the era.

5. Series 6 (2011)

Compared to series 10, where I think the individual episodes are good not outstanding but the series overall feels quite cohesive and solid, I think series 6 is almost the opposite - the individual episodes are near-uniformly excellent, but the series arc is too ambitious, and doesn't quite come together. Doctor Who was never going to lean fully into long-form storytelling when the arc is so dark and un-family-friendly, involving a child abduction; but this means that there is a curious tension in this series as the episodic nature of the show contrasts with the overarching plot and they struggle to reconcile themselves. At its worst it feels like Amy and Rory aren't too badly affected by the fact their daughter has been kidnapped and weaponised by a space cult. Even if the connective tissue is a little sparse, though, the episodes themselves are stellar, the cast is on top form, and the writing is confident and challenging. I think the Silence are terrifying and nearly the equals of the Weeping Angels in the roster of brilliant monsters.

4. Series 8 (2014)

Capaldi's first series is let down a little by two comparatively weak episodes that just don't gel, but apart from that it's a really confident and effective debut that shows the darker, more manipulative side of the character. One thing that struck me this time was how much more I empathised with Danny Pink - I still don't exactly like him, but I can understand his perspective a lot more. After all, his girlfriend is effectively emotionally cheating on him in an increasingly reckless and codependent relationship with a possibly dangerous man. The recurring motif of soldiers scarred by war that run through this series, from Danny's own dark secret, to the Foretold as a soldier who has cannot stop fighting in Mummy on the Orient Express, to Journey Blue in Into the Dalek, is really interesting, and helps interrogate the Doctor's own guilt and, to some extent, his hypocrisy - it's notable to me that so many of the reasons the Doctor dislikes Danny, are arguably because Danny reminds him too much of the parts of his own character he'd rather forget. In a way I find it a bit weird that 12 is asking 'Am I a good man?' after the events of The Day of the Doctor should have made him a little less conflicted about that question, but I think the overall thematic arcs hold it together and make it a brilliant exploration of trauma and the ways people can hurt each other.

3. Series 7B (2013)

Here's where I get controversial - I think the Clara half of series 7 is one of the most consistent runs of episodes in the whole of NuWho, a spectacular celebration of what makes Doctor Who special in the lead-up to the 50th anniversary special. (Also interesting to note it's the same length as Ncuti's first season). I will admit that Clara in these early days is a bit generic, like a paint-by-numbers companion, but that's okay because it means that the focus is the individual stories, which are excellent. Every episode feels very different in setting, plot, atmosphere and tone. A bit like series 10, it all feels like a soft reboot, starting with a contemporary adventure in modern London that even opens with a shot of Earth from space, harking back to Rose. We then have a really confident 'playing the hits' that sometimes even feels like an affectionate homage to the classic series - the return of classic monsters like the Great Intelligence and the Ice Warriors, Cold War and Nightmare in Silver as Troughton-era base under siege stories, Hide as a spooky story in a Gothic mansion as an homage to the Hinchcliffe and Holmes era...The Crimson Horror even feels a lot like 'the Doctor versus Mary Whitehouse' (with Mrs Gillyflower's appropriation of religious imagery to build an exclusionary puritan community and eliminate anyone who disagrees).

2. Series 9 (2015)

12 and Clara's 'glory days', series 9 is an unqualified triumph, with a more mellow version of the Twelfth Doctor, a loose story arc about codependency in which 12 and Clara become the Hybrid by pushing each other to further and further extremes, and a reliance on two-part episodes that allows the show to explore its stories in more detail and at a more relaxed pace. I think series 9 was clearly supposed to be Moffat's swansong and he threw into Heaven Sent and Hell Bent so much of what he had to say about immortality, grief, death, and loneliness. Heaven Sent is obviously an absolute tour de force but the series as a whole is an insanely high standard, with Toby Whithouse writing one of the best base-under-siege episodes in the whole show, and the heartbreaking anti-war speech at the end of the Zygon two-parter. I feel like it would have been all too easy for Steven Moffat to coast after the 50th anniversary and cast another young, conventionally handsome boyfriend-doctor and retread old ground. Instead, he used the popularity the show had built up to take real risks, slowing down his plot arcs and telling a more character-driven story that really came into its own in series 9. I think he gave us two contrasting visions of what Doctor Who could look like - a fun, zany, quirky sci-fi show, and a contemplative and dark show that gives us a sense of what it must be like to be a time traveller that has lost and won so much.

1. Series 5 (2010)

And for my favourite series in NuWho, and probably my favourite series in the whole show - Series 5 takes the formula Russell T. Davies had built over four series and turned it up to 11. He uses the same structure as an RTD series - beginning with a present/future/past trilogy, then a two-parter, with another two-parter late in the series, and a threat seeded through a recurring motif throughout the season that later turns into a potentially world-ending danger. But everything just has a new gloss of paint over it, as if it takes RTD's already superb formula and makes it even better. The recurring motif - a crack in the wall - isn't just a repeated word or phrase, it's something that plays into real childhood fears. The fairytale atmosphere of the show is superb, reinventing Doctor Who as a modern fable and anchoring it in a really bittersweet human moment - a child waiting for her imaginary friend, and gradually losing that sense of wonder as she grows older, only for her imaginary friend to turn out to be real. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis's foreword to The lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which he tells his goddaughter 'you are already too old for fairy tales...but some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.' Amy's monologue in The Big Bang where she brings back the Doctor with the power of her imagination always brings a tear to my eye. So much was resting on this series - the BBC wasn't sure that Doctor Who could survive at all without RTD and Tennant - and it was an utter triumph in every way.

This is a sequel to my ranking/reviewing of the second doctor's stories (https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/1gpmr99/my_rankingreviewing_of_the_second_doctors_stories/) and as of writing this I've seen the first 11 seasons of Classic Doctor Who and nothing else from the franchise. This ranking was done after I watched Planet of the Spiders (about an hour ago). I will probably take a break before getting into the Fourth Doctor's run. If any one has any questions feel free to ask.

"E" Rank

24. Carnival of Monsters (1973) - The idea wasn't bad, but I didn't like this one at all. To be honest I think I had more enjoyment watching The Underwater Menace (which I also don't have high opinions on)

"D" Rank

23. Death to the Daleks (1974) - For the most part I don't really know what the general opinions on deferent stories are so if this is a popular story (I'm saying this because it's a Daleks story) I'm sorry but this the most boring Daleks story so far.

24. The Time Monster (1972) - This was somehow an incredibly forgettable story which is surprising considering the weird stuff that happens in it and that the Master is in it.

25. Planet of the Spiders (1974) - This story is to overbloated for its own good. I get that they wanted to finish the Third Doctor's run with a bang but the end result was a mess of ideas that didn't at all mesh well. I liked that they tied the story to events from previous serials and the final scene with the Third Doctor was nice but that's about it.

26. Colony in Space (1971) - Pretty much all of the stuff in this story has been done better in other serials, but what is present here isn't necessarily bad just painful average.

"C" Rank

19. The Sea Devils (1972) - I enjoyed the stuff with the Master but everything concerning the titular Sea Devils was just the Silurians again but not as good. I know that the Sea Devils and the Silurians are related but that's no excuse for just copying most of what worked with the Silurians on to the Sea Devils. Genuinely some parts of the serial felt like a speedrun of the story of The Silurians

20. The Claw of Axos (1971) - Eh, it was a rather dull story. Not boring, but nothing special.

21. The Ambassadors of Death (1970) - A really interesting idea but kind of boring execution.

"B" Rank

16. The Dæmons (1971) - This is one of the stories I know that people like but I think it's probably for me the most average story from the Third Doctor's run.

17. The Mutants (1972) - It has some quite enjoyable moments but overall it was just fine.

18. The Green Death (1973) - An okay story with some nice moments here and there. I especially liked how bittersweet ending was.

19. The Mind of Evil (1971) - To be honest I didn't really find the idea of the story that interesting but the actual execution was pretty enjoyable.

20. Planet of the Daleks (1973) - This was probably the most generic Daleks story so far. By no means bad, it was still an enjoyable adventure.

21. The Monster of Peladon (1974) - Basically on the same quality as the previous Peladon story. It was enjoyable seeing the Ice Warriors being villains again.

22. The Curse of Peladon (1972) - Speaking of the other Peladon story I enjoyed it a bit more. Mainly the idea is more interesting and the fact that the Ice Warriors weren't villains in the story was welcome twist on expectations.

"A" Rank

9. Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) - Didn't really mind how the dinosaurs looked and to be honest by the end I didn't even care about that part of the serial. The actual story in here on the other hand was really good.

10. Frontier in Space (1973) - A really fun and enjoyable adventure. With pretty good final outing for Roger Delgado's version of The Master.

11. Inferno (1970) - A incredible solid story. It was great see the alternative version of the main characters in this story and I really liked the ending.

12. Terror of the Autons (1971) - Great first story for The Master, establishing what kind of a character he is greatly from the start. I liked how the Autons get used in story as well.

13. Day of the Daleks (1972) - Incredible well done reintroduction to the Daleks with a fun adventure from start to finish.

14. The Silurians (1970) - A very interesting premise with a great execution. The Silurians are really fascinating to watch and the ideas tackled with them are quite interesting to see as well.

"S" Rank

3. The Time Warrior (1973-1974) - This was the first historical since The Highlanders and it was a superb one. I really enjoyed that they mixed a historical story with sci-fi elements like how they did in The Time Meddler I really hope they continue doing this. Also this is the introduction to a new companion and by far the best introduction there was. This is also one of the funniest stories so far.

4. The Three Doctors (1972-1973) - This and my number one pick are practical tied and depending on the moment they can easily switch places. As of writing this i fell like put this serial on 2nd place. This was an amazing anniversary story and without a question Patrick Troughton just steals the show every time he's on screen. All of the interactions between him and Jon Pertwee were some of the most entertaining moments in the entire show so far.

5. Spearhead from Space (1970) - The first Third Doctor story and probably the perfect first story you can ask for. An amazing introduction to this incarnation of the character, great reintroduction to UNIT and the Brigadier, threatening new villains and a solid story with unforgettable moments (The Third Doctor escaping in a wheelchair will forever be stuck in my head). Easily one of the show's best story.

We know about how the 3rd doctor always used venusian aikido, and it was a skill that carried with the doctor in his next lifes with most doctors using it at least once (including the EU)

But the problem is, 3 from the moment he was born he was exiled on earth, so it's impossible that he learned venusian aikido, meaning the doctor learned it before he became 3, most likely out of screen, with some sources suggest that it was 2 who learned it,

You see the problem here? Not only that 2 is not the type to use fisticuffs, he never used it at all, not even in the extended media i read/listened about him i can't recall a single example of him using it

Do you know what even more crazy? The doctor mastered venusian aikido to the point that not only he carried to his next incarnations but also it is originally designed for lifeforms with more than 2 arms , yet he mastered it,

And yet he never used at all, even in situations when it would have been really useful

So I spent a few hours just binging RTD and Moffat interviews and I begun to really notice quite a big difference with how they talk about their upcoming episodes.

In regards to upcoming episodes RTD always seems to hype his episodes in regards to an outside context - he is constantly thinking about himself as a writer and the audience reactions, rather than discussing the content of the actual episode. For example he will call certain episodes "the best thing that he has ever written" or that audiences "will cry their eyes out". So I guess one could say that this angle does do a good job at representing RTD as a writer, constantly thinking about audiences and using phrases that will market the episode well to that audience, regardless of whether what he is saying is actually true - something i guess we saw in series 14 and the hype train he created for the finale, which lead to an underwhelming reaction from fans.

However, Moffat always discussed future episodes in regards to the content with phrases such as "the doctor will face his biggest decision yet" and "everything the Doctor is running from lands on his head today" - and when he does discuss his episodes in and outside context (such as audience reactions), he always seems to play it down when compared to RTD. For example when teasing the s10 finale Moffat said that "I’m very, very pleased with it. I don’t know what other people will think of it, but I like it,”

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nearly 6 months(i think) on from Toymaker and not even a whisper as to what the next release is going to be. No announcement, just silence. Is anyone else concerned about this? Im really starting to feel like the range was just straight up cancelled with no notice of cancellation. Why? ive currently got 2 theories

1-The budget was slashed again, but to such a degree that the animation teams couldnt make it worked and just packed everything in.

2-The BBC wanted to go CGI only from Toymaker onward, but the admittedly mixed reception to the new animation style led them to can the range outright.

are my worries unfounded? Does anyone have news to the contrary of this? Im going to be immensely dissapointed and saddened if this is where things end off, i really dont want to imagine a world where the season 3 bluray will be half composed of Telesnap-less photo reconstructions only.

Are they the same person that has regenerated between the end of classic who and the start of nu who?

Or are they both two different time lords, and the classic doctor perished when the species was nearly wiped out in the war?

Or are the two universes not connected whatsoever?

I seem to remember an edit of the end of Logopolis where you actually see the Doctors' body fall off Jodrell Bank. There is this shot shown in some edits where you can see him hanging (which reminds me of The Wizard of Oz's Hanging Munchkin), but I remember a similar one, only a couple of seconds long, where you see the fall. Has anyone else seen or remember this? I can't seem to find it anymore, but I could be mis-remembering.

Full disclosure, the first episode of Doctor Who I ever watched was A Christmas Carol on Christmas Day, 2010. For that reason, the Moffat era has always been my favourite era of NuWho (the Hinchcliffe era would be my favourite era of the classic show). I love the first RTD era and think it has many unique merits, but I grew up watching the Moffat era (from series 6 onwards) on its first broadcast, and it has stuck with me as the way Doctor Who 'should' be done in my mind, to the extent that I've always been very defensive of it and pleased to see it undergo something of a rehabilitation during the Chibnall years. A friend of mine who prefers the first RTD era and I decided that we would rewatch the Moffat era together, to see how well it holds up for us in hindsight. It took us about two months (we don't binge-watch), and have just finished.

This will be part 1 of 3 posts. In this one I'll try to set out my general thoughts on the era. In part 2 I will give my thoughts on each series, and in part 3 I will rank my ten favourite episodes and my five least favourite ones.

I'll try to respond to as many comments as I can, even if you disagree with everything I say.

General thoughts

- This era continues to be my favourite in NuWho, even though some of the flaws (particularly in the overall arc of Series 6, which I have always defended) are more apparent to me; conversely, some episodes that I had never really 'got', particularly Listen, really blew me away.

- I love how every series feels a little bit different, both in terms of structure and atmosphere. Series 5 seems like an attempt to take the 'formula' of the RTD era - a recurring threat seeded over eleven fairly independent episodes before culminating in an explosive and potentially world-ending finale - and push it as far as it can go. Having done this once very successfully, Moffat then tries very different structures, e.g. the circular structure of series 6 in which we stop trying to up the stakes with universe ending threats and focus on a smaller-scale story about the Doctor's own apparent death, or the two-part structure of series 9. I also love how the Capaldi era is a 'dark fairytale' to the Smith era's 'light fairytale', with Clara/Danny/12 even serving as a kind of doomed and dysfunctional parallel to Amy/Rory/11.

- For the most part - with a couple of caveats - I think the idea that Moffat can't write women is wrong. All of his female companions feel well characterised and very different from each other. Under RTD Rose and Martha were defined in large part by their love for the Doctor (Donna is a wonderful exception), whereas this is less true of Amy, Clara, and Bill, all of whom have dynamic lives apart from the Doctor - indeed, they increasingly seem not to live in the TARDIS and to go on day trips with the Doctor instead. Clara and 12 is probably the most equal Doctor/companion relationship in the show's history, and indeed ends with her getting to become a narrative equal to the Doctor by getting her own TARDIS and her own companion. Where Moffat's writing of women fails I think it's a holdover from his days of writing sitcoms. He can lean too much into tired tropes of nagging wives/girlfriends.

- I think if the Moffat era has an overriding theme it's summed up by 12's declaration to Clara in Hell Bent, that he feels he possesses a 'duty of care'. The Davies era took the premise that the Doctor is a lonely god, a wandering, peripatetic figure who craves companionship but who will ultimately be forced to leave his companions behind, and mined it for interesting drama. Moffat realised that, while successful, Davies had taken that trope as far as it could go, and instead wrote the Doctor as someone trying to learn from his mistakes, stick around, and avoid hurting his companions. Hence, having unwittingly abandoned Amy as a child and caused her some psychological distress in the process, 11 spends much of the next couple of seasons trying to fix his mistakes; in The Time of the Doctor 11 becomes 'the man who stayed for Christmas', sticking around for centuries to protect one town; in Heaven Sent/Hell Bent 12 moves heaven and Earth to try to save Clara, breaking his own principles in the process, so acutely does he feel responsible for failing to protect her; in series 10, 12 takes it upon himself to guard and try to redeem another renegade Time Lord.

- Before Moffat, I think Doctor Who was a show 'with' time travel but not really a show 'about' time travel. There are a few individual episodes that serve as exceptions, but the Moffat era plays with the possibilities inherent to the concept of time travel much more than his predecessors.

- Moffat's plots are not actually that complicated. For example, I often see The Wedding of River Song cited as an episode that is overcomplicated; I would actually argue that, while it doesn't entirely stick the landing, this might be because it is too simple, not because it's too complicated. The twist can just be summed up as 'the Doctor was hiding in the Teselecta', which is pretty simple. The problem is that the series has given us at least two mechanisms by which the Doctor could feasibly cheat his apparent death (the other being that it could have been the flesh duplicate who died), so the tension is less 'how is he going to get out of this one?' and more 'which of these convenient Chekhov's guns on the wall will be fired?'

- The Moffat era assumes a certain televisual literacy and familiarity with tropes in the viewer, and then sets out to subvert them gently. For example, A Good Man Goes to War starts off as a revenge thriller, but critiques the whole genre as the Doctor's attempt to get his revenge is a failure and threatens to undermine what he stands for in the process. The Hybrid arc in series 9 and the homecoming to Gallifrey seems to promise a spectacular, continuity-focussed epic, but Hell Bent then rejects this in favour of a smaller, more intimate story about the relationship between 12 and Clara. Whether you find this narrative tactic to be satisfying or unsatisfying is a matter of opinion. Personally I appreciate it a lot, but I can understand why people might feel slightly cheated, as if the show has promised a payoff it doesn't deliver.

- Rewatching the Moffat era makes me angry at Chris Chibnall again. I thought I'd made my peace with him, but no. The real sin of The Timeless Children isn't the Timeless Child itself (although I don't much like that concept either), it's the casual destruction of Gallifrey and extinction of most Time Lords in order to serve a fairly thin plot, the emotional fallout of which are never really explored. The Day of the Doctor is one of the best episodes in all of NuWho but its big reveal, that Gallifrey survived and the Doctor did not therefore bear responsibility for its destruction, is cheapened and hollowed-out by the fact that Chibnall then destroys Gallifrey again a few years later, for no real narrative payoff, and presumably just because he wanted to revert the character of the Doctor to the 'lonely God' RTD1 status quo. This isn't the only thing that Chibnall did which I feel is quite disrespectful to his predecessor, but it's the worst. It's the reason why I personally do not consider parts of the Chibnall era to be canon, even though I know there is little chance of them being reversed. I don't mean this as an insult to anyone who likes the Chibnall era and if you do, please tell me why - it might show me a way of looking at these episodes that I've missed.

Any comments would be very much appreciated and I'll reply as soon as I can!

Edit: Part II is up now

i noticed that sarah jane adventures blu rays are really hard to find so i was wondering if anyone actually has season 4 on blu ray

Ok, so maybe I could see it. 10 was all giddy and excited, 5 figured his Tardis had been meddled with and he didn't recognise his future self. I guess he could be pushed to the point of anger, but it still feels off.

Viewed in isolation from the Davison era, like most New Who fans would have, Time Crash does give the impression that 5 was a quick tempered grumpy Doctor.

Of course, in reality 5 might just be the nicest and most polite Doctor ever, though 2 and 15 are probably in the conversation so it feels weird.

Again, maybe under the right circumstances its plausible, but I guess if nothing else it strikes me as an odd decision for what is essentially an introduction to the 5th Doctor for a lot of younger fans.

Mind you, its not the only time. I don't know who that was in Tales of the Tardis but that was not the Sixth Doctor.

#BIG FINISH PODCAST NOTES /MISC. DOCTOR WHO NEWS ROUNDUP

Slowly adjusting to a desk job. Otherwise same old same old. Happy Doctor Who Day next week! Can’t believe it’s already here, the year flashed by, good ol’ depression!

PODCAST NEWS:

• The new website won’t be re-released for quite some time.

• The Stuff of Legends was filmed for posterity but there are no plans to release it.

NON-BIG FINISH PODCAST DOCTOR WHO NEWS:

• Story details on Call Me Master Vol. 1 - Inner Demons. 2.5 years after the announcement!

• Trailer is out for The First Doctor Adventures: The Living Darkness.

• Trailer is out for the live version of Doctor Who: The Stuff of Legends.

• The trailer is out for The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers.

• The announcement of Classic Doctors, New Monsters Vol. 5 - Faithful Friends is announced featuring the Krillitane, the Monks and the Lupari.

BBC AUDIO/BOOKS/MEDIA NEWS:

ANYTHING ELSE

Sales: Weekly Deals: Survivors. Sale Ends Today!; Classic Doctor New Monsters: Flash Sale, Ends Today!.

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Once and Future: Coda - The Final Act

Interview/Production Interviews Once and Future: Coda - The Final Act; Bernice Summerfield: The Eternity Club Pt. 3

Randomoid Selectotron: BUCKUP: **The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Time War Vol. 1

What BF CD’s are OOP: The Third Doctor Adventures: Vol. 6; The Diary of River Song: Vol. 9 - New Recruit

Big Finish Release Schedule:

• Bernice Summerfield: The Eternity Club Pt. 3 - 19/11/2024

• Once and Future: Coda - The Final Act - 22/11/2024

What Big Finish I was listening too today: The Aunty Donna Podcast Ep. 249: Horse Racing YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN, YOU’RE FLAPPING YOUR ARMS TOO MUCH, OH TO BE A HORSE!!.

Random Tangents: Benji is still waiting for his delivery of the VHS of Death to the Daleks. Nick is getting confused about the term ‘Slay.’

Regeneration, from my perspective, is the bleeding hearts of the show. It has a lot to offer outside of the passing of the torch of course, but regeneration is such a special tradition that it’s hard to not think of it as the special spark of this show. That got me wondering, has regeneration had any noticeable affect on fiction written after 1966? Others works that are clearly inspired by the concept?

Another question, and I have no idea how one would collect the data for this, but did seeing Hartnell successfully and diegetically pass the reigns on to Troughton make audiences more receptive to more standard recastings in film and television?

I remember it being about 9th Doctor and Rose going to Van Stattens bunker, and there being another child or younger alien that has either empath/psychic abilities, sorta helps the dalek escape, stops doctor fromkilling it, dalek leaves shell and joins the team, and also has a mental breakdown when they accidentally connect tgwir mind with the TARDIS when entering the ship.

Yes, sure, we all love it when the Doctor is being a gallant hero, saving the day and making grand speeches about how amazing humanity is. But there's nothing I love more than when the Doctor is allowed to be a total jackass, making callous decisions or being a sneaky little goblin all because they think they're 'in the right'. So what are some of your favourite examples?

It's a classic for a reason, but I adore the moment in 'The Girl Who Waited' when the Doctor closes the door on Old Amy after previously promising to rescue her. It's brutal, not only because the Doctor flagrantly lies to both Rory and Amy(s), but also because he literally shuts the door in her face, leaving her to die. Then, on top of it all, he forces Rory to back his decision and effectively places the burden on his shoulders.

And I also love that, as much he insists its because of the paradox and in order to save 'their Amy', you can totally read the situation as the Doctor disposing of the 'problem' version of Amy who no longer idolises him because he feeds on that relationship as much as she does. It's horrific and gut-wrenching but so, so good.

I am asking mostly because of special 5 with the tenth doctor cause it was release so long after the other books with the tenth

In my ever-growing Doctor Who video and audio collection, I've gathered over fifteen hundred individual stories, and I'm attempting to (briefly) review them all in the order in which they might have happened according to the Doctor's own personal timeline. We'll see how far I get.

Today's Story: The Scream of Ghosts, written by Guy Adams and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What is it?: This is the second story in Big Finish’s anthology The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume Five.

Who's Who: The story stars Tim Treloar and Katy Manning, with Jon Culshaw, John Levene, Dominic Wood, Rosalyn Landor, David Dobson, and Guy Adams.

Doctor(s) and Companion(s): The Third Doctor, Jo Grant

Recurring Characters: Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, John Benton, Vardans

Running Time: 01:42:17

One Minute Review: An unidentified signal, which sounds disturbingly like screaming, has overwhelmed the TARDIS communication circuits. The Doctor isn't having much success in triangulating its source, but when Sergeant Benton relays a similar story from a friend in Belbury, Kent, the Doctor suspects that it might be connected to an alleged breakthrough in mobile telephony that the Brigadier and Jo are evaluating nearby. However, after experiencing the signal for himself, he realizes it’s actually a weapon—one that’s consuming the villagers of Belbury—and the Doctor may be next.

The Vardans aren't remembered as the Doctor's most impressive foes on television, but they have been surprisingly reliable villains for Big Finish. This is the third time they’ve appeared in these reviews, and each story has been a success. They are particularly suited to this serial, which is all about sound waves and wireless transmissions. Although Guy Adams' script does little to distinguish them as characters, his performance, along with Joe Miner's sound design, manages to make them suitably creepy. However, my favorite aspect of this story is that Jo gets the opportunity to save the day as UNIT's "acting" scientific advisor.

This audio's most memorable guest performance comes from Rosalyn Landor, who elevates an already well-written role as the driven Professor Caldicott. This is also John Levene's first appearance in the range as Sergeant Benton, and it's nice to hear him flesh his character out a bit more. Tim Treloar delivers yet another terrific performance as the Doctor, Jon Culshaw continues his uncanny impersonation of the Brigadier, and Katy Manning sounds delighted to showcase how much Jo has learned since failing her A-level in science.

Score: 4/5

Next Time: The Other Woman

The same basic rules for the final Dalek story post I made a while ago apply. You don’t necessarily have to kill off the Master, and you can even leave it open for the Master to make future cameos, but it has to be the final story centered around the Master.

I'm fairly new to Doctor Who but am also doing a season of my time loop podcast where I'm sampling a story from every Doctor, making sure to cover a time loop episode where applicable. For some of the weaker Doctors, I keep hearing good things about the Big Finish audio plays and I was wondering if any of them had a time loop element to the story. And not one where the time loop is just used as a prison, but one where there is at least some repetition involved in the story.

I appreciate any help in this, it's kind of a weird thing to just do a search for.

I’ll go first, I just can’t get behind Alex McQueen‘s incarnation of the master. I’m sure its just a me thing, everyone else seems to really love him in the role but when I listened to actors like Derek Jacoby or Jeffrey Beavers, he’s just not in the same league. My other incredibly unpopular opinion is that I don’t think necromanteia was that bad, I know there is one scene which taints the story for a lot of people which is valid, but I enjoyed the story.

Doctor Who stories tend to string a lot of different plot points together, ESPECIALLY with Classic Who (when each story had an average runtime of 2 - 3 hours). Sometimes things tie in together really well, and sometimes it becomes a jumbled mess.

But sometimes those weird, jumbled offshoots of the main plot can be a ton of fun.

Let me start with one of my favorite examples: Silver Nemesis.

In the final part, there's a section where Lady Peinforte and Richard have to hitchhike to get to Windsor. They end up hitching a ride with this comical caricature of a rich American woman. The woman just assumes that they're locals (despite their obvious 17th century attire), and when Lady Peinforte insults her 17th century ancestors, the American woman thinks she's a historian and is delighted.

This scene has absolutely zero bearing on the plot, and it could've been replaced with literally any other method of travel. But it's one of my favorite parts of the story.

How about you guys?

In this regular thread, talk about anything Doctor-Who-related you've recently infosorbed. Have you just read the latest Twelfth Doctor comic? Did you listen to the newest Fifth Doctor audio last week? Did you finish a Faction Paradox book a few days ago? Did you finish a book that people actually care about a few days ago? Want to talk about it without making a whole thread? This is the place to do it!

Please remember that future spoilers must be tagged.

Regular Posts Schedule

• Latest No Stupid Questions
• Latest Rewatch
• Previous What's Who With You
• Latest Free Talk Friday

One of my first big finish box sets was the first doctor adventures box set 2 which I really enjoyed. Due to the way it had one Sci fi and one historical story. Are all the first doctor stories with david bardley good? No box set 5 is slow and a bit boring. The fourth box set is my favourite due to the return to skaro being an excellent follow up to the Daleks and the last of the romanovs being an emotional story set in one of my favourite time eras.

I haven't listened to beyond war games stuff so my 2nd doctor big finish experience is the early adventures and the third doctor story he was in. The third doctor story is a fun season 7, 7 parter. His early adventures stories feel fantastic to listen to with stories like the forsaken and the yes men being good season 4 stories.

The best story though is daughter of the gods With both the first and second doctor it's a 5th anniversary special. With ties to the daleks masterplan. And one of the better dalek stories big finish have done.

I haven't listened to any companion chronicles (baring the second doctor volume 2&3) so any recommendations?