Doctor Who Community Discord

I've just finished the 50 episodes of the main range available on Spotify and loved them! Not every one is a banger, but much like the television show, when it's good it's REALLY GOOD and when it's bad it's pretty cringe.

Hot Take: the one that the Toymaker "saw and ran" from that was mentioned in "The Giggle" will be Zagreus. Hot Take 2: Big Finish is sometimes better than anything the show ever produced.

I've downloaded the rest of the audio dramas available on Spotify that someone was kind enough to list out on Reddit (linked in this post but I'm on mobile so forgive me if it's wonky). I'm wondering if anyone knows where to find more available for free? I know of the Into the TARDIS podcast and will be following that. And if I had the money I would purchase the entire collection because it's worth it. But really I'd love to hear the rest of the monthly main range and the expansions to Doctors 4, 9 and 10. I'm itching for the Diaries of River Song and the meeting of 4 and 10. There's just so much I doubt I'll ever catch up on all of it. Just wanted to gush a bit with other fans though.

I think a lot of the sci-fi villains are quite interchangeable. I've been rewatching Stargate, and I think the Goa'uld would work really well - a snake-like symbiote that takes over a host body.

I struggled to think of anything from Star Wars that I think would work.

I really don't understand this criticism, which is often levelled at 11's era (and to a lesser extent 12's.)

To me, it's very clear that S5 and S6 are a gradual deconstruction of the idea of the Doctor being a god. We have characters venerating him, despite his own assertions that he is "just a madman with a box", but he is also guilty of playing into his reputation and manipulating people with his power as he knows it works for him - and this has consequences. We see 11 lose multiple times by being tricked into believing he won, overestimating his own power in TPO and AGMGTW. We see Rory and River both directly call him out for how dangerous he is, and the devastating effects his grip over the universe has on the lives of his companions - eventually resulting in his planned assassination in S6, when the Kovarian Chapter intentionally go out of their way to kidnap Melody and brainwash her to kill the Doctor in a complex scheme because they deeply fear him.

Towards the end of S6 and S7A, with episodes like The God Complex, The Power of Three and A Town Called Mercy, we see the unhealthy codependent friendship between Amy and the Doctor start to shift - Amy begins to heal, becoming disillusioned in her faith and finally seeing 11 as fallible, and gradually overcoming her childhood trauma, caused by her parents' and then 11's abandonment when she was 7.

11, in turn, starts to go off the rails - now, he can't cope with seeing Amy grow up. His infantalisation of Amy was always an issue, but it's dialled up to 11 - pun intended - when his fears start to come true. He becomes more callous and cruel as she slips away from him. It reaches a satisfying conclusion with Amy and Rory's departure in TATM, when Amy and the Doctor mirror each other: in S5, Amy idealised the Doctor, saw him as infallible, and feared his abandonment; in S7, the Doctor idealised Amy, saw her as infallible, and feared her abandonment.

And she let her faith go. She left.

The genesis of this idea - of taking apart the idea of the Doctor as a vengeful god - can be traced back to Davies' era with the Time Lord Victorious arc. So it's quite strange to me that Moffat is criticised for writing a natural progression from that arc.

In all honesty, I think a lot of criticism for the Moffat era comes from people who have not rewatched that period of the show in a long time, and while there is something to be said about how an era is remembered, I do believe some of these erroneous interpretations of Moffat's stories can be linked to this sort of 2010 Tumblr discourse which often relied on decontextualising Moffat's quotes and framing all of his work in the worst faith possible without inviting any nuance into the discussion.

I can't speak for S7B as I'm not terribly fond of that series and haven't seen it in a while (and yes - I recognise the irony here), but in terms of the Pond Era specifically, the idea of the Doctor being an all-powerful, infallible god is played with and taken apart very directly. The seed is planted in S5, but it's pretty much the entire focus of S6, and it reaches what I believe to be a satisfying conclusion in S7A.

Media is, of course, subjective. Moffat has a distinct writing style; I can easily understand why it isn't for everybody. And it would be disingenuous to claim that his writing is flawless! I have many criticisms of his work myself, but some of the more common complaints about Moffat's Who ("he only cares about constructing a clever plot and his characters have no depth", "his work is riddled with plot holes") fall apart when you actually revisit his era and make an effort to engage with the text.

Flaws are not exclusive to one particular period of the show; every showrunner has strengths and weaknesses, every era has positives and negatives. Like many fandoms, a large number of Doctor Who fans allow popular misconceptions to colour their interpretation of the stories they are presented with. Which makes sense, I suppose: people who have already made up their minds about any body of work - and have that bias continually affirmed by other fans - are not likely to revisit the material to check if the actual text supports their bias.

We've read about how it's always a nightmare to hire a showrunner because they need not only multiple Doctor Who writing credits but experience running their own successful shows and a strong business knowledge of the UK television scene.

I've always wondered why they don't just distribute the massive workload, have someone tend to the business and managerial side while a writer simply handles the creative direction of the show.

This is similar to the Producer/Script Editor dynamic of the classic era and would allow a lot more creative voices to flourish their take on the show.

https://youtu.be/qOKHxg5Rdhc?si=Zf9eqrHuxbyGD7RW

1- Certainly not. One doesn't want to condone such tomfoolery. Unless the body in question were Dalek.

2. Yes, but hates that you've made this his problem.

3. Yes and knows a quaint little planet left of Orion's Belt, where the corrosive atmosphere can dissolve human flesh in under three minutes.

4. He would, but no one's ever had the guts to ask.

5. No and would probably cry

6. No and would probably grass

7. Too sweet to say no, but wouldn't be much help.

8. Yes, but I feel like he'd give you a hard time.

War. I mean...

9. Has two shovels and the rest of eternity. Would want to get chips after.

10. Only if you're Donna Noble.

11. He'd go back in time and stop your victim's parents from meeting. There never was a body.

12. Yes and happily drop it in the supernova of your choosing.

13. Never answers her phone

14. He's an uncle now, leave him be

15. He'd do anything for his bestie, but wants you to reconsider your life choices.

I made a list of my fave episodes from every NuWho series and each era's specials.

Bad Wolf

Tooth & Claw

The Shakespeare Code

The Unicorn and the Wasp

The Beast Below

Lets Kill Hitler

The Crimson Horror

Dark Water/Death in Heaven

Heaven Sent/Hell Bent

Knock Knock

The Witchfinders

The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Village of the Angels

Specials:

RTD: Voyage of the Damned

Moffat: The Time of the Doctor

Chibnall: Eve of the Daleks

RTD2: The Giggle

Tell me yours!

*(NOTE: This is strictly a commentary on how well the transitions were handled, not how good or how much I liked the episodes themselves)

Doctor Who is unique among many franchises in that it can change its entire cast and crew while still being recognisably the same programme. The changes in showrunner tend to come with more drastic changes. In the three times it's happened in NuWho, the entire aesthetic and tone of the show have changed.

Davies - Moffat

Going from arguably the most popular Doctor ever to a virtually unknown actor was a risk. But it was one that seemed to pay off. Matt Smith - while very different to David Tennant's portrayal - was instantly charismatic in the role.

Beyond that, I think even a person who wasn't aware of behind the scenes would figure out there had been a change in the writing. Both Davies and Moffat are absolute masters of dialogue, but whereas Davies makes his dialogue dramatic and hyper-realistic, Moffat swings all the way in the other direction, with witty, almost poetic dialogue given to every character, but also a huge amount of heart and emotion. The Eleventh Hour uses some tropes from RTD's openers, being a low-stakes adventure set largely in the present day.

One thing Series 5 does very well is keeping just the right balance of new and familiar. RTD established a series structure across his era. Thirteen episodes aired across the spring-summer, with two midseason two-parters and a two part finale, and the remainder being single-parters. Moffat stuck to this structure throughout Series 5 despite the aesthetic and story style of the show changing. I think that helped the show hit a "similar, but different" vibe.

Despite a new Doctor and companion, and a new showrunner who understandably wants to pursue his own storylines, the Doctor's continuing angst over the Time War is alluded to in The Beast Below. Then an episode later, the Daleks return, initially in their RTD era design then handing over to the redesign. Regardless of how well-received the New Paradigm was, I think having Smith's Doctor face off against the same Daleks of the last five years and then transitioning to the new models was a good decision. And then River Song shows up an episode later alongside the Weeping Angels. Although River is very much a Moffat character, introducing her alongside Tennant a season earlier helped create a sense of continuity between storylines of the two eras. The Weeping Angels, although similarly a Moffat creation, were introduced in RTD's era and had already become very popular antagonists for the Tenth Doctor.

Murray Gold also stayed on under Moffat. However, due to the cast changes, themes for a new Doctor and Companion needed to be introduced, with much of Gold's previous material being retired. The overall musical feel of the show also changed from Gold's more bombastic RTD era work, to suit the fairytale aesthetic of Series 5. However, themes like the Dalek and Cyberman themes were retained, helping hold some of the worldbuilding from RTD's era.

Overall, I'd say the entire feel of the show changed, but there was still enough to remind audiences they were still watching the same show. 10/10

Moffat - Chibnall

It's fair to say the transition between the Moffat and Chibnall eras was much more thorough. Moffat's era never really had a cohesive series structure, so the ten single-part episodes never felt like a significant structural departure from what came before. Like Moffat, Chibnall changed the entire feel of the show, going from the introspective feel of the Moffat era, and its deconstruction of the show's core concepts, to simple, adventurous, back-to-basics Doctor Who. Going from RTD to Moffat dialogue is somewhat jarring. Going from Moffat to Chibnall dialogue is on another level entirely. Twice Upon a Time was very much an intimate character piece, the kind that Moffat did best, while The Woman Who Fell To Earth has an urban, industrial aesthetic that immediately feels completely different to either Moffat or RTD's era.

Unlike Moffat, Chibnall doesn't try to lean on any level of familiarity. As well as a new cast, there are no returning guest stars, and no returning monsters in the main series (until the new years special anyway). Personally, while I was perfectly happy getting a season without Daleks, Cybermen or the Master, I wonder if Series 11 might've benefited from making use of some of the less used iconic enemies, such as Sontarans or Weeping Angels, just to keep a sense of familiarity with what came before. It really felt like S11 was trying to be Doctor Who at its most basic, with fun, adventure, and relatively low-stakes enemies.

This time, Gold chose to leave with Moffat and Capaldi. Chibnall recruited Segun Akinola, whose musical style was a complete 180 from Gold's work, utilising a more atmospheric and understated style, which worked well with the more "functional" aesthetic of Series 11. However, a completely fresh cast and crew also meant Akinola could build his soundscape completely from the ground up, not retaining any musical continuity from Gold, which made Series 11 feel even more like a completely new show.

Overall, I'd say it was an admirable attempt to strip the show down, and make it more functional to new audiences. But also that attempting to launch a new main cast without any familiar elements made it harder to convince those who weren't immediately won over. 5/10

Chibnall - Davies

Going back to a previous showrunner was a much more unique experience. There was well over a year between The Power of the Doctor and The Star Beast. Granted, Power is more of a Classic Who tribute than an archetypal episode of his era, but the aesthetic, story style and dialogue gave it enough in common with its era. But watching the episodes back to back, it's actually pretty disconcerting going from a Chibnall episode, with its typically functional feel and more simplistic dialogue, to the campness and bombast (combined with realistic family drama) of RTD's era. The Star Beast also had the advantage of not needing to introduce a new cast, but that almost made it more jarring. You go from Whittaker, Yaz, Graham, Dan (and all the returning Classic companions) and within the blink of an eye David Tennant is the Doctor again, Donna Noble is companion, her supporting cast are back too, and almost every trope from RTD's first era is repeated in quick succession. All of them (as well as Davies and Gold) settle back into their roles immediately, without the need to gradually establish themselves as the cast and crew for Series 5 and 11 did. This made for good television, but also meant that it felt less like a continuation of the show that used to be the Chibnall era, but rather a direct continuation of Series 4.

Overall, I'd say it did what it set out to do, in terms of reminding lapsed audiences of a very popular era of the show, and giving them a fun, fast paced, energetic story to get into. In terms of retaining a sense of continuity with what came immediately before, I'd say it was less successful. 4/10

Opinions?

After a comment in the Who is the definitive companion for each Doctor? mentioning they wished Amelia travelled with him instead, it got me thinking. How would've Eleven's run and his stories been impacted with young Amy onboard the TARDIS instead of grown-up Amy? Most notably there wouldn't be any Rory and I can't help but feel like it would've been such a unique angle for the show to take.

I would hope that the show would avoid a Welsey Crusher incident where the child character is disliked and thought as annoying.

Do you think so? They recently released 1-4 in the best quality it’s ever been in and ever since I got it for Christmas I’ve been in love with it, can’t go back to the original. Made me wonder if there was one for Matt Smith but not really, there’s a rare US Matt smith collection but that’s it.

I guess the only way we’d get it is if Moffat became show runner again? But that’s a huge shame, I wish there was a box set.

You can buy individual blu rays but I like the consistency of a box release (not to mention the nice looking sleeves)

I was reading up on the Chameleon circuit and how it's broke, and was wondering what other objects it would change into if it could "to match its surroundings and remain inconspicuous". Obviously it would have to be something that the Doctor could enter - but would would it morph into if he went to Spain? or Italy? Or America?

the Tardis crash lands in the 3rd doctors era in Unit Headquarters so we have the fifteenth doctor teaming up with the 3rd doctor(played by Sean Pertwee) and a recast Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart(played by Christen Bale) Corneal Benton(played by Jude Law) and Jo Grant(played by Kate Winslet) they thwart a scheme by the 3rd doctors master(played by James MacAvoy) and the new master(played by Henry Cavil) the master flees and the 15th doctor introduces a new thing called the memory erasure(which he borrowed from UNIT in the future to keep the people of earth ignorant of Alien Life) and erases the memory's of everyone except the 3rd doctor(who will not remember this to keep the timeline intact)

I have scoured the internet and cannot find a good HD image that actually has stuff from all the specials on it. All I can find is the one from the steelbook inside which is just the end of time. None seem to be HD quality and show all the specials...

Anyone know of a good image that shows stuff from all of the specials? (Except the one from the back of the steelbook)

This was another really good one! Every character was really well fleshed out in this, even the Doctor, who I thought was very boring in the last one. And now that I have gotten a full story of Sam now, I think I can say she is a pretty cool companion, with some great moments.

At first I felt a bit disappointed to see the brigadier isn't in this, instead being his replacement. But by the end I quite liked Kramer.

Also, as one of my favourite one off villains in the show, it is great to see a vampire story again, especially one with this good writing.

The vampires are very creepy in this story, with me being really worried for each character whenever they are near a vampire, because I have grown so attached to the whole cast of characters.

My only issues are smaller ones, like how this story has possibly the highest amount of blasphemy I have seen in a doctor who story, which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth ever time I see it.

Still, this is another really really good story, a bit better than The Eight Doctors, but not a 10/10.

My rating for this book is 9 cures for cancer out of 10

There are some obvious choices; 2 and Jamie, 7 and Ace, 9 and Rose. But they're not all cut and dry. There's a lot of overlap and debate over who goes best with whom. My rules are only one companion per Doctor and the companion of choice can only be paired with one Doctor. I can already predict that 4 will be the hardest one to choose for.

I like the genre of ultra long YouTube video essays that go on for multiple hours, but I didn’t have a focus to do one until I thought of Torchwood miracle day. It itself infamously goes on for ten hours and there’s a lot to speak about with the American influence, premise of immortality, and famous actors guesting. It also disappointed a lot of fans, but not me, I liked it. So I want to do a video essay about it, but I can’t go on for multiple hours and I’ve never done one before. Maybe I could get it down to an hour or two. What do you think!?

Missy would be the last master who regenerates into the Fugitive Doctor

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: Walls of Confinement, written by Lawrence Conquest

What is it?: This is the third story in Big Finish’s anthology Short Trips - Volume II.

Who's Who?: The story is narrated by Katy Manning.

Doctor(s) and Companion(s): The Third Doctor, Liz Shaw

Recurring Characters: Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

Running Time: 00:17:32

One Minute Review: At the Brigadier's request, the Doctor reluctantly clears out of UNIT HQ for the day and visits the local zoo, which he explains to Liz has become one of his regular haunts. Before she can reply, a woman's scream draws their attention to the fact that a small boy has made his way into the tiger enclosure and been pounced upon by the massive cat. While Liz hurries to find a keeper, the Doctor climbs into the pen, hoping to save both the child and the animal.

The plot of this story is entertaining enough, but it's the beginning and ending that make it memorable. It opens with the Doctor identifying with the tiger's plight as it neurotically paces back and forth within its cramped cage. By the end, the Doctor has secured more spacious accommodations for the creature, but it's too damaged by its prolonged confinement to appreciate its relative freedom. The Doctor worries that he might suffer the same fate, trapped as he is on one planet during a single moment in time. Fortunately he has friends trying to help him see Earth as more than just a prison, and he eventually will, but he's not there yet.

This Short Trip is read by the incomparable Katy Manning, who, apart from doing an excellent job with the narration, also manages spot-on impressions of her ex-costars Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney. Courtney passed away only a few days before the release of this story, and it was nice to be immediately reassured that his legacy as the Brigadier would live on.

Score: 4/5

Was just thinking about this, and I'm happy to be corrected if there's something within the story I've missed or forgotten that explains this. But has anyone noticed that Dalek Caan's entire arc within The Stolen Earth/Journey's End is completely and utterly nonsensical if thought about for more than five seconds.

Caan temporal shifts through time and has a realisation that the Daleks are actually evil and need to be stopped. Sure, fair enough. So he thinks the logical response to this is to save Davros from the Time War, bring him to the future and then help him build a vast army of new Daleks as well as a bomb that can destroy all of existence, only to betray him at the very last second, and let all of those things be destroyed.

Now, I'm sure there's some kind of ridiculous "prophecy" style explanation for this, seeing as Dalek Caan seemed to know how everything would go in advance, but even if that is the case, all he has done is facilitate an attempted Dalek invasion of the galaxy that presumably left thousands or even millions dead, just so he can have his smug little moment of revenge. I'm not usually a "plot holes" criticism kind of guy, I find it quite vacuous usually, but I'm just honestly surprised I've not seen people talking about how completely baffling the plot of Journey's End really is on a motivational level. Maybe just because the story is such a clusterfuck anyway.

Slightly unconnected, but I've always got a laugh out of Davros's pathetic attempts throughout the story to portray the Doctor as some kind of evil tyrant, and I'm always irritated that the story takes his side on that and presents it as any kind of legitimate criticism. Refusing to enter the TARDIS and shouting at the Doctor from the midst of a burning Crucible that he's "the destroyer of worlds" after he tried to literally cancel all of reality about ten minutes prior is just funny more than anything. RIP bozo.

No Bro i can not go talk to her She Will burn in One second trust me Bro PLS you have to believe me.

Tenth was DESTROYED and so traumatised by leaving companions behind he almost became a villain MadMan, he loved donna the most, so much he prevent himself from seeing, speaking and staying close to her.

15 years later: WOA ALIENS I HAVE TWO HEARTS SONIC SCREWDRIVER GOES PEW PEW DO NOT REMEMBER ME DONNA PEW PEW

I recently rewatched last year's Christmas Special in preparation for the upcoming season and the "musical scene", which was very criticized by part of the fanbase got me thinking: Would any other Doctor sing to the Goblin King?

Here's what I came up with:

1 - Wouldn't sing. Would probably give the GK a stern talking-to.

2 - Would probably sing, but most likely just play the flute as a master Goblin whisperer.

3 - Wouldn't sing. Would probably fight his way out with venusian aikido and be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the goblin crew. Edit: I stand corrected by Ged_UK, Three would definitely sing.

4 - I kinda picture him singing, nursery-rhyme/spoken-word style.

5 - Wouldn't sing. He would get out of breath real quick.

6 - I can't quite explain why, but I think he would sing and then pretend it never happened. Edit: Thanks @Iamamancalledrobert for showing me old Sixie's singing prowess on Big Finish! He would definitely sing!

7 - Wouldn't sing.

8 - Pre-Time War Eight would sing and perhaps tap dance.

War - Wouldn't sing. No more singing.

9 - Would sing while doing that head bop he did while listening to Toxic.

10 - Wouldn't sing and would regret it later.

11 - Wouldn't sing, because he knows he's the most out-of-tune incarnation.

12 - Wouldn't sing, but would take an electric guitar out of his pocket (How? He's the Doctor, that's how) and rock his way out.

13 - Would probably sing a bit before realizing it wasn't working.

Fugitive Doctor - Wouldn't sing and would deal with the GK in a quick and ruthless fashion.

14 - Wouldn't sing, but would distract the GK with that horrible judge wig and would regret not having sung once again.

Or /r/Gallifrey's NSQ-MMFPBTAA:TRQTDDTOTT for short. No more suggestions of things to be added? ;)

No question is too stupid to be asked here. Example questions could include "Where can I see the Christmas Special trailer?" or "Why did we not see the POV shot of Gallifrey? Did it really come back?".

Small questions/ideas for the mods are also encouraged! (To call upon the moderators in general, mention "mods" or "moderators". To call upon a specific moderator, name them.)

Please remember that future spoilers must be tagged.

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It obviously won't be another Tom, and I don't anticipate that it'll be a McCoy or Davison either. I'd say there's a good chance of it being a Troughton, season 5 or 6 principally. Season 11 is another shout, but apparently season 7 still needs a lot of restoration work done. There are also rumours of a Wilderness Years set, owing to the absence of some special features from the season 26 set.

What's this?: Each month in Doctor Who Magazine they have a column by Russell T Davies (formerly 'Letter from the Showrunner', before that 'Production Notes') - a column by someone involved in the production of Doctor Who, and normally in the form of either the showrunner writing pieces about writing Doctor Who or the showrunner answering reader-submitted questions. Because these pieces and questions have often been used as a source for blogs to write misleading stories, they started being typed up for /r/gallifrey.

Hey thanks for doing this! Now I don't have to buy it: Yes you do, otherwise you'll be missing out on: an in-depth interview with Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) about the upcoming series; an interview with Davina McCall about her appearance in "The Church on Ruby Road"; a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the 'Stookies' in The Giggle; a piece on a 1966 William Hartnell interview; a feature on Doctor Who model maker Bill Pearson; a deconstruction of "The Woman who Lived"; the fourth part of DWM's Fifteenth Doctor comic-strip "Mancopolis"; reviews for all of this month's DVD/CD/Book releases and EVEN MORE.

It's available physically in shops and digitally via Pocketmags.com!

Want an archive of the previous Production Notes that have been posted on /r/gallifrey?: Follow this link.

Timey-wimey.

It's all getting very timey-wimey in the Doctor Who office. Shooting Season 2 before we've transmitted Season 1 is complicated enough! But timescales are sliding and overlapping all over the place. Just the other day, Liv (you met Liv in DWM 599) was asking me about billings, whether we wanted something kept secret in a certain episode. I said, that's fine, that's all revealed in the episode before. But she pointed out that billings for the later episode become available before the previous episode is transmitted. Oh my head. Time storm! But good call, Liv!

At the same time, you might have noticed Scott Handcock's Production Diary disappear from these pages. That's because Scott has moved onwards and upwards at Bad Wolf - congratulations, Scott! - and you can welcome our new script team, David and his assistant Hilla, on the pages of Gallifrey Guardian this month... except, look, it's timey-wimey again, this information is so old already. I just looked up the very first email I received from David, and it's dated 30 May 2023! You see, this show is so out of sync with the perception of it, even within a magazine as closely-tied to production as DWM.

(Though Scott isn't entirely absent from Season 2, he stayed on to script-edit the first drafts of Episode 4 because... well, yes, timey-wimey reasons, you'll see.)

I often think, the timey-wimeyness was most evident in the past couple of years' worth of Specials. The Power of the Doctor celebrated television's 100th birthday with a story featuring classic Doctors and companions. While an episode celebrating the show's 60th featured John Logie Baird! Wrong way round, surely? What are the chances of that happening? At the same time, ever since I came back to this job, people have been asking me if I'm going to do anything special for the 2025 season, to celebrate the fact that it marks 20 years of new Who. But to be honest... no. Sorry. I don't think that's wise. Even though it's a time-travel show, I don't think it looks good to have a 100th, then a 60th, then a 20th. Let alone the fact that'll be Season 2, or Series 15, within a 20-year span. Mind-boggling. Let's just look forward.

But forward isn't easy, when the production team is being pulled hither and thither. Here we are now, snouts deep in Season 2 (today, 8 March 2024, we're shooting a scene that will live forever in Doctor Who history, and for once, that's no exaggeration, I mean for-bloody-ever; remember this date and nod in agreement next year) but Season 1's demands are still huge. For example, coming up soon, days after this DWM is published, you should have all the Season 1 episode titles revealed in a very lovely presentation. Meanwhile, yesterday, we sat and watched the final mix of Episode 6. I've mentioned this before, but Ep 6 has slightly less FX than other episodes - only slightly, it's still wild! - so as a result, we've had to watch it less often. Fewer shots to check, fewer sign-offs needed. So we hadn't seen it for months. Faithful reader, we loved it. We hooted and whooped, what a great story! And one of the best monsters ever. "Live vivisection!"

But as the time vortex soars and sweeps around us, one date stands out. Hurtling towards us through the light and smoke and colours. May 11. The new season. The Doctor and Ruby, Ncuti and Millie, unleashed across time and space. All those brand-new stories. The ultimate unboxing. Except, hold on, even that event is merrily timey-wiming away. Already, eight weeks are being concentrated into seven, as we launch with a mighty double-bill in the UK. And then, technically, the launch date is May 10 in the USA and other territories to the left of GMT. But hey, okay, we can time-and-wime those facts later, let's talk about that next month, when DWM stands on the precipice of transmission, with so much fun to come.

Because as the launch gets closer, the Doctor Who office is juggling time-zones, quite literally. If you could have seen the schedule that got Ncuti to Los Angeles for the Oscars (scream!), you'd have awarded it the Turner Prize as a work of art, a beautiful cat's cradle of double-banking, flight options and extended days. A masterpiece! And now, we've got a launch coming on both sides of the Atlantic simultaneously, with the shoot for Season 2 still making its demands. But we can do it! We're ready! This is why we write, plan and shoot so far in advance. We've been discussing this since 2021, so we can be...

Okay, I'll say it.

So we can be Time Lords. The timing and the wiming is all under our control. And I promise you. It's going to be spectacular. Mind you, the funny thing is, we still end up clock-watching, even those of us making the show, because the wait is agony. We can't wait for you to see this stuff.

Almost there. One more DWM before transmission, hold on tight! Tick tock.

I’m trying to get into the audiobooks/ dramas whatever they are considered recently. I’ve been wanting to get into them for awhile but the sheer amount of content out there is intimidating. My question though is more centered on the how. Apparently none of my devices support the app and I can’t rent or buy anything, so I went to the website, or what I assume to be the official website and there’s options to buy or download from there. I’m just a bit skeptical though that it’s official and I don’t know if I’m on the right site (I’m at a slight disadvantage I think because I’m American and I don’t know where else I would find them). If there is an official site that has a consistent record of not scamming people out of their money, if someone could link it so I could compare where I’m at I would appreciate it. Any advice having to do with access and websites and apps would help. If available I think I’m going to try and start with New Who audios once I do have all this figured out as to avoid spoilers for the classic series ( and also for Capaldi because I’m not there yet in New Who), so suggestions for cheap downloads are also appreciated.

Rankings are mostly based off how much of a challenge they were, whether they actually succeeded in their plans, but also on whether they made any serious mistakes that lead to their downfall. Enemies like the Midnight entity for example, you may think would be rated highly, but being so cocky that someone notices things aren't right is such a blunder that I've ranked it pretty low.

This isn't a ranking of which is the most powerful, just their performance against the Doctor.

100 - Won

99-100 - should have won, or lost by own choice.

90-99 - Lost due to bad luck or something that could not have been anticipated by them

80-90 - Was a formidable opponent but ultimately couldn't stand up to the Doctor.

70-80 - Made a serious mistake or multiple minor ones, possibly missed something they could have noticed

60-70 - Made a stupid blunder or were beaten rather easily

20-60 - Made a very stupid blunder that isn't even understandable, its just so stupid.

-0-20 - WHO TF WROTE THIS!!!

1. The Sun - 42 - 100/100, WINS***:*** I know, I know, I'm going to catch hell for this., but it had the Doctor at its mercy along with the rest of the crew. They were lucky it was willing to let them go after they gave the sun particles back. Additionally, there aren't many adversaries that can actually possess the Doctor so successfully that he's completely helpless, they had no other means of escape. There aren't many that can threaten him like this and get away scot free. The fact is, the sun could've killed them if it wanted to, it just didn't want to. The sun wins, the only RTD villain to really do so this definitively

2. The Vashta Nerada - Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead - 99.9**/100, TIE*****:*** Got to give them credit for being the first villains smart enough to take the Doctor's offer and quit while they were ahead. They got a whole world out of it so good on them. I say a tie because they clearly would've liked to feast on the trapped humans, but its pretty damn close to a win I'd say. They killed pretty much the entire expedition crew, and despite the Doctor's threats he didn't appear to have a clue how to stop them. They may not feel like the cleverest, but they are certainly successful, managing to achieve a definitive stalemate.

3. The Wolf - Tooth and Claw - 99.8**/100, TIE*****:*** Again, a weird one to hype up. The Doctor got something of a win in that he did eliminate the immediate threat, but the Wolf still won himself. Despite being destroyed it achieved its objective, the Queen was infected which makes me wonder why this hasn't come up again. Probably because it'd be weird having an episode about King Charles becoming a Werewolf. I'd also like to add that the Doctor had no plan against the wolf and the monks, he got lucky that two guys had somehow anticipated this decades in advance and set a whole plan in motion to stop the wolf.

4. The Child - Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances - 99.4/100, Lost willingly***:*** Feels kind of unfair because its not a particularly smart villain, but it is a villain the Doctor had no clue how to stop and ended up just getting lucky with.

5. Daleks - Bad Wolf/ Parting of the Ways - 99.3/100, Lost by bad luck***:*** They basically ruled Earth for centuries, even concealing it from the Doctor during the Long Game and I presume they turned his actions in that story to their advantage. Once the Doctor showed up, they actually had a decent plan to deal with him. They held Rose hostage and once the Doctor started a rescue mission, yes they could've killed Rose, but what would that actually have accomplished. By holding Rose, they ensured the Doctor would take a predictable course of action, actually having to expose himself to the Daleks. This actually worked quite well because by keeping Rose close one Dalek actually managed to get inside the TARDIS and take a shot at the Doctor. The Doctor then fled and started the delta wave, and the Daleks massacred the game station to get up to him, and I think the Emperor successfully called the Doctor's bluff. They were very unfortunate, I don't see how they could've possibly anticipated Bad Wolf or what they could've done about it had they known. Every action they took was perfect, in the end they were just outmatched.

6. Dalek - Dalek - 99/100, Lost willingly***:*** This singular Dalek was unstoppable. Successfully manipulated Rose into touching it, taking down half of America's power grid with a single move, massacring everyone in sight, and leveraging Rose to make the Doctor open the vault. The Doctor may have been able to shoot it dead but who knows what could've happened if it wasn't for Rose's DNA contaminating it. I'd say that was some poor foresight on the Dalek's part but I don't see what else it could've done to save itself.

7. Slitheen - Boom Town - 96/100, Lost due to unforeseeable elements***:*** The Slitheen get a bad rep for farting, but they are some of the most competent villains in all of Doctor Who. Blon manages to get a nuclear project off the ground purely to get a lift and manages to silence any critics, though whether she is successful here is questionable. However, on top of this she is even able to anticipate the Doctor coming for her simply by correctly predicting that the Doctor must have some powerful technology of his own that could open the rift. Everything is executed flawlessly only for her to get blindsided by not understanding the nature of the Doctor's TARDIS. Something she could not have anticipated.

8. The Beast - The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit - 95.9/100, Lost but should've been a tie, Everyone should have died with it but they got lucky***:*** This thing was imprisoned beneath a black hole and somehow came closer to utterly defeating the Doctor than most. Taking over the Ood, frightening the crew enough to get a lift off Krop Tor, recognising the Doctor as a threat and ensuring he stayed cut off down in the caves. That may have backfired a little as the Doctor was able to make his way into the pit, whereas if he hadn't its debatable whether the Doctor could've stopped the Beast escaping from up on the base. Maybe it was a mistake letting him do that. However, the Beast did have his trump card, which was that the Doctor would have to sacrifice Rose to stop him. Against the right Doctor and companion combo, this would've worked. Look me in the eye and tell me that if this were a Capaldi story with Clara, he wouldn't have let the Beast escape. The Doctor had to sacrifice everyone to stop him and got lucky that the TARDIS fell down in the right place to save his ass. I dread to think how screwed we would be if the Beast actually got loose.

9. The Plasmavore - Smith and Jones - 95.5/100, Lost due to unforeseeable elements***:*** The Plasmavore has the perfect plan, remain undetected, wipe out the Judoon, make her get away. It's only the Doctor's alien physiology that completely blindsides her, and how could she really have anticipated that.

10. The Slitheen - Aliens of London/ World War Three - 90/100, Lost due to unforeseeable elements***:*** Another villain that fails due to not being familiar with the Doctor. These guys are the butt of so many jokes for so little reason when you realize how intelligent they were. They infiltrated the British government and used a spaceship crash to put the planet on red alert to give them access to nuclear weapons. It's so simple yet so genius. Even their handling of the Doctor is fantastic, which is better than most villains that turn into bumbling idiots when the Doctor shows up. They gather all alien experts and lay a trap for them that works flawlessly, only ruined by the Doctor not being human and therefore being immune. They then set the guards on the Doctor forcing him to retreat to a safe room where he was trapped for the remainder of the story. The Slitheen even make a point of severing communications just to keep the Doctor quiet and again they are only foiled by the Doctor's superior tech with Rose's phone. Everything that goes wrong for the Slitheen happens because of how much they don't know about the Doctor. The only thing they maybe could've done better is go for America or Russia, somewhere that doesn't require access codes to use nuclear weapons. Either way, the Slitheen really get screwed by elements they couldn't have anticipated.

11. The Fortune Teller - Turn Left - 89.5/100, Lost, highly competent but outwitted by a superior opponent***:*** Another case of a villain simply being outdone rather than making any real errors. It's scary how overpowered the time beetle is.

12. The Master - Utopia/ Sound of Drums/ Last of the Time Lords - 89/100, Lost, highly competent but outwitted by a superior opponent + a very slight lack of foresight***:*** I have to give the Master a lot of credit for his first two parts, if it was just Sound of Drums he'd be top of the rankings utterly wiping the floor with the Doctor in that episode. However, he managed this with 17 months of prep time, a serious head start, and in a whole year never figured out that the Doctor might have some other plan, nor did he try and find a way to make the paradox machine permanent as his whole plan was vulnerable to being undone. He should've realized the Doctor wouldn't have asked Martha to kill. But I will give some credit that the plan that defeated the Master was utterly ridiculous and nobody in the universe could've predicted that BS. He got beat by plot armour.

13. The Time Lords - The End of Time - 88/100, Lost, mostly due to circumstances beyond their control, but failed to take one chance that could have saved them***:*** They really had their backs against the wall, having to rely on the link to bring the Time Lords back and exactly how that link was established was entirely on the Master's shoulders, so there really wasn't much they could've done to stop the Doctor shooting the white point star. I don't think there's anything Rassilon could've done to ensure the Doctor stay out of the way either, I don't think we've ever seen the Doctor more determined to destroy an enemy before or since, so nothing would've worked. However, Rassilon could've led with the gauntlet and took out the Doctor right away. Maybe that would've made the Doctor pull the trigger and shoot Rassilon, but chances are he'd be able to regenerate. The Doctor had literally just severely injured himself as well so he may not even have managed to get a shot off. I'd put it down to not wanting the Doctor to shoot, but still, not clever.

14. The Sycorax - The Christmas Invasion - 84/100, Lost, defeated by a superior opponent***:*** The plan was good, and was working well until the Doctor woke up. After that point, maybe they should've ignored the Doctor's demand for a duel and just summoned the armada, but considering the weapon Torchwood was setting up and a now royally pissed off Doctor against them, I doubt it would've made much difference. As for the duel itself, credit to the Sycorax leader, he's the only person in all of Doctor Who to actually be a match for the Doctor in a sword fight, at least until he chopped off the Doctor's hand, kind of a shame for him that it backfired, he was actually giving the Doctor quite the challenge until then. After the loss, they're smart enough to just accept defeat and leave, unfortunately Torchwood had other plans.

15. The Family of Blood - Human Nature/ The Family of Blood - 83.7/100, Lost due to one easily made mistake***:*** No nonsense and ready to kill at the drop of a hat. Their scarecrows are nothing to laugh at either. Unfortunately, a minor slip up costs them everything. Though the Doctor does trick them with some kind of misdirection, it's not the smartest idea letting your enemy push buttons on your ship, even if you have no reason to think they have any idea what they're doing.

16. The Master - The End of Time - 83.5/100, Lost. Could have won easily, blundered it***:*** I'd really love to give the Master more for this story, but he got lucky with the immortality gate which makes his conquest less impressive, and his severe underestimation of the Time Lords cost him what should've been a complete and total victory over the Doctor.

17. Daleks - Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday - 81/100, Lost. Failed to deal with some obscure threats***:*** Bit of a step down for the Daleks. Their plan to open the Genesis Ark was a good one, but there's some question as to whether they really needed the Doctor alive when they first encountered him. They had two other time travellers in the room. Having said that, as it was a Time Lord prison ship, they may have come to the conclusion that there may be some other security measures that they might need the Doctor to override. They effortlessly massacre the Cybermen and unleash the ark as planned, their only real mistake was not sending a Dalek to secure the breach so the Doctor couldn't suck them in. You could argue they didn't know that the equipment to do that was all set up and ready for use, but after extracting brainwaves from that Torchwood operative, they should've figured out that there was a danger. To their credit they do send some Daleks to stop the Doctor after the ark is opened, but its too little too late. Still, props to them for having an emergency temporal shift ready in case of such an event. Just might have been a good idea to fit such a thing to the Genesis Ark and flee to a time without the Doctor around and finish opening it there.

18. The Gelth - the Unquiet Dead - 80.5/100, Lost. Made a small but costly mistake***:*** Credit to them for successfully manipulating the Doctor, a rare feat. They lose a lot of points however for not keeping the facade going a bit longer and letting Charles Dickens slip away.

19. The Flood - Waters of Mars - 80/100, Lost, missed a better strategy***:*** Let's make an assumption that the Flood didn't settle on Earth until Maggie saw it during the medbay scene, otherwise it'd make much more sense for the virus to just lay dormant in Andy Stone. Even without Earth, maybe just remain dormant and let everyone touch the water supply. But, oh well, everyone's suspicious now so after that they do alright. They do a decent enough job hunting people down and getting at the shuttle, they probably didn't expect that one guy to kill himself in blowing up the shuttle.

20. The Carrionites - The Shakespeare Code - 77/100, Lost due to some bad luck, but also failing to plug some obscure weaknesses***:*** Actually quite a decent threat. They drew a little too much attention to themselves with drowning the person that got in their way on dry land, otherwise the Doctor might have not even noticed. But they were no nonsense adversaries, the moment they saw the Doctor looking into things they sent Mother Doomfinger to kill him, but of course they were caught off guard by the Doctor's superior knowledge. Lilith then confronted the Doctor later, successfully tricking him into getting a piece of hair from him, then stabbing him in the heart. It would've worked had the Doctor been human, again aliens unfamiliarity with the Doctor bites them in the ass. I do however think they could've killed Shakespeare before the play started, surely it crossed their minds it was possible for Shakespeare to send them back. They had the means to do so, they used the puppet to knock him out. Though maybe they needed Shakespeare in case the play failed for some reason and they would need to use him some more.

21. Krillitanes - School Reunion - 76.8/100, Lost by not taking the chance to eliminate a threat for a good reason + some bad luck***:*** They made two fatal mistakes. The first was making too much noise when they landed. The Doctor only showed up because of UFO sightings and the school getting record results. If they had been more discreet, the Doctor may never have even noticed what was happening until it was too late. Their second mistake was not killing the Doctor on the street, presumably because they thought he could be useful but it doesn't seem like the smartest idea. They deserve some credit though as they did have the Doctor thinking about joining them for a second. Then in that final battle they had the Doctor and the gang cornered and could've easily finished them if it wasn't for the Doctor having an ace up his sleeve in the shape of K9. The Krillitane were also smart enough to use deadlocks which ended up being quite the stumbling block to the Doctor.

22. Vespiform - The Unicorn and the Wasp - 75/100, Lost, Defeated easily by superior opponent***:*** It does a good enough job hiding, even poisoning the Doctor which would've worked if he were human. Ultimately though, he is figured out and easily taken care of by Donna.

23. Mr Halpen - Planet of the Ood - 74.5**/100, Lost due to failure to notice a noticeable trap*****:*** He has a good reason why he can't kill the Doctor just point blank, and he at least makes sure the handcuffs are high enough quality to stop him freeing himself when he sets the Ood on them. On the other hand, if you're drinking something that is supposed to regrow your hair and your hair starts falling out in big clumps, you should probably at least come to the realization that the drink isn't doing a thing and stop using it. Though it may have been too late anyway.

24. Racnoss - Runaway Bride - 74.4**/100, Lost due to failure to recognise a serious threat and missing a chance to eliminate it*****:*** I like that she at least tried to talk over the Doctor and not let him monologue, but ultimately she still hesitated in ordering the robots to shoot him. She also clearly should've realized with her base in a precarious position under the River Thames, that once the Doctor got control of the robots she should've understood he had something up his sleeve and taken the offer. Some credit to her for having an emergency teleport to save herself, too bad the Master already had plans for the planet. The plan itself wasn't a bad one, though I do question why she had Lance dose Donna gradually over months instead of just kidnapping someone and doing what she did with Lance, but perhaps there's some other reason, otherwise why bother taking Donna back instead of just using Lance.

25. General Cobb - The Doctor's Daughter - 74.3/100, Lost, defeated by superior opponent but also a very hard to see error: Know your guards a little better, don't put the ones who are easily susceptible to Georgia Moffett's seductive charms on guard duty.

26. The Sontarans - The Sontaran Stratagem/ The Poison Sky - 71/100, Lost due to some bad luck and failing to recognise multiple threats to their plans***:*** Sontarans were pretty clever, even using deadlocks despite not even knowing they would be encountering the Doctor. They also located and procured the TARDIS, and kept a tight hold on the factory. Although investing in some actual bulletproof armour would've been a good idea even with the whole cordalane signal. They also anticipated an attack from the Doctor and shut down the teleports to prevent such a thing, but were unfortunately foiled by unknowingly bringing Donna aboard in the TARDIS. It may also have been a good idea to keep a closer eye on Luke Rattigan considering he was making terraforming equipment and the Sontaran's were trying to terraform the Earth to their conditions. Also, maybe the Sontarans should've been able to tell the Doctor was trying to send a discreet message to Donna he wasn't exactly subtle, but oh well. Most of it can be explained by simple Sontaran arrogance and shoot first mentality, but it still is a weakness of theirs. I could take off some points for Martha's clone being terrible at faking being Martha in front of the Doctor, but the Doctor later claims he could tell just by looking at her so there wasn't much hope for her there anyway. Ultimately, should've taken the Doctor's offer and left, but obviously they'd never do that.

27. The Weeping Angels - Blink - 66.5**/100, Lost due to falling for a somewhat obvious trap*****:*** Admittedly they played well, even sent the Doctor back to the past. However, surrounding an object that they likely know can disappear in an instant. It's clever that the Doctor tricked them but its not the hardest trap to see coming.

28. Midnight Entity - Midnight - 66.4/100, Almost won due to stupid opponents, lost by celebrating too soon***:*** I'm sure you think it must be much higher than this, but here's a tip for when you're stealing someone's voice. Don't sound like you're having fun when the Doctor is being thrown out, no wonder the Hostess realized something was wrong. Her plan may have worked well, but mostly because the people involved, the Doctor included, were too stupid to just shut up and keep their distance. This time it was the Doctor who made some serious blunders that allowed a relatively harmless enemy to get as close to victory as it did.

29. Reapers - Father's Day - 65.5/100, Lost, defeated by superior opponent***:*** Despite how powerful they were, the Doctor did figure out a way to beat them and they were completely reliant on the people inside the church making mistakes in order to get at them. That plan then failed because of Rose causing a paradox, but it would have worked. They also could've been beaten the whole time by just sacrificing Pete, the Doctor just wanted to protect him.

30. Sting rays - Planet of the Dead - 65.4/100, Lost, defeated by superior opponent***:*** They're just predators, they have a goal I guess but it doesn't go well. They're not really smart enough to do anything about it.

31. Macra - Gridlock - 65.3/100. Not really important***:*** They didn't really have a goal in mind, but they were dangerous I guess.

32. Cassandra - New Earth - 64/100, Lost due to poor planning***:*** Her plan completely backfires because she thinks the nuns will just yield to her threat. At least escape the hospital, then send your threats digitally or something. I get she probably didn't expect them to threaten her right back, but come on.

33. The Wire - the Idiot's Lantern - 63/100, Lost due to failing to take a chance to eliminate a recognised threat for a flimsy reason***:*** It's never really clear why the Wire can't absorb the Doctor, however she knew he was dangerous and she could've at least made Mr Magpie restrain if not kill the Doctor while he was knocked out. That probably wouldn't have worked but she certainly messed up by failing to take him out of the equation. I can give her some benefit of the doubt, Magpie may have resisted if she demanded he kill the Doctor.

34. Miss Foster - Partner's in Crime - 59/100, Lost, failed to take a chance to eliminate a recognised threat for no apparent reason***:*** Plan was nice, still managed to get a lot of adipose births out of it. On the other hand, allowing the Doctor to monologue about holding two sonic devices together is pretty stupid. SHOOT HIM! Of course she also made a mistake trusting the adipose and should've heard the Doctor out.

35. Cassandra - the End of the World - 57/100, Lost, failed to take a chance to eliminate a recognised threat for no apparent reason***:*** Cassandra's plan to engineer a hostage situation so she could sue was clever enough, and having the Adherance of the Repeated Meme as fall guys was a good idea too. Unfortunately, she suffered from the typical villain problem of not killing the Doctor when she has the chance. I suppose I can see it as unlikely that the Doctor could get the forcefield back online, but still, there's no reason not to kill him.

36. Clockwork Droids - Girl in the Fireplace - 56.9/100, Lost, failed to take a chance to eliminate a recognised threat for no apparent reason***:*** Same problem, they played well right up until the point they teleport to bring back Madame Da Pompadour. There's no reason to leave the Doctor alive when you are able to kill him.

37. Cybermen - Rise of the Cybermen/ Age of Steel - 49/100, Lost, failed to notice a blindingly obvious threat and failure to plug a serious and obvious weakness***:*** Everything is fine with their plan right up until the final act. Why keep your prisoners next to a system that connects to every Cyberman. I could maybe forgive that, if someone as smart as Lumic was somehow too stupid to realize that the Doctor is obviously up to something when he starts monologuing about the code behind the emotional inhibitor and doesn't tell a single Cyberman to restrain him. Also, workshop the cyber design a little, those cybermen need to move a lot faster, especially if they can only kill by touch.

38. Cybermen - The Next Doctor - 47/100, Lost, failed to plug a serious and obvious weakness: Cybermen really need to stop linking everyone up to one system that can kill them all, especially when someone with a strong enough mind can retain their individuality. Even if Miss Hartigan didn't manage this, the Doctor still could've destroyed them the same exact way. The creation of the info-stamps is also stupid when it can be used against them. Finally, "Just tell me one thing, what do you need those children for," "What are children ever needed for, they're a workforce," GIRL! WHY ARE YOU ANSWERING HIM! YOU'RE ABOUT TO KILL HIM!

39. Professor Lazarus - The Lazarus Experiment - 44/100, Lost, fell for extremely obvious trap***:*** Seems clever enough, and I can see how the Doctor defeating you with a bloody piano might catch you off guard. On the other hand, not a good idea to chase the person who is very obviously trying to distract you, and follow her to the top of a tower when you heard the Doctor tell her to lure him there.

40. Daleks - Daleks in Manhattan/ Evolution of the Daleks - 42/100, Lost due to serious strategic blunders and failure to recognise serious threats***:*** I can at a stretch see Dalek Sec's reasons for keeping the Doctor alive. I can possibly even see their reasons for just restraining the Doctor when they turn on Dalek Sec. He did just work on their experiment, it's possible they might still need him. Having said that, the theatre showdown is where they lose me. The Dalek humans are untested soldiers and the Daleks not only give them weapons that can work on Daleks which is overkill considering their enemies will only be human, but these weapons could feasibly be taken from them. Additionally, when those soldiers turn on them, Thay and Jast just start shooting instead of letting Caan use their inbuilt self destruct button, something Caan is way too slow to use.

41. Absorbaloff - Love and Monsters - 39/100, Lost due to failure to plug a serious and obvious weakness***:*** How can a monster that researched the Doctor this much, not try and think of a way to cover for his extremely exploitable weakness. I'll give him some credit, the Doctor probably would give his life for Elton's, and ultimately his confrontation with the Doctor was not part of his plan so maybe he was caught off guard, but its not the smartest.

42. Jagrafess - the Long Game - 34/100, Lost due to failure to plug a serious and obvious weakness***:*** Credit to him for having the Doctor restrained quickly, and to be fair he got close to getting hold of the TARDIS. However, he loses all those points for having a life support system that is ridiculously easy to hack into.

43. Nestene Conciousness - Rose - 25/100, Lost, Poor security measures, failure to plug obvious weaknesses and respond to serious threats properly***:*** Note to self, when you're a creature of living plastic, and you find someone has anti-plastic on them, get that tube as far away as possible. Also, you had two autons down there, don't just restrain the Doctor, start shooting. Him, Rose, Mickey, just shoot them all. SHOOT THEM ALL! Also you need a lot more security. Two Autons as your only protection, only two, seriously!

44. Daleks - The Stolen Earth/ Journey's End - 15/100, Lost, Failure to plug obvious weaknesses, intentionally creating obvious weaknesses, and exposing these weaknesses to a serious threat. Failing to eliminate a serious threat for very flimsy reasons***:*** Note to self, do not put your greatest enemy in the same room with controls that for some stupid reason can wipe out every Dalek in existence. At least Lumic had a code for you to do that with the Cybermen, here its just dumb. It's the vault, a prison, why are there even controls in there! OK... OK... so maybe you can say Dalek Caan. Maybe he orchestrated it all including this stuff, its still stupid that nobody figured out what he was up to.

45. Max Capricorn - Voyage of the Damned - 13/100, Lost due to unnecessarily delaying a plan***:*** "You can't even sink the Titanic," "Oh, but I can Doctor. I can cancel the engines, from here!" ... OK... SO WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT ALREADY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! I can maybe forgive keeping the Doctor alive for amusement, he's completely unfamiliar with the Doctor and he has several angels with him for security, and to his credit it doesn't seem like the Doctor is able to do much of anything with his monologue this time. But there is no reason why the Titanic crash doesn't happen while the Doctor is still a long way from the helm.

46. Cybermen - Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday - 7/100, Lost due to mindless stupidity: You had such a good run in Army of Ghosts. Then the Daleks show up and... you just keep sending cybermen to just uselessly shoot at creatures your weapons clearly have no affect on. I thought Cybermen were supposed to be logical. Their one intelligent move was teaming up with the Doctor, the rest of the time, God they are stupid.

47. Pyroviles - Fires of Pompeii - 2/100, Lost due to being brain dead***:*** Don't build your base in an active volcano that you can literally cause to erupt at the touch of a button. Just don't. It's common sense. Also when you're a bunch of fire creatures who have been proven to die from a single splash, Earth really isn't the planet you want to be invading, you Idiots. The Doctor even brings this up and they still don't seem to get it. "Water can boil!" Yeah, get started on that, just fly off to Venus or some shit you idiots.

I used to like and watch trilbee/ Mr TARDIS on YouTube and am aware that he is still one of the most prominent Doctor Who YouTubers. However I cannot be the only one who has noticed a change in him. In his most recent videos, he shows himself as a bit smug, biased towards his own personal opinion/ politics (which are VERY far left) and unable to take into account dissenting opinions, which is not very professional of him as he works in the tv industry himself. It’s frustrating as I do agree with many of his takes but find him to be too smug about it.

Does anyone know of any really good Fan Fictions with Author-Created versions of the Doctor? I'd like to see if there are any on par with the DW2012 and Overton fan made audios...

I am not saying this from a point of it being the Doctor's friend but the Master has died multiple times, I am pretty sure he has more deaths than Optimus Prime at this point and he has found ways to come back even then.

Why doesn't the Doctor just go 'See you again sometime in the future or maybe the past,' and just leave the Master to die, even though it would definitely create shock for the Master and be pretty comedic, it would make sense.

The Doctor just giving up on saving the master (not on rehabilitating them but on actually saving them from the threat), just saving the master from whatever ridiculous problem he gets himself into and walk away.

Here's how it could go:

Companion: You're really going to leave him to die? I thought he was your childhood friend.

Doctor: He'll be fine...

Companion: He's about to devoured limb by limb by space chimpanzees, you told me they digest even the bones, there will be nothing left of him!

Doctor: When we get back to the Tardis, I promise to tell you all about all the ways that idiot has ended up dead, at this point, even if I don't save him, he will come back, at least, with him dead, I will get rest for a short while.

Companion: wait what?