(it's not quite a top ten list, but I couldn't bring myself to falsify enthusiasm for an extra three tomes. And might I add, these are not necessarily the ones that turned out to be the best. Set Piece was buried on my shelf for weeks before I fell in love with it..)
Top Ten Most Terrifying (Extant) Doctor Who Scenes by Graham Pilato 28/11/01
In chronological order, of course
Top 50 Most Important Doctor Who Stories by Graham Pilato Updated 18/4/05 Originally 30/11/04
I really wanted to condense this into a top ten, but that was just impossible without simply listing a representative first appearance of each Doctor while tossing in The War Games for good measure... in fact, I hardly managed 38 the first time -- for the 38th anniversary... So, I thought I'd revise this and, since so much is flowering lately, in Doctor Who and otherwise, update it to a number that ends with zero... And I might as well mention that I've lost this huge file twice in the last year and rewritten this almost-nearly-maybe comprehensive Doctor Who history twice now. I hope it's educational if not at least ... fun. And I know I'm not just preaching to the already totally versed -- I wrote this for friends who needed it -- not that they asked, tho...
(in chronological order)
1. 100,000 BC (a.k.a. An Unearthly Child) - [11/63 - 12/63]: a marvelous formula, a great exploring anywhere in space-and-time potential, a great cast, a great and mysterious hero, a great young and female producer, a great and talented script editor, a great first episode. Oh, baby. In the second episode the chameleon circuit of the TARDIS is introduced, being broken, making a hell of a lot of sense for the ship to remain a Police Box a hundred millennia ago... and even a bit today... It's occasionally considered the first historical story, sort of, as the story deals only with the past and not a science fiction environment. But this, of course, is entirely speculative pre-historical fiction, and all about being somewhere gotten to in a time machine -- thus, it's really sci-fi, sort of. It's also the first time we see characters speaking English when you might think something closer to foreign or incomprehensible clacking should be in its place. A Time Lord gift, this is, in season 14; an effect of the TARDIS' telepathic cirucits, it is, via some of season 10's technobable, mm-hm, by the time of the seasons of the 1990s novels. The willing suspension of disbelief would go on to be a valuable trait amongst Doctor Who fans, of course. Especially once the times changed...
2. The Daleks (a.k.a. The Mutants) - [12/63 - 2/64]: as a series' immortality began. It's the Daleks, a new kind of cool Bug-Eyed Monster on a new kind of cool alien planet, Skaro. One of the best, most noble traditions of the show begins here, too, as these episodes carry a strong educational aim for the children watching -- here, it's the moral lessons of never being cowardly or allowing your own rights to be trampled by those who are stronger just because they can do it... on top of the environment of a post-apocalypse being presented in a very nearly scientific way. And, impressively literarily, most of the educational story is social allegory and clearly references some classic science fiction tales in motifs -- another good tradition that wouldn't end soon.
3. Marco Polo - [2/64 - 4/64] or The Aztecs - [5/64 - 6/64]: the first purely historical stories. More an ancient times travelogue and adventure as a story model, Marco Polo was, than a use of the culture of another place and time to react to and tell a relevant story as The Aztecs did. We get two distinct kinds of historical stories here, written by the series' master of the form, John Lucarotti. The honors should really go to the legendary Marco Polo, as it came first, but it only semi-exists anymore, so it's hard to recommend... and The Aztecs, in its being kept for posterity, has really been a bit more influential as a result. Barbara gets seriously involved in attempting to change history here, and the significance of that would be meditated so much in the years to come... Very cool, original stuff - highly educational too.
4. The Dalek Invasion of Earth - [11/64 - 1/65]: The series' immortality is very nearly assured here. The Daleks return! and are here!, on Earth!, in Britain! And they're more dangerous now -- they conquer worlds! Whoa, Dalekmania! The desperate sci-fi humans of the future are tragic and sympathetic, another first for the series, as we get an elaborate, established, somewhat believable, alternative human reality. They say it's the future, but the great location shooting sure looks like 60s London... Plus, we get the first story of aliens invading Earth. On top of all that, Susan is barred from leaving in the TARDIS at the end -- the first companion to go. I cried.
5. The Time Meddler - [7/65]: another TARDIS and another of the Doctor's people. This is the first historical story to let go of the formula a bit and mix things up -- a harbinger of the coming end of the historicals altogether during the Second Doctor's Era. It's the first story with a team of companions totally different from the original three. The Monk would become the first recurring, non-Dalek villain, too, another prototype...
6. The Tenth Planet - [10/66]: the first Cybermen story. The Cybermen are eerily presented as the possible future for humanity as we may replace our weaknesses until we achieve physical and mental perfection without soul. The first "base under siege" formula story that would become so common very soon in the late sixties. The first regeneration - William Hartnell's grandfatherly Doctor regenerated into Patrick Troughton's clownish hobo Doctor - the closest thing to an absolute assurance of the immortality of Doctor Who until Tom Baker came along.
7. The Power of the Daleks - [11/66 - 12/66]: the first story with a new Doctor. Even though this is a fairly important story for having a radical new, subtler, approach to scaring us with Daleks, it would be apparent even to a Teletubby-loving drooler that this story is about introducing a new actor as the Doctor. Patrick Troughton's lovable Beatle's uncle -- maybe Moe from the Three Stooges?, that sly goof with a recorder and that constantly distracted face, emerged as much a part of the legend of Doctor Who, right from his first appearance, as the Daleks and William Hartnell themselves did. A bit wobbly in the part at first, he wouldn't totally find his footing until The Moonbase, when the Cybermen also solidified their role as a returning menace. But from his first story to his last, Troughton's Doctor could be seen to be a character whose mystery was not quite in his past or his intentions as Hartnell's Doctor's was, even though those things were hidden from us too, but rather in the great intelligence clearly lurking behind an aura of apparent innocence -- and occasionally manufactured bluster... or subterfuge...
8. The War Games - [4/69 - 6/69]: The Second Doctor's highly entertaining and successful era comes to its end. The epic story that leads to the second change of the Doctor's appearance, also introduces the identity of the Doctor's home species for the first time -- the nearly immortal, nearly omnipotent Time Lords. Not quite answering the title question of the show, but surely changing it a bit, yet again. These Time Lords are aloof and, so, rarely intervening in the affairs of other peoples. Here, they intervene in the Doctor's affairs, for the sake of his own interventions... yeah. And...
9. Spearhead from Space - [1/70]: the new Doctor is played by Jon Pertwee dandily as he has been exiled by the Time Lords to England in the latter part of the 20th century on Earth. Seemingly so that he may work with the Brigadier and the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce to protect Earth from all sorts of hideous dangers immediately threatening... This is also the first story broadcast in color and shot entirely on film, the first story to feature no highly audience-sympathetic companions, the first story to find the Doctor set down fairly permanently in one location at the end instead of journeying away again in the TARDIS, and the first story of a highly shortened season that wouldn't actually run the whole year as seasons had before. Plus the Doctor's apparently got two hearts now.
10. Terror of the Autons - [1/71]: The classic, stable UNIT "family" of the Pertwee Era is formed, fictionally, with a new sympathetic companion again in Jo Grant, a regularly recurring villain in the Master, and two regular lower officers subordinate to the Brigadier in Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton; and nonfictionally, with a very stable and dependable producer/script editor combo in Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks. At this point in the series, the Doctor can be seen to be an even less mysterious figure than he'd ever seemed before and more a sort of unpredictable super-scientist member of a benevolent military establishment. He's a great and stylish hero, of course, but quite a bit more human-seeming than in the past, despite the double-hearts.
11. The Three Doctors - [12/72 - 1/73]: The mold breaks in the 10th anniversary story. The series tips its hat strongly to nostalgia for the first time and starts a demystification and re-mystification cycle that still hasn't ended: the Time Lords are seen to be fallible while growing their mythology in the process as Omega is revealed. The First and Second Doctors' reappearances draw in fans and some stereotypes too. The UNIT stories justify their gradual phasing out here as the Third Doctor gets his reprieve from the Time Lords and is allowed to return to wandering the universe in his TARDIS.
12. Planet of the Spiders - [5/74 - 6/74]: Jon Pertwee's era ends as his Doctor regenerates into Tom Baker's Doctor. Regeneration as a term and capability of Time Lords is explained and seriously considered for the first time. We also meet another Time Lord, K'anpo, living away from the home planet, Gallifrey, who, for the first time for another of the Doctor's race not still living at home, is not also presented as an antagonist to the Doctor.
13. The Ark in Space - [1/75 - 2/75]: The classic "Gothic Era" begins under Phillip Hinchcliffe as Producer and Robert Holmes as Script Editor. Doctor Who hits its peak in this era of sustaining high production values and adept sci-fi/horror writing with great wit and energy to boot. Though established in the, obviously quite important as well, previous story, Robot, as the new Doctor, Tom Baker arguably begins here to take his characterization of the Doctor into its first full form: a brooding, bohemian, maniacally inventive form -- leading eventually to realms of eccentricity and whimsy unseen before or since in such an accessible lead character on dramatic television. The series also hits its all-time high in ratings upon the original airing of an individual episode during this story.
14. The Deadly Assassin - [10/76 - 11/76]: the first and most important visit to Gallifrey. The Master is revived as a threat. No companion accompanies the Doctor for the first time in a story here. The society of the Time Lords is seen to be somewhat flawed -- decadent, specifically -- implicitly similar to the contemporary conservative old male ruling class of Britain. The series also nets its most serious opposition in the British community yet for depictions of realistic violence on television. Despite the opposition, however, by this story, Doctor Who can be seen to have reached its immortality already as a series that could never just fade away and disappear -- out of sheer popularity and an unstoppable beginning of proliferation of organized fan clubs worldwide.
15. The Invasion of Time - [2/78 - 3/78]: Along with a story showing the Doctor willing to go to some serious strategic extremes to accomplish his goals, the new Graham Williams production team continues to allow Tom's Doctor to begin to go quite a bit further with his witty irreverence, assisted no end by the presence of K9 now, a popular mechanical companion that would see his most vital use yet in this story. The Gallifrey of The Deadly Assassin is deepened and elaborated upon here, but does not quite attain the same kind of production value as that seen in the previous year's vision. This is clearly one of the most desperately self-conscious efforts made by the series ever to keep up-to-date with its genre -- trying so very hard to impress a post-Star-Wars audience with Doctor Who's great story possibilities. This kind of effort would return to the series far more intensively in the eighties, as the series was suddenly not the cutting edge of science fiction it once was...
16. The Ribos Operation - [9/78]: The start of the Key to Time season finds a new companion in a Time Lady, an entirely unchildish Romana, a reinstatement of sorts of K9 as a companion, in for the long haul now apparently, and Tom Baker's dominance as the Doctor continuing to grow beyond anything seen before in the Doctor's portrayal on the series. Romana's being a Gallifreyan instead of a human here makes her only the second companion to be unsympathetic to the audience - and far more sympathetic to the Doctor (especially once she regenerates into her second incarnation as portrayed by Lalla Ward). Her great sympathy with Tom's Doctor combined with the almost unrestrained late Tom Baker Era wit and whimsy would see the show become more outrageously unrealistic and charming than at any other time ever in the series' history.
17. The Leisure Hive - [8/80 - 9/80]: a story that comes off like a bit like a Doctor Who feature film. Change and Decay are in the air in a very palpable way here in the first story of the fantastic last season of Tom Baker's definitive Doctor Who era, the promising first season of John Nathan-Turner's decade-long era as Producer, and the only season of the superb script editor Christopher H. Bidmead. This story's production values are so high and impressive that the very previous season, while superficially the same in formula and regular cast, appears almost to have been from some other series. Tom Baker's eccentricity is reined in a bit and the overall story is thoroughly "de-randomized" from what came before, containing a plot, symbolism and mood that would carry over the season with a new focus on harder science fiction concepts and character continuity. This concentration on story and continuity over the dramatic presence of the Doctor and the companions would last, even, until nearly the end of the Peter Davison Era.
18. Logopolis - [2/81 - 3/81]: The Tom Baker Era comes to an end without the wit and charm Tom's time as the Doctor was known for. Rather, this story shines as a masterpiece of apocalyptic atmosphere and foreboding combined with the wonder of a harder science fiction story pulled off with an exceptionally great deal of intrigue and drama. Such sudden seriousness also ushers in the new era of the Fifth Doctor as played by Peter Davison with a kind of youth and fallibility also to be found in both the new young companions presented here. This is also the first full-blown story featuring Anthony Ainley's portrayal of the Master character of the 1980s.
19. Castrovalva - [1/82]: Continuing precisely from where Logopolis left off, this introduces of the Fifth Doctor and firmly establishes the trio of companions presented in the previous story. A TARDIS crew a bit at odds, the formula for the interaction of the regular characters during this new decade is set to be based on complications rather than compatibility. This trend runs right through Davison's Doctor's era. His Doctor was to even be defined by being uncomfortable with his surrondings, for the most part, most at peace in solitude and with the familiar trappings of a refined old world, such as in Black Orchid. Perhaps the least alien Doctor of all, Davison's vulnerable portrayal would see the Doctor appear in a much younger man's body, but containing vast untold wisdom and depths beyond any suggestion of a limited experience. As his Doctor was then also much gentler in his interactions with others, he would appear to contain maybe only half, or less, of the charisma of Tom Baker's Doctor, leaving Davison and his era's writers, perhaps his entire run to finally emerge from his predecessor's shadow in his last few stories, and finally really wow his audiences at last with a fully realized characterization that didn't seem limp or insubstantial compared to his predecessors.
20. Earthshock - [3/82]: Peter Davison's now well-established Doctor is seen to not only be a bit fallible in comparison to his previous incarnation, but also thoroughly unable to stop his adventures from entering into some fairly horrible violence - in particular, the death of his companion, Adric, here. Adric's sensational death was not the first of a hero's or even a character's considered to be a companion on Doctor Who, but it was certainly the most tragic moment of the series up until this point, pointing the way for dark future departures from the staid, somewhat inoffensive Who formula and traditions in the coming final decade of the series on TV. Script editor Eric Saward's influence was coming hard to bear on the series in this aspect. The amount of deaths and destruction on Doctor Who did not necessarily increase, but, rather, the precision and tone of it did. Effective violence, violence that clearly demonstrates pain, shows that it matters, that it hurts, cannot be easily disregarded. It would eventually be cited as a reason for the series hiatus of 1985/86.
21. The Caves of Androzani - [3/84]: the absolute peak of Doctor Who as an intelligent suspenseful thriller series with great characters and a visionary production -- here, we see the end of the Peter Davison Era as his Doctor is finally portrayed as a vulnerable tragic hero, dying, after a season of building tragic violence, to save only his companion, Peri, who was only in peril by way of his Doctor's own fallibility.
22. The Twin Dilemma - [3/84]: Things had really changed on Doctor Who in those few short weeks before Peter Davison's departure from the show. It had gotten to be a little reminiscent, really, of when the Tom Baker Era was ending previously, as the production team daringly completely remade the hero and companion team altogether extremely fast. Almost disastrously, though, this new Doctor, played marvelously alienly and aggressively by Colin Baker, was absolutely unstable, thoroughly violent in tendencies, and difficult to like -- anti-heroic, even. It didn't help that this was an unfortunately abysmal story outside of the interest of Colin's new characterization of the Doctor. The payoff for this unstable beginning to the Sixth Doctor was to have been an arc that would see him mellow and deal with his environment and turbulent nature. However, this payoff never came in fictional form until the novels of the 1990s, even as it came in nonfiction almost immediately, in the form of an eighteen month absence from television after the following 22nd season.
23. The Trial of a Time Lord - [9/86 - 12/86]: An all-ironic-allegory all-the-time approach was taken by the production team to help Doctor Who return to the air after a season in the dark. The story was a season long - a much shortened season than before... With a desperate-behind-the-scenes story, this one comes off miserable and amazing in places, setting down a genius seed for years to come in the character of the Valeyard, a villain who is really the Doctor himself in a future amalgamation of his dark side. Also significant was the uncertainty that was left as to Peri's departure and Mel's arrival in the Doctor's life. Much, in fact, would be mined from the confusing aftereffects of this story.
24. Time and the Rani - [9/87]: Still charged with the rebuilding of his series, Nathan-Turner cast a new actor, Sylvester McCoy, to play the Seventh Doctor after the BBC fired Colin Baker as a kind of scapegoat for the poor response to the previous season. Within the course of the series arc, this story is practically nothing but cartoonish runaround, as McCoy finds himself in way over his head on a disintegrating series. The regeneration has no obvious cause here and the story tends to defeat its own aims at reestablishing the series by deconstructing and demystifying itself all the way through. Not entirely a wreck, however, we still find a strong adventurous spirit here, and a world full of shockingly vivid fantastical images and music. With a crash the infamously erratic season 24 began...
25. Remembrance of the Daleks - [10/88]: and the new script editor, Andrew Cartmel, saved the day! -- by bringing in new writers, such as Ben Aaronovitch here, and a new perspective on the mystery at the center of Doctor Who. With Paradise Towers, Stephen Wyatt's first story for the series, such freshness wasn't seen in Doctor Who since the very early days of the Nathan-Turner leadership. It had no ties to anything seen before in the series and was a thoroughly sophistocated original vision with interesting social commentary to boot. By now, at the start of the next season, number 25!, we had a show starring a rather more controlled, more thoughtful McCoy, featuring a hugely clever script that combined recent freshness with the continuity of old. This involved a reenvisioning of the 7th Doctor, altering him slightly into a darker, readier Doctor, boldly striking the opposite to the previous several years' of victimhood and irresponsibility. Also changed was the old model of the chummy companion/Doctor relationship with the Doctor firmly dominant over all. The companion now would be another protagonist herself, that could care, develop, and grow equally alongside the Doctor. Ace.
26. Ghost Light - [10/89]: This was another legendary period of Doctor Who in full swing -- making high plotting, rich characterization for Ace and the Doctor, and dense symbolic complexities with magnificent production values to feed a ravenous worldwide cult of very literate, very witty fans even as the series continued to nosedive in British national ratings. This, Marc Platt's first, a near-masterpiece, was the sign that, despite this being the last Doctor Who TV story to be produced until 1996, fandom was going to survive and take care of its series just fine. Marc Platt was, like Ben Aaronovitch, a fan writer who wanted to write for the series because he'd grown up loving it. This series would thrive on as a labor of love for fans far more than as a business franchise for the BBC from now on.
27. The novelization of Remembrance of the Daleks - [6/90]: Aaronovitch's book of his strong first story turned out to be more important than his first TV story itself to the series. This is, in spirit, the first New Adventure for Doctor Who. Published after the final TV season, this book was the first of a record-breaking series of books to make far more out of Doctor Who in book-form than just a TV story novelized. Ben's book not only elaborated on his TV story and made for a sweet little read for any passing fan, it plumbed new greater depths for the Doctor, the Daleks, and the Time Lords than had ever been seen before in a Doctor Who book. The novelizations at this time, edited by Peter Darvill-Evans, were all written with similar efforts to expand upon and worthily add to the TV stories they were based on. Of course, once the TV series was clearly over, the success of these novelizations would lead Darvill-Evans and Virgin Publishing to commission some real novels based on where Aaronovitch, Platt, Cartmel, and others had been taking the series on television, the NAs. "Full-length science fiction novels; stories too broad and too deep for the small screen. Produced with the approval of BBC Television, the New Adventures take the TARDIS into previously unexplored realms of space and time."
28. Timewyrm: Revelation - [12/91]: Paul Cornell blasted the novels wide open here. His first book of four extraordinary landmark NAs in the early part of the nineties set in motion a kind of freeing from all barriers left in the fan group imaginations as to how to tell a Doctor Who story. The limitations of television were not just in budget and time constraints; they were in the cameras themselves, as this story could only be satisfactorily visualized in the minds of the readers themselves. The three books that immediately followed this, the Cat's Cradle series, led the Doctor and Ace into realms that were unified in theme, substance and complexity of mythology, but not of plot. This was just about the most impressively thoughtful and challenging period of united Doctor Who books ever. Unpopular though they were, they proved they could do so much more with a story than what was ever previously seen in Who. Quickly following were books such as Transit, The Pit, Birthright, and Conundrum which would push the boundaries ever further, again, even at the risk of some audience alienation.
29. Love and War - [10/92]: The so-called Future History Cycle begins here, editor Darvill-Evans' rather valiant attempt to create a reuseable history for later novels. This is also the first departure of a companion in the novels -- Ace does return, but she returns different, affected by the events of the 26th Century... Paul Cornell also introduces the first companion to originate in the novels here -- Professor Bernice Summerfield -- or, just Benny -- who, in time, turns out to be almost as popular a character amongst fans as the Doctor himself -- as a kind of human female version of Indiana Jones in the 26th Century... sorta. The Time's Champion label is given to McCoy's Doctor for the first time, amid some more of Cornell's poetic visionary writing. This time we get a dream sequence suggesting that the 7th Doctor's spirit brought an early demise to the 6th Doctor, a sort of Time Lord suicide of persona, a notion that justified the new Doctor to his actions, sensing that his methods were questionable ones that no other Doctor would use. This sprouted much more NA mythology and furthered the deepening of the 7th Doctor's Era, while continuing to alienate various fans desiring what became known as "traditional" Doctor Who. This being stories essentially resembling something like what the TV series offered, instead of "radical" Who which involved changing some basic expectations of the audience familiar with the series. Regardless of this fairly nebulous controversy, this was a radical book amongst several at its time that served to really make a even greater epic out an established epic of a series.
30. Lucifer Rising - [5/93]: the end of the Future History Cycle saw the introduction of two of Doctor Who's most influential novelists, Andy Lane and Jim Mortimore, and the first positive example of what's gone on to be known as "fanwank." This is a term claimed to be coined by author Crain Hinton, later the self-proclaimed "Fanwank God" (it says so on his T-shirt, I've seen it), meaning fan-friendly fiction containing gratuitous amounts of references to past continuity. Not that this book is brought down by its attempt to connect itself to the established past of the series, but that it used those references to build from, and to create a vast space opera with grand sweeping images and tied-in connections to the larger universe. One may call this cheating, but as the climax of its own cycle of books about a future history, it was a greatly innovative novel in its own right as well as a terribly important moment in the development of the NAs' own continuous universe.
31. Decalog (Playback) - [4/94]: the first time Virgin printed original Who short fiction instead of novels. This collection was also the first time other Doctors from the series' past were used in original fiction put into a mass market book. The great success of this book allowed for the serious expansion of new Who fiction in a short amount of time in the mid nineties. Despite the originality of what had come since the NAs began, this meant that there would soon be a lot of insertion into past storylines of new fiction. The notion of new Who fiction from here on becomes one based in memory as well as continuing a present series.
32. Goth Opera - [7/94]: the first Missing Adventure of the Virgin line of novels. This second series of books would continue, monthly, alongside the NAs -- and, later, the EDAs - up until the present day -- though latterly published by BBC Books instead of Virgin. Though these novels would go on to fill holes in continuity from the past, they would often serve to challenge the past as well as recreate it. Good for both nostalgia and for exciting, still original adventures. The possibility even existed to alter and further examine the character of the Doctor and his companions in many ways, sometimes challengingly and sometimes not...
33. Time of Your Life - [3/95]: and nowhere was more ripe for further character development in the whole of the running Doctor Who saga than the period between the end of The Ultimate Foe, at the end of the 6th Doctor's trial, and Time and the Rani. This was the first of many very successful post-Trial stories featuring the 6th Doctor but made after his TV regeneration. While much of this process was about lightening him and seeing him mellow, particularly later on in his Big Finish audios, this book served to continue several of the themes and real world parallels of the Trial, especially that of the possibility that he would one day become the Valeyard. It's a very dark book that carries the weight of the discontinued 6th Doctor's unresolved angst on into a new period of adventures. This period of the series' past has flourished like none other since.
34. Human Nature - [4/95]: More than any other Doctor Who novel, this one epitomized the value of the series in book-form, allowing the Doctor to try out being human for a while. Never had the examination of him as a hero been made so personal and so poetic in a story before. Never again would the books exist as a possibly dubious alternative to televised Doctor Who for anyone who had read this. Noting that this story is not as timeless as one might think, based as it is in the politics of its era, as the NAs and the 7th Doctor's era on the whole were very much so anti-capitalist and anti-war, we still get the turning point of the NAs here. The series turns toward basing itself ever more deeply in its own continuity with a united epic as a goal, despite any author's differing politics showing up from novel to novel.
35. The NA Shakedown - [12/95]: the creative underground of Who fandom meets the mass media market. Beginning with Wartime in 1987, fan-produced spin-off material emerged as an alternative to relying on BBC-sanctioned enterprises for new Doctor Who. Especially following Bill Baggs' Summoned by Shadows and the Stranger Series, featuring Colin Baker as the Doctor-like "Stranger" in 1992, Doctor-less and Dalek-less drama was produced regularly throughout the nineties in a desperate effort to plug the hole the lack of a TV series left. Even as the internet was uniting much of fandom, the less-connected of us, likely the vast majority, didn't have a clue about that until the novels pulled off this crossover. It was Terrance Dicks' novelization and massive expansion on the script for a Sontarans-oriented video he wrote of the same name that did made it. But it was the influence of the fans that brought our old hero to it, impacting the series' new canon as an absolute, all barriers broken between the followers and the series continued creation. Even the telemovie to come in a few months' time was to be almost solely in existence due to the efforts of longtime fans who now had power enough to accomplish their goal of a new series' production.
36. Doctor Who: The Telemovie (Enemy Within) - [5/96]: the airing of the first new, serious television Who in some six-plus years - Fox's telemovie starring Paul McGann as the new Eighth Doctor. Great! A renaissance! "It's about time!" A new series!, maybe... but no. As the NAs made great strides towards making the best of all possible explorations in what makes great Who, the rest of the world sure wasn't catching on and the telemovie sure didn't catch a necessary buzz to get critics, fans, and all the Star-Wars-and-Trek-lovin' other-fans to pay attention to it. However, we now had a seriously different light cast on the series: an Eighth Doctor who kisses and claims to be half-human living in a TARDIS with a very different indoors aesthetic... with a dead Master who could turn into a goupy snake-thing...
37. Lungbarrow - [3/97]: the Great Licensing Schism. In a desperate bid to tie the arc of the Virgin NAs novels line up and bring the series from one Doctor's era's legacies to another Doctor's era's legacies, the line swallowed some of its ambitions and allowed Marc Platt to see his vision through and build a bridge in one book between all the Virgin books and the radically different telemovie. This all happened because Virgin Publishing was no longer allowed to print Doctor Who material as the BBC and its BBC Books division wanted to do it itself -- without being allowed to use the fictional universe established by Virgin's MAs and NAs, and vice versa at Virgin. (Ha!) Except, the lawyers and moneymakers didn't seem to take in the fact that the same people are going to read the new books as read the old books, regardless of who is publishing... So we got so overprolific on our Who and Who-related books that we made only the most fanatic of Doctor Who fanatics able to read all of the new stuff every month and keep up. Competition wasn't really much of a factor, either, as Virgin was doing its best ever business (and quality, too, actually) on the NAs right when it lost the license. BBC Past Doctor Adventures and Eighth Doctor Adventures replaced Virgin NAs and MAs and Virgin kept on with a new line of NAs starring their greatest remaining asset, the one, the only, the glorious Professor Bernice Summerfield and a Virgin universe all its own after 61 NAs and 33 MAs. It was almost as though we didn't know when we were well-off back when we had only one NA a month in '93. Now, and even to a greater extent later on, there were two or three new books every month and much more besides. One might just have been able to claim that we fans were overwhelming ourselves with new Who all the time anyway -- without the rest of the world even having a clue about it. But the BBC would soon appreciate a public always interested in more Doctor Who...
38. The Eight Doctors - [7/97]: the first original novel of the new Eighth Doctor Adventures series and a major fan nightmare. A bit like the era this novel engendered, it was a very entertaining utter mess. It was needlessly righteous, empowered to take on the immediately recent telemovie and fix a lot of old continuity, willing to change past characterizations to affect new dramatic situations, cute but ridiculously awkward in companion creation, simplistic with its depiction of Time Lords, and almost-but-not-quite profound enough to really mean anything except as the first novel of a series. Mainly representing a lack of firm leadership in the early editing of the EDAs, it was the reason for bad press upon the BBC's restart following on from Virgin's great success. However, it did offer some lovely light reading, familiar characters and situations, a nice premise, and some horrifyingly acute foreshadowing... or shall we call it prophesy? The book featured an amnesiac Doctor and his world that didn't quite fit with Virgin NA continuity (!), and still thrashed its way through some fantastically sacred territory in the long-constructed Who mythos. It's desperately important as a flashing, nearly subliminal signpost describing what's ahead, in fact creating it while being it. Or it's just fun and a great first example of how hard it was to create a new series from so little in the TV movie.
39. Alien Bodies - [11/97]: a revolution! Not quite the most astonishing blasting of stagnant plotting scum out of the Doctor Who pond of all time, but certainly right up there with the most effective refreshers of Hulke, Orman, Holmes, Wyatt, Cornell, Aaronovitch, and Cartmel -- Lawrence Miles sets in motion a kind of cool anti-continuity wave here, washing glorious new notions off of old ideas and into the great seas of fandom's public domain. In the forever-altered world of any fan who had read Alien Bodies, the great importance of getting the series continuity down just right suddenly became a bit of a laugh -- the essential paradoxes, the other universes out there - it all suddenly looked too big to be so petty about. Every Miles book after Alien Bodies would be a major milestone... um... landmark... in the continuum of Who-dom. His next books, Dead Romance and Interference, Books One and Two, along with the third BBC Books short Who fiction collection, Short Trips and Side Steps, all continued and heightened the interest of this cool trend of examining and undoing the strict adherence of new Who fiction to an established continuity. During this time, Doctor Who seemed so huge, being, in a sense, continually plotted based on the overabundance of continuity. It was a postmodern course, that would be loosened and undone a bit at the end of 2000 (see #44.)
40. Republica - [5/98]: the first unofficial Doctor Who related original audio. As with the popular videos fans were professionally producing before, there was now to be a tranfer to a new non-visual medium with Doctor-less stories featuring Doctor Who spin-off-ery and familiar actors. Though Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred returned to create "Ace and the Professor," they were very much still doing Doctor Who here. BBV's line continues to produce these audios today, but with less and less focus on actually using the Doctor... See #43. BBV would go on to introduce perhaps the greatest, most beloved author of Who audios, Rob Shearman, ironically pseudonymed as "Jeremy Leadbetter," with their brilliant audio Punchline.
41. The Scarlet Empress - [9/98]: fantasy and magical realism, long present in Doctor Who's repertoire of genres at this point, make a grand gesture of dominance here. Paul Magrs, once namechecked in Love and War as a guy who likes to deconstruct everything, deconstructs everything... or, well, the "magic" of Doctor Who anyway. Introducing recurring character Iris Wildthyme, a comic Time Lord cracked mirror version of the Doctor, this book claims the real presence of magic, undiluted with sci-fi justifications. That it succeeds as still being enjoyable Doctor Who is partially a marvel of the Doctor Who formula's resiliance, with this book would go on to be the great anvil that broke the camel's back when it comes to rules in Who. "Anything can happen here."
42. The Infinity Doctors - [11/98]: Bam! A pure mythology. Not the epitome of anything, this book was a 35th anniversary celebration, but also the first full-blown alternative Doctor Who story. Entirely based on established myth, but extracting the useful bits and ignoring the things that make a story precisely put in one point before or after the present of its publication, this timeless story tells of a Doctor very much like the 8th as he would have been had he returned to Gallifrey after his many adventures. As Lungbarrow looked to Gallifrey in the past, this looked to its all-powerful alternative present, as if the Doctor was as influential as a Time Lord as we might have imagined, simply without the renegade status. Based greatly in the romantic images and details offered in the TV movie, this book gives the Doctor a wife, omnipotence, and then takes them away again, putting him once more on a journey amongst the stars. Oft claimed as a prime novel to be turned into a Doctor Who feature film, this book is as full of continuity as can be, and also completely outside of it (except as a sequel of sorts to Cold Fusion.) Alternative Doctor Who stories would abound shortly...
43. The Sirens of Time - [7/99]: Big Finish begins
the BBC-sanctioned new Doctor Who audios with a pair of discs
starring the 5th, 6th, and 7th Doctor actors all actually playing their
Doctors -- no pseudonyms, nothin' hidin' at all... besides their aging
faces. The story wasn't up to much, but this was real actors doing real
drama for a (small) mass market again! The best 6th Doctor dramatic
production ever turned out to be a little audio show produced 14 years
after Colin Baker was fired, called The Holy Terror.
Daleks and great 90s and 00s writers would find their niche here. Even
Benny, the great and novel novels companion, so long a silent charmer of
great human voice and actions, was finally a live companion to be heard
quipping and crying out for nice tea times without horrible scary monsters
alongside Ace and the 7th Doctor on a Big Finish audio, The Shadow of the Scourge. As played by Lisa
Bowerman, she gets her own line of audios here as well as more books.
Big Finish would go on to seriously expand its range, producing multiple
Who spin-offs and, indeed, several more landmark Who stories
such as Spare Parts, the masterpiece Cybermen
origins story; The Marian Conspiracy, the
introduction of the first audio companion, the indomitable history
professor Evelyn Smythe; and even a series of annual year-end romps
featuring pantomime-like self-mockery and lots of singing. Continuing the
proud tradition of the Past Doctor Adventure novels, Big Finish also
developed their heroes a bit on occasion, as seen with the nearly romantic
5th Doctor in 44. The Ancestor Cell - [8/00]: The great reset
button of all Who-dom is missed and the anti-reset button is
pressed instead. The Milesian Revolution of Alien
Bodies onwards, involving Faction Paradox, the great Future War of the
Time Lords, bottle universes, etc., is neatly sidestepped and allowed to
just blossom on its own nearby... Stephen Cole and Peter Anghelides wrote
a vigorous finale here that's more important to the EDAs than can
reasonably be expected based on their tone in the final chapters of the
novel (it should have been several books, this one) -- but suddenly,
everything is different... again. The Justin Richards Era of editing
begins and our fresh new 8th Doctor can't remember who he is because he
doesn't really exist. Neat? The following year's books were tremendously
good, though... and our hero's past is really only hidden to him... From
The Burning on, he's moodier, darker, more
unpredictable, and amnesiac.
45. Storm Warning - [1/01]: The audios by Big
Finish hit a new level of interest -- they bring Paul McGann himself
onboard to give real voice to the Eighth Doctor. Compared to what was
available for the 7th Doctor in the NAs, it'd been quite a miracle for so
many books to have been written based on a one-hour performance in the TV movie -- even if only a few EDAs up to this
point were truly great. Now we had a much healthier vision... um... idea
of the Eighth Doctor without having to resort to reading every damn EDA.
The audios rival the novels in important to the current state of Doctor
Who appreciation. One might even claim that, at this point they have
divided fandom. From many fans' perspectives, the 8th Doctor of the
audios is irreconcilable with the hero of the BBC novels. The matter of
canon is even a fairly moot point here, as this era of Doctor Who
has often intentionally specifically diverged... from itself... telling
innummerable stories of alternate universes and alternate continuities.
Some of the best audios of which are under the title: Doctor Who
Unbound, beginning in 2003.
46. Death Comes to Time - [01]: the first webcast.
This story was the beginning of animated Doctor Who of sorts, not
nearly as elaborate as that would become later, but effective nonetheless
as audio. The fact that it was presented online, and that this was a
great success with site hits, was most notable, paving the way for future
webcasts. The popularity fact for this production, as it was a BBC
dramatic production particularly, brought significant attention to
Doctor Who, a major stepping stone to the new series in 2005.
Also of significance was that this was intentioned as a new beginning for
Doctor Who, featuring the end of old continuity and the beginning
of a new age, despite having the 7th Doctor and Ace as its heroes at the
outset. No sequels have followed, but it remains a very dramatic
production with some controversy.
47. The Adventuress of Henrietta Street -
[11/01]: Here was the new revolution, baby. Structure and content-wise, it
was just about as daring a book as any we'd seen since the early nineties.
The amnesiac Doctor plot and attendant continuity begun as a result of the
events in The Ancestor Cell get kicked into a wild
new darkness. An opposing time traveller named Sabbath is introduced for
the first time here, and the Doctor is thoroughly reexamined once again,
christened, vaguely, now, as an elemental, in opposition to the universe,
a Champion for Earth now.
48. Rose - [3/05]: Christopher Eccleston begins
playing the new Ninth Doctor in Russell T. Davies new series. It's
popular and well-supported in the press and at the BBC right from the very
first glimmerings of actual production nearly a year and a half before.
It's the first really new and vitally important development in Doctor
Who in ages, and it's also easily the biggest Who event since
it was last on television. Imagine that! It's the third highest rated
show that week on the BBC, following Coronation Street and Eastenders
episodes. And it's nearly universally well received, despite having some
very familiar and rather goofy monsters... It could never have happened
if it weren't for the continual popularity of Doctor Who DVDs, CDs, books,
videos, and other merchandise over the last 15 years. Yea, fans!
49. The Gallifrey Chronicles - [6/05]: the last EDA. The Eighth
Doctor arc of the novels resolves... hopefully. Along with Big Finish's The Next Life in the audios, this ends the immediacy
of the Eighth Doctor. Happening upon command from the BBC, intentionally
making the Ninth Doctor the main focus for old and new fans, this could
still be a very good thing for the massive fan-centered franchise, forcing
some unity and essentiality to the whole again.
50. The Parting of the Ways - [6/05]: end of the first new
season, end of... The show must go on...
Top 11 Books of the BBC Line by Terrance Keenan
3/12/01
Where my tastes run in BBC books and authors is probably different than
most people as I have a weird trad-leaning take, but with an
appreciation of big rad ideas -- when done right.
Anyhoo, without further ado.....
Last of the Gadarene -- This is the Uber Trad
novel. It has all of the
Pertwee Elements rolled up inot a fabulous Nostalgia Ball. Fun stuff,
reminiscent of the Target novelisations.
Players -- Uncle Terrance Dicks still shows
that he can still spin a
yard. The Doctor meets Winston Churchill-- such an obvious idea I'm
surprised it wasn't done before this. When Terrance Dicks is on, he's up
there with the best of DW authors.
Beltempest -- You have to admire the chutzpah of
an author playing with
big ideas. The prose is gorgeous and Jim Mortimore's take on the Doc and
Sam, although off in the normal sense, is perfect for the concepts he's
playing with.
Demontage -- Say What?...... Well, this is Justin
Richard's tribute to
the legendary Robert Holmes, and once you see that, it becomes something
quite special. Besides, Fitz steals the show time and again.
Psi-ence Fiction -- The home run we all knew
and hoped that Chris
Boucher could hit. Nobody writes Leela better than her creator, and he
finally nails the Fourth Doc. Toss in a very interesting plot and you
have a great book that improves with age.
Tomb of Valdemar -- For all the Metatext hijinks
Simon Messingham plays
around with in this book, underneath there is a great 4th Doc / Romana
tale that sings. This is something special.
The Turing Test -- Paul Leonard stretches his
literary wings and writes
of a mysterious figure known as the Doctor through Turing, Greene and
Heller, and how events during WWII caused unforseen effects. Powerful,
yet simple. Outstanding.
Alien Bodies -- Lawrence Miles finally get a hold
of all his big ideas
around a crackling plot. When Rad is done this well, it's no longer rad.
It's just great Doctor Who.
The Banquo Legacy -- Justin Richards and Andy Lane
team up to write the
best book of the Comassion arc, hands down. Location, concept and
character come together. Makes you wish that the arc ended here and not
with The Ancestor Cell. Exquisite.
Festival of Death -- The Best PDA, full stop. A
wonderful story abut
cause and effect, with perfect characterization of the regulars. This
book captures season 17 in all it's silly, goofy, fun glory. Read it
again and again.
Father Time -- The Best 8DA, full stop. This is
DW "reconstructed." The
taking of familiar ideas and giving them fun twists. Lance Parkin takes
the fanwanky idea of having the Doctor settle down and become a parent
and turn it into something much more. Wow!
And here are some of the low end of the scale:
Unnatural History -- The most obvious and glaring
example of how only
Lawrence Miles should play around with Lawrence Miles concepts.
Verdigris -- I agree with Mike Morris that this is
the most spiteful
Book in DW. Absolute self-indulgent rubbish.
The Blue Angel -- at least I hated Verdigris. I
didn't care at the end.
Apathy is far worse than hatred.
Seeing I -- Proof that Kate Orman is the most
overrated hack in DW. A
god awful plot, tons of pointless character deconstruction and yet
another variation of using torture to show character. Bleeaarrugh!!!!!!
The Shadows of Avalon -- Except for the
character of the Brig and the
Doc (in some scenes) this is a ghastly, overrated fiasco. And Paul
Cornell is supposed to be best thing in DW fiction? I think not.
Ten Notable Cliffhangers by Mike Morris
5/12/01
Not the best cliffhangers. I thought about doing a
list of the best Doctor Who cliffhangers, but realised
it would only contain entries from Warriors' Gate,
Kinda and Caves. So instead,
here's a list of fine
examples from the various genres of cliffhanger, thus
evaluating the many Doctor Who cliffhanger typologies.
This list may not be entertaining, but I like to think
it's educational...
Top Ten signs Doctor Who was dying a slow death in the mid/late
80's by
Dean Belanger
15/1/02
10) Female companions constanly in high heels (swamps, forests, rocky
terrain...doesn't matter).
9) Colin Baker choking his companion.
8) The Rani in a red wig.
7) Sylester McCoy in a blonde wig.
6) One word...MEL !
5) The incomprehensible Trial of a Time Lord
4) Cheap looking Sontarans in The Two Doctors.
(Even for Dr. Who those
masks were bad.)
3) Trying to pass off a 40-ish Jamie as a 20-ish Jamie.
2) I can barely understand a word Davros yells in any of his last 3
stories.
1) "Carrot juice, Carrot juice, Carrot juice !!!!!!"
Required Reading! by Joe Ford
6/2/02
My top Ten 'don't listen to those who hate them' EDA's to be read now!
10.) EarthWorld 9.) Kursaal/The Janus
Conjunction 8.) The Burning 7.) Mad Dogs and Englishmen 6.) Eater of Wasps 5.) The Banquo Legacy 4.) Seeing I 3.) The Year of Intelligent Tigers 2.) Father Time 1.) The Adventuress of Henrietta Street Just outside… The Scarlet Empress, City of the Dead, Inteference, Alien Bodies.
And the worst:
Top 10 Monsters by David Barnes
11/2/02
Lets face it: Dr Who became popular through its monsters. If
there were no
Daleks then it probably wouldn't have got past its 15th episode. So these
are my favourite monsters:
10. Autons (Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons). I really like
the
mannequins in particular from Spearhead from Space. I
think the Autons are
really creepy and I love the noise they make when they shoot someone.
9: Androgums (The Two Doctors). I like the idea of
galactic chefs. Shockeye
is brilliant; he has the funniest lines of any Dr Who villain. He
is suitably vulgar (eating a rat) and he even makes fun of the Sontarons!
8: Gundan Robots (Warriors Gate). I know that
they didn't feature heavily in
the story but I love the voice. Even better is Tom Baker's line "STOP THAT
GUNDAN!"
7: Rutans (Horror of Fang Rock): I know they look
silly (a green blob with
spaghetti) but, again, the voice is brilliant, in particular the death
scream. Rutans seem to be one of the few monsters who kill through
electricity.
6: Terileptils (The Visitation). The costumes are
superb. The scorched face
of the leader is very gruesome! Humanoid lizards appear quite a lot in
Dr Who (Silurians, Sea Devils,
Chelonions) but these are the best ones. Their
best scene is when the Doctor argues with the leader other the latter's
morals near the end of part 3 ("It's not an argument! IT'S A STATEMENT!").
5: Zarbi (The only decent thing about The Web
Planet): Come on! Giant ants!
Got to be good! Their best bit is when one runs into a camera in part 3.
4: Alpha Centauri (Curse and Monster of Peladon): I know the costume has
been connected with male genatalia but Alpha Centauri gets almost all the
good lines in both stories ("Thank you Eckersley but you are still a
traitor!") The idea of hiring a woman to do the voice was a good move and
the creature's cowardice is hilarious.
3: Cybermen (Many stories): I like the fact that the appearance and
voices
kept changing, the best voice being in The Moonbase
and Tomb of the Cybermen
and the best costumes being in Revenge of the
Cybermen. The idea behind
them, if not as original as it is made out to be, is very good. Their only
let down is the vunerability to gold, which is very silly; gold suffocates
Cybermen, who supposedly don't breathe!
2: Daleks: These metal meanies were what got Dr Who it's place
in televison
history. The shape of them is good and their voices are excellanet. I think
they were at their best in The Daleks MasterPlan.
After Evil of the Daleks I
think that they didn't get a fair deal in their stories, especially when
Davros arrived, only salvaging their greatness in Remembrance of the Daleks.
1: Ice Warriors/ Martians (The Ice Warriors,
Seeds of Death, Curse of
Peladon and The Monster of Peladon): My favourite
monsters. Another
reptilian race but without the silly costumes (except for those ones with
bloated heads). The voices (another hissing voice) are marvellous. I like
the fact that they try to be noble at all times. Alan Bennion as Slaar,
Izlyr and Azaxyer is great, Azaxyer being one of the best Dr Who
villains.
Monsters who didn't quite make the list: Silurians, Mechanoids,
Solonian
Mutants, Scaroth of the Jagoroth and the giant maggots.
My top ten audio adventures by Joe Ford
23/2/02
I read an article recently saying Doctor Who is dead, despite
the books
and audios just because there weren't any new tv episodes to
cherish…after my top ten book series I want to recommend these
audio stories as well. Have a listen, they are better written and
directed than most of the stories of their tv eras anyway!
10) Storm Warning.
Paul McGann blazed into the limelight
with
this wonderfully exciting story that certainly deserves the title
adventure. After only an hour and a half on TV we finally get to see what
McGann is made of and he is quite superb. From his monologue at the
beginning to his rant about the web of time at the end he lives up to the
promise of this breathlessly romantic Doctor. India Fisher too, who
impressed me in Winter for the Adept, proves a fine
companion with the
balls of Ace, the sarcastic streak of Tegan and the OTT-ness of Mel but
somehow roles these into something far more enjoyable than any of these.
A storm lashed airship, dangerous time travelling carnivores, stiff upper
lipped British characters, and a fabulously 'alien' alien make up a
highly enjoyable adventure.
9) Colditz
A criminally underated story, it's another Steve Lyons
story that concerns history and time-travel but he uses them so well
who's complaining? The seventh Doctor and Ace are a surprising failure in
the Big Finish audios, proving their partnership has been milked to death
with the books but they make a good pair here, not because of their
characters but because of the great material they are given. Sophie
Aldred in particular seems to relish her Nazi-hating dialogue and McCoy
gets some terrific speeches concerning time travel. Considering how slow
some of the audios are (Red Dawn, Winter for the
Adept) I would have
thought people might apprichiate the exciting nature of this story,
especially the breath catcthing end of episode three and the final
confrontation with Kurtz, easily the most thrilling set piece yet. And
despite everyone else, I quite like the music too!
Just for the fabulous Lisa
Bowerman who brings to life Bernice Summerfield with such gusto it
provokes further gob smacking performances from Aldred and McCoy! They
make a great team and the dialogue they get is some of the wittiest ever.
Hurrah for Paul Cornell for giving us a truly creepy monster race and for
following the NA pattern of putting the characters through emotional
hell, I felt quite smypathetic towards Pembroke, Annie, etc. Yes it
revels in its 'aren't the NA's great' atmosphere and comes across as a
little smug but you can't deny it's a slice of top quality Who,
satisfying, well acted and different. For that fact alone it is worth
great merit.
7) Phantasmagoria.
Davison's first is still his best thanks
to
a fab script curtesy of the wonderful Mark Gatiss. It's the characters
that make this so much fun, the verbose Jasper Jeepe, the marvellous
villan Valentine, the fey Quincy Flowers, gatiss brushes them all with an
entrtaining stroke. It's wonderfully atmospheric with some great sound
effects that plant you straight in the action. It's one of those stories
you wish to god could have been made for TV. There are some good twists
and Valentine really is a good villain.
6) Project Twilight.
Brrrrr! Scary! The last episode is really
scary! Colin Baker's gloriously theatrical voice proves perfect for the
audios and it's no surprise that stories like this have made him the
favourite of them all. His relationship with Evelyn Smythe at this point
is so entertaining wish they could spend the whole story together! There
are some great characters here, brought to life with real drama by the
actors. Cassie is very well done and Amelia and Reggie make a truly
sinister pair. It's really graphic but that’s no bad thing and
there are too many stand out moments to mention (Evelyn and her amazing
handbag! Exploding corpses! Cassies brutal transformation!).
5) Stones of Venice.
From the blood soaked alleys of
Bermondsey
to the romantic waters of Venice. This is like therapy after so many
violent stories, a seductive fantsasy of secret cults, broken promises,
sinking cities and most of all love. McGann and Fisher are well in their
stride now (after the disapointing Sword of
Orion) and
deliver highly
engaging performances. Stalwart Michael Sheard is on board to add some
gravitas to the story as the doomed Duke Orsino but he is only one of
several memorable characters. It's told at such a sedate pace with some
lovely poetic dialogue and gorgeous incidental music you can't help but
be swept away by it all.
What an achivement! A simple
yet
compelling purely historical that educates and entertains to the fullest
limit! Also the introduction of the excellent Evelyn Smythe who proves
more then a match for Colin Baker's Doctor in some hysterically funny
scenes! Colin Baker is just a treat, this is the softer, more compelling
side to his character that we saw briefly in Trial of a
Time Lord. His
scenes with Mary and Sarah are not only perfectly written but superbly
performed too. Not a lot happens really but Jac Rayner provides a
glorious historical romp, never losing sight of her main goal (to make
Evelyn as cool as possible!). Love the last TARDIS scene.
3) The One Doctor.
The most quotable Who dialogue
ever. Fact!
This is just so silly, so funny, so bizarre it wraps you up in a big
bundle of love for the programme and reminds you why it's so great.
Colin, Bonnie, Biggins and Buckfield work so well together (the clashing
of the egos!) it's a shame they are split up in the end. The parodies
(The Weakest Link, DIY shows) are especially funny because I can't stand
those shows! Mel gets the funniest moment in Doctor Who ever with
her
Bush family Christmas speech and it's all wound up perfectly with the
brilliant final snog! Confused? Go and listen to it and laugh yourself
silly!
Who would have thought it? Bubbly
Bonnie's second postion in the top three! This highlights Mel at her
best, confident, assured, clever and not a scream in sight. Ms Langford
is quite superb so kudos to all who wanted to improve on that slice of
Who history. Simply put, this is a masterpiece. Pompeii makes a
fascinating location and the central mystery of what will happen to the
TARDIS keeps you hooked throughout! What's that I hear you say? History
and Time Travel? It must be Steve Lyons! What a great writer he is,
coaxing a performance out of McCoy that is breathtaking. The cliffhangers
are great and it has a terrific movie-worthy score. The historical
characters, very interesting. The constant rumbling of the volcano, very
disturbing. The final episode, very exciting.
1) The Holy Terror.
Still up there at number one. Will they
ever
top this? I doubt it! Flawless is the one word to describe it. The only
piece of Who to bring a tear to my eye but not before making me
laugh
myself silly, scare myself rotten and boogle my brain at the cleverness
of it all. Colin Baker is the Doctor. Just go and listen to him!
Frobisher is a risk that pays of in spades, he drives the compelling
story in unexpected ways. I haven't forgottern any of the characters and
I've only heard it twice, Beringeria and Peppin are just brilliant and
Eugene provides a wonderful tragic figure. It raises some great topics,
stereotypes, religion, politics and weaves them into a script that
manages to surprise and thrill. And it's all wrapped up in a haunting
Russell stone score. Quite simply sublime.
AND THE WORST…
5) Red Dawn
Top Ten reasons Doctor Who is the best sci-fi show on the box by
Joe Ford
12/3/02
10) The Music.
9) The Monsters.
8) Robert Holmes.
7) The Books.
6) Philip Hinchcliffe.
5) Companions.
4) Villians.
3) Diversity.
2) Cliffhangers.
1) The Doctor.
So there you have it…ten reasons to watch your favourite show. Oh
and by the way I do like Star Trek (DS9 rules!) and Buffy but I just feel
they don't have these defining factors that make them as good.
The Ultimate 6 Story Dr Who Season by Mike Shaw
25/3/02
The Daleks Tomb of the Cybermen Terror of the Autons Pyramids of Mars
It may not be a very original opinion, but if you ask me, it doesn't get
any better than Tom Baker's Doctor in Season 13 and Pyramids of Mars was the
best story of that season. In fact it was the best story ever.
The Talons of Weng Chiang The Caves of Androzani
Top Ten companion leaving scenes by Joe Ford
29/3/02
An odd list, granted but after re-watching The
Hand of Fear
recently I realised just how good some of the leaving scenes were,
especially compared to the rubbishy stories they are attachted to.
Sometimes it takes a companion to leave to remind you how good they were.
Here are some of the best...
10) Mel.
9) Jamie and Zoe.
8) Tegan.
7) Romana II.
6) Nyssa.
5) Peri.
4) Adric.
3) Victoria.
2) Sarah Jane.
1) Jo Grant.
Top Ten Peter Davison stories by Joe Ford
10/4/02
Peter Davison, still my least favourite Doctor of all (inc Peter
Cushing) and yet there are some stories in his (I think) less than stellar
years that are worth a watch or two…
10.) The Five Doctors.
Top moment: The Cyberman who throws up…yukky!
9.) The Visitation.
Top moment: Any bit that doesn't contain Adric…sorry monkey face.
8.) Planet of Fire.
Top moment: Peri gets stranded on the boat…Peri beats up the
Master…Peri talks her way on board the TARDIS…I think I must
be the only guy on the planet who doesn't like Peri for her looks but for
her character!
7.) Earthshock.
Top moment: The extremely dramatic Adric close up when he
dies…exceptional direction…for a second I almost cared.
6.) Castrovalva.
Top moment: "We're heading straight into the biggest explosion in
history!"…who saw that coming?
5.) Snakedance.
Top moment: The look on Chela's face after the Doctor helps a grumpy
Nyssa down a ledge!
4.) Enlightenment.
Top moment: "The sparkle has gone from your mind…" Marriner and
Tegan work wonders together.
3.) Caves of Androzani.
Top moment: Too many to list…but I will go for Stotz shooting Jek
followed directly by android Salateen shooting Stotz…such shocking
violence but so beautifully done.
2.) Black Orchid.
Top moment: The gripping climax on the roof.
1.) Frontios.
Quite impressive but I have to remind these are only diamonds in the
rough which includes Four to Doomsday, Time Flight, Arc of Infinity,
Terminus, The Kings Demons,
Warriors of the Deep, The
Awakening, Resurrection…truly the utter
dregs of Doctor Who. Hate to be so
pessimistic but there it is…at least we can revel in the fact that
some of the Davison stuff was decent.
Ten Companions from Bizarro Who by Tim Miner
16/4/02
I've been reading reviews and "top ten" lists on this site for years
... and I find it extremely odd that my first post is something I was
daydreaming about while stuck in traffic. Well, here goes ...
How would Who have been different if the good Doctor had invited
a few more of his acquaintences along for a ride? This list is arranged in
chronological order rather than ranked by coolness. Hmmm ...
Well ... it's clear I need to get a life. Hope you enjoyed.
My Top Ten Doctor Who Stories That I Like And No-One Else Seems To
by Matthew Harris
10 -- Battlefield. Okay, so quite what's going on
isn't very clear. But for some reason it still made me wonder what'll
happen next.
9 -- The Two Doctors. Hardly RH's best work, but
viewed as simply a black comedy it works...just. And part one's not bad.
Shame about the Victoria thing. Why didn't he just set it between Fury From The Deep and The Wheel In
Space? Well? Why?
8 -- Survival. Flawed (someone, somewhere, has to
be able to explain that motorbike crash) but the direction and music save
it from oblivion.
7 -- Paradise Towers. Hey, a bit of
special-guest-laden surreal fun never hurt anyone.
6 -- Death To The Daleks. Not the show so much,
though it was half-decent, but the Dalek tune. Ba-ba..ba-baa,
ba-ba...ba..ba...Okay, I need help.
5 -- Terminus. What's wrong with Terminus particularly? Except the "Now it's your turn,
only you I'm going to kill" line? If nothing else, Liza Goddard's hair'll
keep you entertained.
4 -- Warriors' Gate. Read the novel, then you'll
get it.
3 -- Time-Flight. Stupid, but entertaining
enough. Sort of.
2 -- The Mysterious Planet. I can't help it, I
have a soft spot for Robert Holmes. Besides, Tom Chadbon's in it.
1 -- Er, Warriors From The Deep. Sorry, but I
thought it was actually quite nicely written, though it did the Silurians
and Sea-Devils almost, but not quite, no justice. With more time to finish
it, and a different monster, it could have been considered half-decent. Or
maybe I'm babbling like a fool. Whatever. Everyone knows it was Thatcher's
fault anyhow.
Top Ten genuinely side-splitting moments! by Joe Ford
3/5/02
There are times in Doctor Who that make you laugh hysterically
because of a rude looking monster or a terrible piece of hammy acting but
on the flip side there are moments that leave you breathless with laughter
for intentional reasons! Here for purely pleasurable reasons is my top ten
funny bits, go check them out when you're feeling depressed (oh and The Chase!) and you'll have a chuckle.
10) Shockeye discovers Stike's leg! (The Two
Doctors)
9) All The Doctor wants to is save the world! (City
of Death)
8) Android Tegan. (Frontios)
7) The Doctor and Romana do not get on! (The Ribos
Operation)
6) They're in love I tell you! (St
This demands to be read just for the
introduction of Anji Kapoor, the most ordinarily extrodinary companion we
have seen. In short I love her, it's her astute observations that make
this such an enjoyable read (how ridiculous the TARDIS looks!). Only two
books in and you know the Doctor, Fitz and Anji team is a winner of which
we haven't seen since Doc 4, Sarah and Harry. The fact that it's a well
observed comedy, something the series desperately needed, is another
bonus. Jacqueline Rayner throws as many bizzare landscapes, characters
and situations at the reader which come as a refreshing reward after the
'caught on earth arc'. And of course the whole Fitz vs Elvis contest
reminds us why we love him so much after his much missed absence.
A joint place here, they don't deserve
individual placings in the top ten but both are early winners in the
range. Anghelides and Baxendale know their Doctor Who and don't let
their
stories get cluttered by continuity or complexity. Both are pleasantly
simple, feature a strong role for both the Doctor and Sam and both have a
satisfying conclusion. They aren't absolute masterpieces but in the end
they are both enjoyable, fun reads.
I love Justin Richards' writing style. He
fills his books with such vivid descriptions of the surroundings, the
characters and most importantly the horrifying deaths. This shows his
prose at it's peak and here begins his reign of the EDA's editorship. And
thank god! It's a wonderful story full of memorable moments such as the
Doctor's sudden appearance, his callous attitude towards the characters
deaths and many horrific moments involving a horrifying foe, fire. The
book's villan is a wondeful foe, in turns sadistic and sympathetic and the
secondary characters are wonderfully created too. The beginning of the
best run of a Doctor Who book range.
Just three scenes turn this into an utter
classic. 1) The Doctor, Fitz and Anji stripped naked and put in a cage
with several squeaky toys as pets for the 'dog people'. 2) The TARDIS
landing somewhat horrifically on top of the esteemed insect Professor
Jag. 3) Fitz's utter horror as his team in sixties Las Vegas pile into a
red London bus that flies…there are just too many hysterical
moments in this tale of mad and bad pink poodles. The Doctor, Fitz and
Anji get split up casually and show their particular strengths and
their irreconcilably different plotlines come together to make a hugely
satisfying ending. Paul Magrs is clearly a complete nutter and he takes
us for a journey through the madness of the universe and leaves a warm
fuzzy feeling in our tummys when we get out the other side.
Wow, after startling us with the
possibilties of fresh 'rad' Doctor Who, Justin Richards treats us
to marvellous 'trad' adventure curtesy of the much underated Trevor
Baxendale. It's all disgusting stuff with the gloriously thorough
description of a man turning into a wasp and several gross out wasp
attacks but it's all so well paced and exciting. Characters are pretty
one-note but they drive the plot perfectly and it all reachs a tense,
against the clock climax. This shows the more violent Doctor created
through the 'earth arc' is fully evident and against expectations, he is
a much more dashing figure and his breathless combat on top of a train is
a perfect demonstration of his talents.
Not only a top notch murder mystery but
also a fantastic experiment in first person narrative. Hopkinson and
Stratford are compelling figures and breathe further life into a story
that already has enough great twists and turns to keep you gripped. It's
great to see the same situations from two personal standpoints,
especially when Hopkinson and Stratford talk to each other. Not one
character is quite what they seem and although the books starts slowly it
soon grabs you by the neck, spilling out their secrets in the rich text.
The last third of the book is a unputdownable mix of atmospheric horror
and shocking revelations.
A superlative climax to the disapointing
Sam is Missing arc. Who would have thought Orman
and Blum could breathe
so much life into this generic character? Her guilt for leaving the
Doctor helpless and injured is palpable and the 'life' she tries to build
is similarly realistic. I utterly adored the chapter that takes the book
forward a year through Sam's life, creating a relationship, revelling in
it, getting bored with it and leaving it for someone else…it is
simply a breathtaking chapter and one of the best pieces in any Who
fiction. And lets not forget the Doctor's nightmare in the prison where
everybody is nice…it's devasting to watch him lose control as he
finds there is nobody to fight. His admission that his time there was
"Three years of nothing!" is heart wrenching.
Hitchemus is gloriously realised in print, an
alien world that I would love to visit and the perfect setting for a
brilliant morality tale of the Doctor just trying to get two warring
factions to talk to each other! Orman has such a grasp on her characters
she has the ability to shock us in a way that no other author can. Her
Doctor/Anji scenes simply crackle with tension and the tigers are
beautifully brought life as a tragic, yet viscous race. Fitz gets a
magical moment with his improvised orcestra and the Doctor here is a
fascinating figure…a vibrant, heroic lunatic who takes a step on
the wild side. It's all wound up with an unforgettable and shocking
ending.
The pinnacle of the 'Earth Arc', taking the
wonderful premise of the Doctor having a daughter whose life is in danger
and milking it for all the tension, emotion and excitement it can. I knew
it was a winner after the first two chapters, the vivid snow bound
location, the subtle character work between the Doctor, Miranda and
Debbie. Lance Parkin's prose is simply beautiful and he fills the book
with so many magical moments…the transformer attack, the gorgeous
descriptions of the tower and it's occupants bursting into rose petals,
Miranda punching her cheating boyfriend. It's the Miranda/Doctor scenes
that affect the most, her teenage angst is superbly portrayed and
instantly recognisable to anyone who has felt like an outsider. I never
thought I would find the Doctor ruthlessley kicking the shit out somone
justifiable but the Doctor's reaction to a death near the story's close
proved me wrong.
The most audicous, rewarding and breathtaking
work of Who fiction ever. There are just too many things to say,
the evocative ambiguous prose, the shocking twists, the fantasic
characters, the excellent re-appearance of an old character, the Doctor's
marriage, the scariest monsters Who has ever mustered, the
violence, the sex, the bredth of emotion. But most of all the ground
breaking act of the removal of the Doctor's second heart, an act that
proves how brave, how invested in shaking up the format, how utterly
brilliant the EDA's have become. Oh, and Sabbath and Scarlette, the two
best characters we have ever met.
10.) The Taint
9.) Autumn Mist
8.) The Slow Empire
7.) Endgame
6.) The Space Age
5.) Longest Day
4.) Beltempest
3.) The Eight Doctors
2.) Placebo Effect
1.) Escape Velocity - YUCK!
4) Land of the Dead
3) Minuet in Hell
2) Loups-Garoux
1) The Mutant Phase…bluegh!
What? I hear you say! Doctor Who wasn't
a show
that used effects to pull in its audience but the music had the ability
to conjour up alien worlds and historical realism much more impressively
than the BBC budget. As far back as The Aztecs
through The Web of Fear
past Inferno and finishing with Terror of the Zygons, The Leisure
Hive,
Mindwarp and Survival…the
show was often punctuated with stunning
musical scores. Okay every now and again Malcolm Clarke would turn up
(The Sea Devils) and Dudley Simpson would seriously
misjudge a story but
more often than not the music was ace.
I add them merely to point out how
consistent
Who baddies are. The Daleks are terrifying Nazi bred nasties who
shoot
and scream, The Cybermen want to take away your humanity, The Sontarans
want to fight their war…you see? Compare to what Star Trek does to
all their baddies, even the impressive at first Borg (let's humanise our
monsters, that'll make them more scary!). The designs were never exactly
perfect (except maybe The Destroyer and Zygons) but the ideas were
brilliant (Tractators, Silurians, Krynoid). I would take a Doctor
Who
monster over any Kazon (Pah!), Shadows (eugh!) or Narn (eeeek!) any day!
The most consistently excellent writer on
any
show ever. His scripts were always enjoyable, punctuated with wonderful
dialogue, colourful characters and genuine tension and excitement. He
wrote the cream of the crop of Who…Talons of
Weng-Chiang, Caves of
Androzani, The Ultimate Foe pt1, Carnival of Monsters and many more. Even
the Buffy writer Joss Whedon slipped up enough times to push him out of
comparison, aside from The Power of Kroll (I like
The Space Pirates!)
Holmes could do no wrong.
What a book range! What other show has carved a
niche as well as Doctor Who creating a whole universe of
excitement,
memorable worlds and engaging characters. The Virgin range was great,
gritty and dramatic and never short of surprises. The McGann books didn't
start of as well but as soon as Justin Richards took over as editor there
was a consistent run of sublime stories…surpassing any run in the
TV series. Check out The Adventuress of Henrietta
Street and Damaged
Goods for examples of how they built on the series and braved new
territories unsuitable for the show.
The best producer on the show. Period. He
knew what to deliver, strong well made stories with a good horror content
and a likable Doctor/companion team (something forgottern in later
years). In his three years he only cocked up once a year, an impressive
feat (Revenge of the Cybermen, Android Invaison, Hand of Fear)
and even
these had some strong points. Robots of Death,
Seeds of Doom, Genesis of
the Daleks…these are the things a great show is made of!
Yes those trusty fellows who popped up for a
while
to add the Doctor on his adventures. Believe or not it is the fact that
they didn't stay too long that made them so good, the show always had
fresh blood, new dynamics. Only those who were truly great stayed on for
a good while (Jamie, Sarah, Ace) and only one should have been chopped
sooner (Tegan!). People always whinge that the series would be better
without those 'dippy companions' but most of the women on the show were
quite strong characters and at least they provided something nice to look
at. Even Bonnie wasn't that bad…sorry.
I'm talking about the likes of Sutekh, Morbius, Sharaz
Jek…truly memorable bad guys that stick in your head long after the
story is over. It is often said the best part of a story is it's well
written and performed main bad guy. Go and watch Dragonfire, The Invasion
and The Mind of Evil and this is certainly true.
The ones everyone
remembers…Davros and The Master are especially good.
Doctor Who can be about anything. Look it's a
western!
Now it's a horror. Now it's a comedy about the Romans! Gosh it can even
be straight drama! One of the enduring appeals of the show is that every
four weeks or so we are switching genres and entering a whole new story
with new chracters. Not that I am knocking arc plots (we have the Davros
arc, The Master arc, blah blah) but how can a show get dull when it's
always different. Most radical examples are Black
Orchid/Earthshock and
Rememberance of the Daleks/Happiness
Patrol to name a few.
Star Trek fans gush when they get a half decent
cliffhanger (ooh, Picard is a Borg!) but we who fans get a fresh
cliffhanger every half hour! Cliffhangers are integral to the shows
success, it what keeps people watching to find out how the hell they are
going to get out of this one. Terror of the Zygons
part one, The Deadly
Assassin part three, The War Games part nine,
The Daleks part one, Trial
of a Time Lord part nine and Ghost Light part two
are good examples but there are hundreds more!
The greatest SF hero ever! He is a child at
heart
(like all of us) but he really cares about the fate of others. He can be
sweet, vastly intelligent, moody, romantic, unpredictable, alien,
violent, gentle….and any other word you choose to pick out of a
hat! Has there ever been a character with so much to offer, each actor
brought so much to the role (Hartnell was authority incarnate, Troughton
was such fun, Pertwee was likable, Baker 1 was unpredictable and clever,
Davison was pleasant and friendly, Baker 2 was the most alien of all,
McCoy manipulated but played up comedy too and McGann worked magic with
his little screen time) making him charasmatic, egotistical and just damn
wonderful. Best Doctor moment ever: The Aztecs, as he
makes the cocoa and
realises he's engaged to Cameca…and that’s in season one! No
other sci/fi character has become half as interesting as The Doctor.
The one that secured Dr Who's future and popularity and set the
format
for the rest of the series. The Dr lands on a strange alien planet,
wandres about a bit, gets attacked, befriends his aggressors and then
faces the real threat, a terrifying monster. Class.
No 'greatest hits' could disclude the second best monsters, and this is
not only the best Cyberman story but also one of the best
visualised adventures in the history of Who. And I couldn't spot
the wires!
In story terms not as good as Spearhead from Space,
but given the fact
that it does include the fully formed UNIT, Jo Grant, The Master and the
Autons, you'd have to be pretty cynical about CSO not to rate this tale.
Quite simply the second best story in the the entire run. Dr Who
lends
itself well to the world of Victoriana and Holmesesque situations, and
other than the rat, the whole thing looks fantastic.
I nearly chose The Visitation, but plumped for Caves... because it's a
genuinely scary, 'behind the sofa' tale, which is just how Dr Who
should
be. It also contains a regeneration and includes two Doctors. The
underrated Peter Davison and the unfortunate Colin Baker. There's
something nice about ending the season with the regeneration into the
Sixth Doctor. A blank canvas as opposed to the horrors that were to come!
Are you insane, I hear you cry! Seriously, Dragonfire might
not be a flawless example of what Dr Who can do but this touching
moment
actually rounds of a disappointing story (and season) in some style. After
a year of manic humour it is great to see McCoy melanchonic speech about
time... his friend is leaving him and the Doctor finally realises just how
many people have left him in a moment of quiet reflection. Mel, a
character who rarely worked on screen actually gets the highest award in
this top ten since she is the only one who leaves just because she WANTS
to (nothing to do with a lover/disease to cure, etc). What a shame they
couldn't have worked as well all year.
This really upsets me! Not only because
Troughton, Padbury and Hines had such gorgeous chemistry but because they
erase their memories so after spending all this time with these
characters they don't even remember their whacky adventures (but we do
which adds an extra layer of poignancy!). The memory wipe leave me a
little cold but it's played perfectly (like much of The
War Games episode
ten) but I can only applaud the production team for having the bravery to
make such a radical move.
Coming at the tail end of a gratuitously violent show
this
coda was not only a nice post modern touch but also necessary. Tegan,
repulsed by the death and destruction around her, says their adventures
have stopped being fun and walks out on him. It's so wonderfully
unexpected and abrupt it leaves you reeling. Tegan seemed to spend her
entire era bitching about something but this time she has a point.
Davison often worked best against Fielding (but that's not saying much)
and their performances are spot on here. His delivery of the line "You
think I wanted it this way?" is perfect.
Ahh the gorgeous Lalla Ward. If she had gotten a
five
minute "Oh Tom I can't bear to leave you!" scene I would have been
furious. Instead her quirky, unexpected decision to remain in E-Space is
the perfect ending for a quirky, unpredictable character. Shame she took
K.9. he should have blasted Adric before he went.
Dear little Nyssa. Did any companion lose as much as
Nyssa? Her father, planet, people, monkey faced friend (Adric), her
skirt... cor the list goes on. I love Nyssa, she had real edge considering
she was a naïve scientist. Another Davison companion goes out on high
(yet again in an atrocious story!) and her defiant descision to stay was
a brave one and very in character. Sarah Sutton is understandably upset
and so are we as the tears stream down her cheeks... boo hoo!
What a bold uncompromising move. Another death hits the
top
ten! JNT was a bit of sadist really, wasn't he? Shockingly good
considering most of Mindwarp is shockingly
bad... this is dramatic Who at
it's most powerful best. Wonderfully paced so we know exactly what's
coming before her death arrives... the music, the direction, the
performances all work a charm. And Colin Baker's delivery of "You killed
Peri..." still haunts me today. Of course it was all ruined at the end of
Trial of a Time Lord but I delude myself to this day
and pretend it never happened.
Although I, like most people on this Earth, wanted to see
Matthew Waterhouse burn for ruining a potentially interesting character
and embarassing us for his entire run, nobody can deny he had one hell
of a shocking exit, worthy of the greats. Earthshock
is a good story and
it all builds up that gob smacking exit. I think it is a testiment to the
imagination of Eric Saward that he can link the dinosaurs extinction, a
time travelling ship, a cyberman invasion and Adric's death but that is
why it is so high on this list. We know the dinosaurs are extinct, we
know the ship cannot be stopped and we know Adric trying to stop it is
futile... the tension that is milked from this and subesquent reactions
from Tegan and Nyssa are breath-taking. The close up on Adric seconds
before his death is very dramatic.
I have such affection for Victoris and can sympathise
totally with her descision at the close of Fury from the
Deep. This is
perhaps one of a few times that a departure is weaved into the story with
Victoria's growing unrest at the dangers they face quite palpable before
the climax. This one of those times that we can see the actors affected
by what's happening and Troughton and Hines are clearly as upset as we
are to see our most famous screamer depart.
My favourite companion! What a stunner! No The Hand of Fear is far from perfect but the ending is
utterly perfect in every
way. The dialogue is brilliant and Lis Sladen throws herself in with as
much gusto as ever. The "I'm leaving and nothing will stop me" is thrown
on it's head in the most spectacularly tragic way. "Until we meet again
Sarah Jane" sums it all up really, he knows how much he'll miss her and
will pop back and see her later. This made me weep more than my last
split with my partner!
Never beaten, Katy Manning's exit from the show was
clearly hugely affecting for the entire production team and actors and
never has such a transition been so promenent and obvious. The fact Jo
leaves The Doctor for what she says is a younger version makes it even
more poignant. Her love and care for the Time Lord is so clear and their
last chat is so understated, like they are both holding back the tears.
Jon Pertwee's plea to take her round the universe never fails to get me
blubbing and his driving off into the sunlight alone is my definitive
image of his Doctor (for once a tragic figure instead of an action hero).
Quite wonderful.
Included only to make up the ten
stories…sorry I only actually like nine Peter Davison stories! This
is a big mess but Davison as actually given a fair bit to do and
surprisingly comes up trumps in the final scenes with the four Doctors
together. Tegan is as irritatingly whingey as ever and Susan and Sarah
are made out to be a lot more pathetic than they actually are. However
for all out entertainment value you can't go far wrong with every
companion, villain, etc popping up and I still think the Cybermen
massacre is one of the best produced action set pieces the show ever
managed. Flawed nonsense: 6/10
Top dialogue: Peter Davison's best ever line…"Sorry must dash!"
Such sumptuous location work you cannot
fail
to get something from this deliciously visual tale. The Terileptils work
a treat especially their leaders final demise which is up chuckingly
gross! I love Doctor Who stories that incorporate historical events
and
this is no exception. Clever and entertaining, all the companions get
something to do and Nyssa is just the best when she takes on the android.
Michael Robbins provides one of the most memorable characters of the era,
I only wish we could have met him again: 8/10
Top dialogue: "Today I met Death in a cellar but I've never been more
terrified when I was under the man with the scythe."
I include this for purely visceral reasons,
this is one of the most glossy and best directed shows ever. The location
work in Lanzarote is amazing and a far cry from the quarries of old. It's
worth watching this story for it's breezy first episode alone. Nicola
Bryant makes an instant impression as the exuberant Peri and as bad as he
was Turlough gets a good, emotional exit. Ainley's Master is so
hysterically bad at this point you can't fail to love every scene he's
in! The music is good too. Oh and every gets their kit off so it can't be
all that bad can it?: 8/10
Top dialogue: "You will be cremated…alive!" Such classic
delivery…could Ainley get anymore OTT?
It's the one where Adric dies. Enough said:
8/10!....No I'm just kidding…it's a well paced, simple story
with
some effective chills and dramatic moments. What a shame the Doctor
doesn't let Tegan die when the Cyberman goes for her! Nyssa is serverely
underused but as violent as ever takes out a few Cybermen! I love her!
Davison gets some superb material when confronting the Cyberleader and
really has there ever been an ending in Doctor Who that provoked so
much emotion (The Green Death perhaps)? Exciting and
entertaining, they should have ended the season here.
Top dialogue: Tegan: "I'm just a mouth on legs." You said it, love.
A superb introduction, where did it all go
wrong?
Fiona Cumming directs this poetic adventure with a perfect touch (I
actually think the rare occasions the show was directed by a woman it was
absolutely stunning). It was important to establish the Tegan/Nyssa
relationship and I don't think any story topped this one, they are
wonderful together and it is a shame they weren't used like this in later
stories. The location work is terrific and well matched for this type of
lyrical story and all the complications when they reach Castrovalva are
superbly brought to life. Peter Davison is good and gets a cracking last
line: 8/10
Top dialogue: "Whoever I feel like…it's absolutely splendid!"
Whoa! Who said Davison couldn't act? He
bursts into
life in this story and after finishing it I was quite overwhelmed! Loads
of Nyssa too which is definitely a bonus! The dream at the beginning, the
crystal ball shattering and the snake skull replacing Tegan's head are
three of the most disturbing Doctor Who moments and full credit to
Fiona
Cumming for pulling of a studio bound story with such style (note her
three stories reach the top ten). Top marks for making Tegan interesting
and putting Martin Clunes in that outrageous costume, he never regretted
that! I love the complexities of this story and how Chris Bailey gave us
another story after his hideously overated pile of horse crap that is
Kinda: 9/10
Top dialogue: "The fifth face of dellusion is the wearers own, that
was probably the idea don't you think?"
Another Fiona Cumming directed
masterpiece. I
have never been more amazed with the effects than with the floating ships
in space, it still impresses me today. Add in some superb acting and good
hearty music you have a (production wise) triumph. This is still my
favourite Tegan story, she seems almost subdued and actually has
something to contribute to the story with her 'love' story with Marriner.
Striker is quite fascinating as are most of the highly imaginative ideas
in this story. Once again Davison does little more than charge up and
down corridors but at least they're pretty corridors this time round. And
to be honest I can't think of anything more entertaining than Lynda
Baron's cackle: 9/10
Top dialogue: "Parasites! That's what Eternals are!"
Horror of horrors…not at
number
one!!! Yes this is almost flawless…I can even handle the Dragon in
some darker shots. The last epsiode is still one of the best ever, a
frantic, breathless race against time climax…The Doctor and Peri
are a highly engaging team who light up the screen whenever they appear.
Sharaz Jek gets the number one spot for most dynamic, interesting and
sympathetic villain and is carried off with great aplomb by Chris Gable.
None of the minor characters are wasted, the music is fab, Holmes
delivers one hell of a storyline and it introduces my favourite Doctor
ever. My only problem is, and it's quite a large one (like Shadow of the
Scourge recently) it positively revels in it's 'aren't I great'
atmosphere and this is the only reason it doesn't hit number
one…the following two stories just aren't quite so
smug…9/10
Top dialogue: "Now if we could just sit down and talk about this
sensibly…" The only time fey Davison's friendly-moralising actually
made SENSE!
What? I hear you scream! This AFTER Caves of Androzani? Are you a nutter? Well, yes probably
but I do know my Doctor
Who and this two parter is an absolute gem. It has so much in its
favour…the first purely historical since The
Highlanders which is easily my favourite Dr Who genre, loads of
Sarah Sutton in her twin roles
which simply blows away the double Tegans, stellar production values
including great location work, a simple yet compelling plot (which is a
GODSEND!), outstanding performances, the wonderful ball scenes, the
agatha christie style musical score, the TARDIS crew spending an ENTIRE
episode doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying themselves (it was so
about time they did that!). And the fact that it hides away between The Visitation and Earthshock and
pretends that it's just a silly interlude
is what makes it so perfect. If only there was more of these type of
stories, gentle, pleasant, human examples of Doctor Who at its
experimental best: 9.5/10
Top dialogue: "Is that dancing?"….I think this is more a comment
on
Janet Fielding's Charlston than anything else.
Oh come on it's G-R-E-A-T!!! It is a little glimpse
of
what we would have got had Bidmead script edited the era and it's truly
magical. The great man manages to take the fifth Doctor, Tegan and
Turlough (one of my least favourite ensembles) and makes them WORK! I
love the story, superlatively imaginative and dark with a compelling
human side that the show often forgets. It's wonderfully atmospheric with
some gorgeous sets (the hull of the ship is breath-taking) and a
brilliant musical score. The dialogue sparkles, every line counts and
adds a new dimension to the story. Peter Davison gives a most commanding
performance, worthy of the greats, he is a far cry from the wet vet we
are used and makes me wonder how great he could have been had Bidmead
written all his scripts. The Tractators aren't the best designed monsters
ever but the ideas are just so nasty…scenes of characters being
sucked under the Earth are terrifying and the driving machine has to be
seen. All this and the marvellous Lesley Dunlop, one of my favourite
actresses…:9.5/10
What if Vicki wanted a pet to replace her precious "Sandy." The Larvae Gun
could have been the organic K-9, blasting away at evildoers with its nose.
It certainly might have had an interesting stand-off with the Daleks in The Chase... but then Ian wouldn't have been able to
have his protracted sword fight with the infidels in The
Crusades.
My aplogies, but a portion of one episode, no matter how long it was, does
not a companion make. The true potential of this character would have been
revealed in watching how a cracking good space agent from the future could
have handled the streets of Paris in The Massacre or
the feeble War Machines. She could have been the
original Aeryn Sun ... and just like Aeryn, she could have come back from
the dead. How would she have softened? What would she have been like when
the fate of the universe wasn't at stake? Opportunity wasted. We could
have watched her throttle a Monoid!
Now, we know the dolls in the Toymaker's keeping were once people ... and
Cyril certainly proved to be extremely cunning. Perhaps he survived his
final game and snuck aboard the TARDIS. He would have been the pre-Turlough,
an untrustworthy, cutthroat companion (with a much better reason for
continuing to wear a school boy outfit for multiple seasons ... Hey, Vislor,
there is a closet, you know. They do have pants that fit. Or, the Doc can
drop you at The Gap.). His tumultuous moods would have produced great
reactions from the equally irritable and selfish First Doctor.
Okay, I wouldn't choose Kirsty over Jamie in reality, but this could have
been interesting. More fiesty than Anne Chaplet from The
Massacre (who had been under consideration), but sexier than Polly.
Listen to the audio -- what a great voice Hannah Gordon had! Something
tells me Miss Kirsty would have had a bit more difficulty embracing the
concept of The Moonbase one adventure removed from
the Jacobite rebellion, and that would have made an interesting dynamic...
a companion who didn't get it right off the bat -- Katrina excluded.
Methinks Ben would've hung around a bit longer with this lassie as a
shipmate. He and Polly were no Ian and Barbara.
Okay, why did this guy stay behind on Dulcis? He hated his society and
longed for adventure... I'm not so sure he'd have let the Doctor out of
his sight with a chance to get off that planet. Besides, it would have
been quite a thing to see an out-of-shape companion... and he could have
traded up his frilly dress for one of the leather/rubber numbers left over
from The Enemy of the World and stayed on with UNIT
during The Invasion. Given the rigorous physical
traning UNIT men seem to have had to go through, Cully would have died
just fine.
Now here's someone who could have given the Doctor a run his money. You
know she would have gone right to work fixing the chamelion circuit her
first day on the TARDIS. A brain and a bad attitude ... move over Zoe.
That pony tail alone would have been deadly in a fight. Not so easy to
throw back into the web of time after the War Games,
either. She may have been allowed to stay on Gallifrey to be recruited by
the CIA.
Ah, the Americans finally get a chance to do something other than marvel at
"New Yak" city (Morton Dill), sing in Western saloons or blow up the world
to save their sons... and we get, Bill Filer, Man of Wood. I'd have liked
to see him tag along just long enough to get sucked out an airlock on the
way to the bathroom in Colony in Space.
I don't care what you say, this would have been cool. The first REAL alien
companion ... and he would have been great. Planet of
the Daleks would have been one episode long because he would have
stolled in and taken the Daleks on single-handedly. No need to crawl
through the ducts and avoid killer slushies. He would have gone down in a
blaze of glory, but he wouldn't have been alone ... and we would have been
spared us five more episodes of Thal angst. Eat your heart out, Absalom
Daak.
I read a review where someone suggested this ... and it was brilliant. We
could have had witty robotic responses without fear of uneven surfaces. And,
when the Doctor was cheating at chess, D-85 could have thrown a hand at him.
K-9 was fine, but this would have been interesting, too.
Evelyn Smythe's twin sister. This would have been fantastic. The Fourth Doc
would have been completely irritated with an aged companion and she would
have been useful in the extreme... dragging Count Grendel outside by the
ear, helping the Shadow repair the runs in his face hose, asking if they
could hire a Swampie to do be the TARDIS cabana boy, playing canasta with
Mentalis... and stopping every 45 minutes for tea and a lie down. Tom would
have been beside himself... and you know that would have been awesome.
Another recent suggestion from a review. Beautiful idea. He would have come
in much handier in just about every situation than calculator boy. Slaying
vampires, beating up lazy slavers, driving exploration suits (Jeez, Adric
couldn't even drive!), punching plasmatons ... and it's pretty certain he
would have lived long enough to appreciate Nyssa taking her kit off. Wrong
sibling ... wrong sibling!
With her aboard, Tegan could have left and the cracking sexual tension
between Turlough and she would have continued on. She could have been
there to be a big sis to Peri... and, standing next to Colin in her outfit
from The Five Doctors make the coat look even better.
SHE COULD HAVE SAVED SEASON 22 AND THE SHOW!... Okay, my medication is
wearing off, now. Joke's over. Yuck!
Listen to it... you'll want to see it happen. No one ever had this much
chemistry with the 6th Doc... not even Evelyn. And, guaranteed... no
carrot juice. She likes 'er a man with some meat on 'is bones.
A recent re-watching reminded me of how funny this Robert
Holmes script is but this moment is truly priceless. John Stratton
delivers his dialogue with such a dry wit ("Group Marshal Stike destroyed
himself..and his ship…I found this") and then he holds up the one
intact Sontaran leg he has dicovered! This made even funnier because it's
absolutely gross and after Stike's macho posturing to end up like this is
just so….degrading! Very funny.
A sparkling script that prompts Tom Baker's greatest
performance in the series. This comes right near the end of the story
when the evil Scaroth's plan is revealed and all the Doctor wants to do
is reach the art gallery to retreive the TARDIS and stop him. But
traversing the busy streets of Paris prove difficult so they try to call
a taxi! All this desperation leads to Tom Baker exclaiming in frustration
"Is no-one intersted in history!"
Included simply because it uses Tegan in such an ingenious
way! Finally somebody notices how one-dimensional and moany she is and
decides to rip the piss out of her. What makes me crease up is the look
on Tegan's face after the Doc says shes great at word processing. She
looks as though she's about to explode! Genius!
A fabulous story with a brill introduction of Romana. Tom Baker and
Mary Tamm send sparks flying around the console room with their initial
scenes together. Particularly funny are…"I'm only 746" "749" "Well I
ought to know my own age!" and especially "Do you know before I met you I
was even willing to be impressed!" "Indeed?" (Tom Baker's face in that
last one is just priceless!). There are so many funny bits here it’s
a shame to pick but also tummy tickling is the "It's either Romana or
Fred!" "Alright call me Fred!" "Good! Come along Romana!" scene.