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Doctor Who : episode guide

[The Daleks]

[Dalek 2005]
The Doctor's generations


1963-1966
(134 episodes)

[William Hartnell]
1st Doctor : William Hartnell

Rating: 1
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4


1966-1969
(119 episodes)

[Patrick Troughton]
2nd Doctor : Patrick Troughton

Rating: 1
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 4 ctd

Season 5

Season 6

[iconic shot of Cybermen in London, from "The Invasion"]


1970-1974
(128 episodes)

[Jon Pertwee]
3rd Doctor : Jon Pertwee

Rating: 2
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 7

Season 8

["Chap with the wings there. Five rounds rapid"]

Season 9

I was never very clear on exactly why Earth suffered an alien invasion, megalomaniacal genius or dehibernating intelligent dinosaur attack every four to six weeks in the 70s, but not before or since. Perhaps UNIT has merged with the Men in Black.

-- Niall McAuley, rec.arts.sf.written, May 2001

Season 10

[Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, suffering mind control in "Planet of the Spiders"]

Season 11


1974-1981
(172+6 episodes)

[Tom Baker]
4th Doctor : Tom Baker

Rating: 3
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 12

Season 13

[Sarah Jane exits in "The Hand of Fear"]

Season 14

Season 15

Rating: 4
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 16

Season 17

Season 18


1982-1984
(72+1 episodes)

[Peter Davdison]
5th Doctor : Peter Davdison

Rating: 4
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 19

Season 20

[four of the five]

20th Anniversay Special

Season 21


1984-1986
(31 episodes)

[Colin Baker]
6th Doctor : Colin Baker

Rating: 5
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

Season 21 ctd

Season 22

Season 23


1987-1989
(42 episodes)

[Sylvester McCoy]
7th Doctor : Sylvester McCoy

Rating: 3
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

With the introduction of Ace and decent scripts, the later McCoy episodes were even beginning to be worth watching again (in particular, Remembrance of the Daleks, Silver Nemesis and Battlefield) just as the *!#$* BBC quietly dropped the series!

Season 24

Season 25

Season 26


1989-1996

 

First Interregnum

       With regard to the recent letters about a change of sex for Doctor Who, with Beryl Reid in the starring role ... Imagine the scene: Beryl appears as the Doctor, accompanied by her young male fellow traveller. Enter a third performer, a male actor in his early 40s; Michael Elphick, perhaps.
       Elphick stares at Reid, open-mouthed. Finally he speaks: 'Grandfather?'
       Reid gazes back at him, her face warming into a smile of vague recognition. 'Good heavens! Is it really you... Susan?'
       As the fifth Doctor would have said, I think not!

-- David Muir, Kirkell, Orkney
Radio Times Letters, February 1990


1996

[Paul McGann]
8th Doctor : Paul McGann

Rating: 3
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]


1996-2005

[Rowan Atkinson]
Second Interregnum


2005
(13 episodes)

[Christopher Eccleston]
9th Doctor : Christopher Eccleston

Rating: 2
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

New Season 1

  1. 26 March 2005 • Rose
  2. 2 April 2005 • The End of the World
  3. 9 April 2005 • The Unquiet Dead
  4. 16 April 2005 • Aliens in London, part I
  5. 23 April 2005 • World War Three, part II
  6. [Billie Piper as Rose Tyler as Bad Wolf]30 April 2005 • Dalek
  7. 7 May 2005 • The Long Game
  8. 14 May 2005 • Father's Day
  9. 21 May 2005 • The Empty Child, part I
  10. 28 May 2005 • The Doctor Dances, part II
  11. 4 June 2005 • Boom Town
  12. 11 June 2005 • Bad Wolf, part I
  13. 18 June 2005 • The Parting of the Ways, part II
[Dalek 2005]

Season review: He's Back. And it's About Time

[new Doctor Who logo]

A marvellous return after so many years away! Doctor Who has been updated for the 21st Century, with more jokes, faster glitzier action, and bling daleks, yet it remains true to the spirit of the show, and brings out the moral ambiguity surrounding the Doctor and his actions very well. There were moans early on in the run about the single-episode stories, and lack of cliff-hangers, but it gradually became clear that the entire season is one long intertwined story, as events in earlier episodes have consequences in later ones.

The BBC, in its characteristic infinite wisdom, managed to defuse the shock ending of the last episode in a premature announcement. But at least they have commissioned not only a second, but a third season (plus the obligatory Christmas specials). The full plaudits must go to Russell T. Davies and his team, who have demonstrated a deep love and respect for the format, whilst simultaneously achieving a viable updating. Keep up the good work!

reviewed 19 June 2005


2006--09
(++ episodes)

[David Tennant]
10th Doctor : David Tennant

Rating: 2
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

New Season 2

  1. 15 April 2006 • New Earth • Cat nun nurses
  2. 22 April 2006 • Tooth and Claw • Queen Victoria and the werewolf
  3. [Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, returning in "School Reunion"] 29 April 2006 • School Reunion • Sarah Jane and K9
  4. 6 May 2006 • The Girl in the Fireplace • Madame de Pompadour
  5. 13 May 2006 • Rise of the Cybermen • Alternate History Cybermen, part I
  6. 20 May 2006 • The Age of Steel • Alternate History Cybermen, part II
  7. 27 May 2006 • The Idiot's Lantern • Coronation TVs turn evil
  8. 3 June 2006 • The Impossible Planet • Trapped by a black hole ...
  9. 10 June 2006 • The Satan Pit • ... and something nasty down the pit
  10. 17 June 2006 • Love & Monsters • The Abzorbaloff uses a team of Doctor watchers
  11. 24 June 2006 • Fear Her • During the 2012 Olympics, a lonely girl draws her friends away
  12. 1 July 2006 • Army of Ghosts • The Cybermen break through to our dimension
  13. 8 July 2006 • Doomsday • Cybermen vs Daleks
[Cyberman]

Season review: Regenerated

The good work has been kept up! A new doctor, a new season, but the same quality. Again, the season itself is a long arc, building to a shattering climax, with some excellent, some moving, some funny, and some quirky episodes along the way.

School Reunion deserves special mention, with the return of Sarah Jane handled very well, raising questions never previously addressed (just what does happen to Companions when they are returned to mundania, and how do they feel about it?), and foreshadowing events in the season finale. Then Rise of the Cybermen has the terrifying metal men precision-stomping menacingly around Alternate London, "upgrading" everyone, finally breaking through to our side in Army of Ghosts, in a scene that fits the episode itself, yet with a witty little reference to the very first Tomb of the Cybermen story from 1967. It's this kind of continuity that raises the new seasons above the previous (dare I say, "original"?) ones.

The new seasons have easily survived a changing Doctor -- but will they survive a change in Companion? That remains to be seen -- but I have confidence in the vision and integrity of the new directors. Roll on the Christmas Special and season "3"!

reviewed 9 July 2006

[The Runaway Bride]

New Season 3

  1. 31 March 2007 • Smith and Jones • introducing Martha
  2. 7 April 2007 • The Shakespeare Code • Love's Labours Won
  3. 14 April 2007 • Gridlock • life in the slow lanes
  4. 21 April 2007 • Daleks in Manhattan • the Depression just got even worse ...
  5. 28 April 2007 • Evolution of the Daleks • ... a Dalek-Human hybrid find little favour with either side
  6. 5 May 2007 • The Lazarus Experiment • the Fountain of Youth ... it never helps
  7. [don't blink!] 19 May 2007 • 42 • falling into the sun in real time
  8. 26 May 2007 • Human Nature • The Doctor hides by becoming human ...
  9. 2 June 2007 • The Family of Blood • ... but the baddies find him anyway
  10. 9 June 2007 • Blink • DVD Easter Eggs save the day from the statues
  11. 16 June 2007 • Utopia • 100 trillion years in the future at the end of the Universe, and Jack's back
  12. 23 June 2007 • The Sound of Drums • The Master as PM
  13. 30 June 2007 • Last of the Time Lords • Martha saves the world

Season review: Masterful

[Martha, Doctor, Master]

A new companion, a new season -- same great stories. It is interesting that a change of Companion has resulted in more press-hysteria than the previous season's change of Doctor, but it has been managed successfully, with the now-trademark inclusion of the consequences of these events. In last season's School Reunion we saw how Companions could be devastated by losing the Doctor, now we see the long-term effect on the Doctor of losing a Companion.

The now to be expected arc running covertly through the season was again expertly done, with earlier slight references to Mr Saxon turning out to be heralding the return of the Master. (Interesting the way the portrayal of evil has changed: from hypnotic eyes and goatee beards, to singing pop songs!)

Some great episodes. The Shakespeare Code had some great one-liners, as Martha settles into her new role. I particularly liked Blink, with its clever use of the Doctor having a conversation across the years via DVD Easter Eggs (and speaking the same words in two different conversations!), and its use of classic horror tropes to get you scared of garden statues. 42, whilst action-packed, suffers that irritating cliche: in 42 minutes we'll fall into the sun, but if we get rescued in 41 minutes 59 seconds there will be no discernable problems at all. Although there is some screaming and running about, Martha is an effective Companion with a more important role than most: in the Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter she's in charge of the situation while the Doctor hides as a human ("God, you're rubbish as a human!"), and in the season finale she has to walk right round the world to save it from the Master.

Roll on season "4".

reviewed 30 June 2007

[Doctor, Astrid]

New Season 4

  1. 5 April 2008 • Parners in Crime • Donna Noble returns; the fat just walks away
  2. 12 April 2008 • The Fires of Pompeii • to warn, or not to warn?
  3. 19 April 2008 • Planet of the Ood • the secret behind the servile Ood
  4. 26 April 2008 • The Sontaran Strategem • Dr Martha Jones of UNIT calls for help against the Sontarans...
  5. 3 May 2008 • The Poison Sky • ... and the Sontarans (just) lose
  6. [Death in the Clouds, wasp cover]10 May 2008 • The Doctor's Daughter • turns out to be a soldier
  7. 17 May 2008 • The Unicorn and the Wasp • Agatha Christie investigates an alien monster
  8. 31 May 2008 • Silence in the Library • the Library has no people, but plenty of shadows...
  9. 7 June 2008 • River's Run • ... how to save the Saved, now including Donna?
  10. 14 June 2008 • Midnight • The Doctor goes on a tour bus: what could possibly go wrong?
  11. 21 June 2008 • Turn Left • what if Donna had never met the Doctor?
  12. 28 June 2008 • The Stolen Earth • the Daleks steal 27 planets...
  13. 5 July 2008 • Journey's End • ... the gang's all here
[Donna and the Doctor]

Season review: a Companion isn't just for Christmas

Yet another new companion, as Catherine Tate returns as Donna Noble from The Runaway Bride Christmas Special, and she has made the doomsayers eat their words. She has shone as an actress, and provided added depth as a "grown up" Companion, willing and able to stand up to the Doctor over some of his dodgier moral attitudes, and most definitely isn't all gooily in love with him.

There aren't really any bad episodes this season, and there are some real corkers. Each new season continues to add further complexity, depth and layers, as the actions, people, and consequences of earlier episodes come back to have more and more significance. The three episode climax is just marvellous, showing us the consequences of no Doctor, bringing in all the history (eg, when Davros meets Sarah Jane again, recalling their first meeting in Genesis of the Daleks in 1975!), and with a doubly tragic ending for the Doctor that fully brings home the tragedy of being an immortal living in a world of ephemeral beings. Superb.

There's to be a one year hiatus, broken only by a few special episodes, before the next full season. Definitely worth waiting for.

[One fact that is boggling me. Elisabeth Sladen, who I well remember in her Sarah Jane original incarnation, is now over 60. 60 used to be old. People don't age like they used to. (Or is this just me experiencing the other side of the "policemen looking younger" coin?)]

reviewed 5 July 2008

[Doctor, Who?]

New Season 4a: The Specials

  1. 11 April 2009 • Planet of the Dead -- a bus in the desert
  2. 15 November 2009 • Waters of Mars -- the beginning of the end
  3. 25 December 2009 • The End of Time part I -- the Master race
  4. 1 January 2010 • The End of Time part II -- knock four times

Season review: a Special season

[Wilf, Doctor, Master]

We don't get a proper season this year, only a handful of specials (although, truth to tell, we haven't had a proper season, one that lasts for more than 13-odd episodes, for over two decades now, but that's typical for UK TV series). However, these specials add up to a grand finale regeneration of the 10th Doctor.

The 2008 Christmas special is just a tease. It was already known beforehand that David Tennant was being replaced, so, is this it? No. But it is fun figuring out what is going on.

The four main specials leading to the regeneration start with a "Summer Holiday" romp (ameliorated with swarms of killer bugs) that ends with a prophecy of the Doctor's death: "he will knock four times". Then things steadily get darker, as the companionless Doctor seems to crack under the strain of isolation and knowing of his impending death.

As well as a farewell to David Tennant, the season is a farewell to Russell T Davies, and he wraps up the last episode with a big pink bow, as the Doctor gets his final "reward": to say goodbye to everyone from the last five years before he dies, or rather regenerates. It is a powerful journey getting there.

Here's looking forward to the new season, with new Doctor Matt Smith, new companion Karen Gillan, and new master scriptwriter Steven Moffat.

reviewed 1 January 2010


2010-??
(++ episodes)

[Matt Smith]
11th Doctor : Matt Smith

New Season 5

  1. 3 April 2010 • The Eleventh Hour • 20 minutes to save the Earth
  2. 10 April 2010 • The Beast Below • where are Spaceship UK's engines?
  3. 17 April 2010 • Victory of the Daleks • khaki Daleks in WWII London okay; Smartie Daleks in space, not okay
  4. 24 April 2010 • The Time of Angels (part I) • River Song and Weeping Angels: don't blink! ...
  5. 1 May 2010 • Flesh and Stone (part II) • ... the Angels get in Amy's head: don't look!
  6. 8 May 2010 • Vampires in Venice • Rory joins the team
  7. 15 May 2010 • Amy's Choice • the Doctor, or Rory?
  8. 22 May 2010 • The Hungry Earth (part I) • the Silurians return ...
  9. 29 May 2010 • Cold Blood (part II) • ... a chance for peaceful co-existance?
  10. 5 June 2010 • Vincent and the Doctor • Starry Night, with monsters -- "Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly? In the right order?"
  11. 12 June 2010 • The Lodger • no escape from football!
  12. 19 June 2010 • The Pandorica Opens (part I) • the universe ends ...
  13. 26 June 2010 • The Big Bang (part II) • ... "I suppose this means you and I never get born at all. Twice in my case."

Season review: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

[new Doctor Who tardis logo]

New logo, new Doctor. It took me about 10 seconds to forget David Tennant. Matt Smith is the Doctor.

Karen Gillan as Amy Pond is a great Companion, not just there as a foil, but often advancing the plot in her own right, particularly at the end of the season. Rory starts off appearing to be mere comic relief, but develops into a much more significant role.

It's not perfect. I have definitely not come to terms with the new dalek design. Now, it's not because I don't like change -- I loved the new "bling" daleks, and the khaki "Dad's Army" daleks were just weird. But these bigger, cheerfully coloured ones don't have the same solid menacing feel -- they seem more like merchandising opportunities. However, Steven Moffet is so good with messing with our minds that I fully expect to have to eat my words at some point when canary yellow becomes the new sinister.

But apart from that very minor quibble, this season is a real blast. Old friends and older enemies return, in surprising circumstances. There are massive changes of scale and pace, from universe-wide destruction to domestic scenes, from terror and trauma to comedy, without this feeling bitty. There are links into previous seasons, and non-obvious links within this season (the crack is made so obvious that it helps hide some of the other links -- I never guessed the significance of the Doctor's words to Amy in the forest of episode 5!)

Despite the fact that the universal mega-disaster is resolved (and how do you top destruction of the entire universe throughout its entire history?), the reason for the disaster happening in the first place is still a mystery. So roll on next season!

reviewed 26 June 2010

[The Doctor and the Sky Shark]

New Season 6

     Michael Grade (RT, 26 February) says of Doctor Who in 1985: "It was a crock of garbage. Now it's very good because it has a proper budget."
     A pity the then controller of BBC1 wasn't smart enough to give it more money, really.

-- Neil Stewart, Glasgow
Radio Times Letters, 5-11 March 2011

  1. 23 April 2011 • The Impossible Astronaut (part I) • There's nobody there...
  2. 30 April 2011 • Day of the Moon (part II) • ... tricking the Silence
  3. 7 May 2011 • The Curse of the Black Spot • Yo, ho, ho, said the emergency medical hologram
  4. 14 May 2011 • The Doctor's Wife • ... is probably not who you were thinking
  5. 21 May 2011 • The Rebel Flesh (part I) • your plastic pal...
  6. 28 May 2011 • The Almost People (part II) • ... who's not fun to be with
  7. 4 June 2011 • A Good Man Goes to War • the real Amy's baby is kidnapped
  8. 27 Aug 2011 • Let's Kill Hitler • the genesis of Melody Pond
  9. 3 Sept 2011 • Night Terrors • a spooky doll's house
  10. 10 Sept 2011 • The Girl Who Waited • Amy waits for rescue .... and waits ... and waits
  11. 17 Sept 2011 • The God Complex • running through hotel corridors
  12. 24 Sept 2011 • Closing Time • Craig goes shopping
  13. 1 Oct 2011 • The Wedding of River Song • in which all becomes "clear"

Season review: Rule number one -- The Doctor lies

What a corker!

A long arc which started with the Doctor being killed, and ends with the Doctor being killed in the very same scene (being a time travel show helps a lot for things like this). In between we learn quite a lot about the characters, especially River Song.

There are some cracking episodes. The highlight must be The Girl Who Waited -- with two Amys, one 36 years older than the other. Fantastic acting from Karen Gillan, and a real heartwrenching script. Other highlights include Let's Kill Hitler (which has very little Hitler in it, considering) and The Wedding of River Song. Rory has transformed from bumbling clown to plausible action hero very believably (since he's had to go through several hells to get there: "We're dead, aren't we? The lift fell and we're dead. We're dead. Again."). Non-arc episodes like The Curse of the Black Spot and Closing Time help keep the tone whiplashing around terror, comedy, pathos, and more terror, in a great way.

This season included a mid-year hiatus, accompanied by a massive mid-season revelation and cliffhanger.

And the final revelation of "the question hidden in plain sight" is sheer genius -- I never saw it coming, and yet is is just so obvious!

reviewed 1 Oct 2011