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 Doctor Who: Calum's ranking of every NuWho episode, 12 series, 165 episodes, 140 stories |
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 Mar 23 2020, 08:02 PM
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#21
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 nabad
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Joined: 13 February 2013 Posts: 28,348 User: 18,316 
          
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134
Praxeus Series 12, Episode 6 Written by: Pete McTighe & Chris Chibnall  Another episode with so much promise, only to fall completely flat barely ten minutes in. Pete McTighe's second outing for Doctor Who after his warmly-received debut in Series 11 with Kerblam!, Praxeus didn't quite manage to live up to expectations. I don't know if any of this is down to the fact that the episode came directly after the biggest moment of the series - Fugitive of the Judoon - too. Given the episode made no reference to the events of the previous episode, didn't explore how the Doctor now feels as a result, or anything else along those lines, it's not difficult to see why fans were a little annoyed. The episode itself though has an interesting premise. People are dropping like flies with the spread of an unknown infection - Praxeus - until a group of scientists are able to provide some more concrete answers within the last 10/15 minutes of the episode. I think one of the biggest flaws with the episode is that it has so many ideas jam-packed into it, that none of them are really explored as fully as they could be, and it results in a messy episode with no time to resolve the main plot. We're left with a less-than-adequate explanation for everything that's happened, plot-holes galore, and a 'villain' that's not worth mentioning in the end. Even with some of its characters, it's difficult to establish just what their relationships are with one another. Until they acted in a romantic way (or even up until they kissed), I wasn't 100% sure if Jake and Adam were indeed a couple. Putting the frustrations aside though, it was good to have some LGBTQ+ representation in Doctor Who once again, and from two actors that I'd have least expected. Overall, with a truly terrifying infection that could have been brilliant had it been explored better and explained better in the end, as well as some great guest characters that should have been utilised better, this episode fails to meet the high standards set by the episode that came before it. Pete McTighe has a lot of work to do to get back to the brilliance of Kerblam! if he's returning for Series 13. STATISTICS Episodes remaining by: Era Russell T Davies 46/47 Steven Moffat 71/74 Chris Chibnall 16/19 Doctor 9 10/10 10 36/37 11 38/39 12 33/35 13 16/19 Series 1 10/10 2 9/10 3 10/10 4 10/10 5 10/10 6 11/11 7 13/13 8 10/11 9 8/9 10 11/11 11 8/10 12 7/8 Specials 17/18 |
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Mar 24 2020, 07:58 PM
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#22
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nabad
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 13 February 2013 Posts: 28,348 User: 18,316
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133
Love & Monsters Series 2, Episode 10 Written by: Russell T Davies  The fact that this episode hasn't finished in the bottom five speaks some volume about the quality of some episodes we've been treated to since the last time I tried to form any sort of list. Love & Monsters is generally received as one of the weakest links of not just Series 2, but NuWho in its entirety. With its focus on a group of people who call themselves L.I.N.D.A, led by Victor Kennedy, hunting down the Doctor and his associate (in this case, Rose), the story ends up following Elton Pope for the most part and his journey through Rose's life. He involves himself in Jackie Tyler's life by becoming romantically involved with her to some extent, which makes for some comedic viewing. The opening sequence of the episode though, is quite probably one of the funniest in the show. We follow the Doctor and Rose being chased and chasing a Hoix. Elton looks on in disbelief, and the whole thing is just so well done, but sets the tone for a filler episode like this perfectly. The silliness only increases as the episode goes by though, with the enemy - Peter Kay's Victor Kennedy - turning out to be the Abzorbaloff - a monster, that when it touches you, absorbs you into its body and leaves your face peeking out of whatever part of its body. I guess we shouldn't have been expecting too much with the Abzorbaloff, considering the whole idea for it was conceived by the winner of a Blue Peter competition, tasked with designing a new monster that would feature in Doctor Who. I'd probably be proud myself if my creation ended up in the show, but maybe less-so seeing it being slated left, right and centre by Doctor Who fans all over the world in an episode that has come to mean so little in the history of the show. Jackie is one of the reasons that the episode doesn't completely fall to pieces - her back-to-Earth personality giving us some of the relatability that we look for when we come back to the companions' home turf. But, one of the biggest reasons the episode misses the mark completely is in its final moments when it's revealed that Ursula, Elton's love interest, survived being absorbed by the Abzorbaloff, and is now a permanent fixture in a slab from the ground. They even take things one step further and announce to an unsuspecting audience that they have a sex life, and they manage to make things work. We did not need to know ANY of that... Some things are better left unsaid. Overall, while the episode does manage to create some great moments, and still manages to make itself standard Doctor Who trope, there are far too many elements where it falters and strays too far from being the Doctor Who we've come to know and love. STATISTICS Episodes remaining by: Era Russell T Davies 45/47 Steven Moffat 71/74 Chris Chibnall 16/19 Doctor 9 10/10 10 35/37 11 38/39 12 33/35 13 16/19 Series 1 10/10 2 8/10 3 10/10 4 10/10 5 10/10 6 11/11 7 13/13 8 10/11 9 8/9 10 11/11 11 8/10 12 7/8 Specials 17/18 |
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Mar 26 2020, 08:06 PM
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#23
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 3 January 2017
Posts: 10,137 User: 23,961
   
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No mention of ELO? For fans of ELO like myself,'Love And Monsters' stands out as featuring not one,not two,but three songs by them.
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Mar 26 2020, 08:08 PM
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#24
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 you never forget your first time...
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Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 121,537 User: 13,530            
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It Takes You Away is cute and is WAY too low!!
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Mar 26 2020, 08:33 PM
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#25
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 26 February 2007
Posts: 14,277 User: 3,002
 
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I know It Takes You Away was quite well praised when it was shown... I just found it so dull! especially the bits in the interzone bit(Or whatever it was called).
My biggest issue with the current Who is the high rate of dull stories, poorly paced or with just mass loads of exposition |
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Mar 26 2020, 08:36 PM
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#26
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nabad
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 13 February 2013 Posts: 28,348 User: 18,316
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QUOTE(ElectroBoy @ Mar 26 2020, 08:33 PM)  I know It Takes You Away was quite well praised when it was shown... I just found it so dull! especially the bits in the interzone bit(Or whatever it was called). My biggest issue with the current Who is the high rate of dull stories, poorly paced or with just mass loads of exposition Completely agree re. It Takes You Away. On repeated viewings it just isn't great  Poor pacing and exposition is definitely a greater issue in the Chibnall era so far than in RTD and Moffat's eras - purely because they were able to counter what made the quality of episodes suffer with pure entertainment and other things that Doctor Who fans want to see. Chibnall just doesn't seem to be able to grasp that. |
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Mar 26 2020, 08:37 PM
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#27
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 26 February 2007
Posts: 14,277 User: 3,002
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QUOTE(Calum @ Mar 26 2020, 08:36 PM) Completely agree re. It Takes You Away. On repeated viewings it just isn't great Poor pacing and exposition is definitely a greater issue in the Chibnall era so far than in RTD and Moffat's eras - purely because they were able to counter what made the quality of episodes suffer with pure entertainment and other things that Doctor Who fans want to see. Chibnall just doesn't seem to be able to grasp that. Yeah its a weird situation for the show to be in really - its seems to have lost its fun factor (for me at least). |
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Mar 26 2020, 08:39 PM
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#28
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 26 February 2007
Posts: 14,277 User: 3,002
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QUOTE(Calum @ Mar 21 2020, 02:51 PM) Oooh I'd look forward to that if you were to do that, would love to see how closely (or far apart) our tastes are!! Well i'm up to Warriors' Gate now - but I think if I did do it, it would probably a while off as there are alot of Doctors to go... saying that I've broken the camel's back of 6 parters etc - so maybe in a few months  Will give me time to re-appraise the awful final of the last season 
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Mar 26 2020, 08:56 PM
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#29
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nabad
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 13 February 2013 Posts: 28,348 User: 18,316
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132
The Woman Who Lived Series 9, Episode 6 Written by: Catherine Tregenna  If ever there was no need for a continuation of a story to make up the episode count in a series, it's here. The Woman Who Lived builds on the story of Ashildr, the young girl from the previous episode The Girl Who Died whom the Doctor made immortal in order to save her, and the pain she's endured in the many, many years she's lived since becoming the titular 'woman who lived'. Despite continuing Ashildr's story in a unique way, and allowing the audience an insight into just how painful and destructive being immortal could be - the episode fails to give us many entertaining moments, and at the same time also fails to pack a classic, or even bog-standard, Doctor Who punch. Certainly for the first half of series 9, we're given the impression that each set of two episodes are linked in some way. It worked in the traditional two-part story sense for The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar, and Toby Whithouse succeeded with Under the Lake and Before the Flood with the latter acting as a prequel of sorts. Here, however, the story becomes muddled and with little sense of direction. I'm left wondering after it all whether we could have had a special mini episode, or even a 5-minute prequel, to let us see more of Ashildr and what happened to her after the Doctor left her to live her life. I guess exploring the consequences of the Doctor's actions, and how him thinking that he's giving someone the greatest gift they could ever ask for, is the complete opposite to what Ashildr believes is an interesting concept for the show, but the former Torchwood writer Catherine Tregenna doesn't quite hit the nail on the head here. The 'monster of the week' here is so poor too, ending up being a mere puppet and sidekick that Ashildr has to tame once in a while, until it turns into an all-out war between lion-kind and humans for all of ten seconds towards the end of the episode. There are a lot of simple and interesting ideas throughout the episode, but the script just doesn't elevate things and make them entertaining for the viewer. There are some pretty dark moments in the episode too that I don't feel we really needed to touch on either (see: when we find out how many children Ashildr has had, and the bleak scenes that follow). Overall, this is an episode that could have worked but didn't really pack the emotional punch that made me warm to Ashildr as a character any more, or care for her in the way that Moffat clearly intended given she also returned for Series 9's final few episodes too. STATISTICS Episodes remaining by: Era Russell T Davies 45/47 Steven Moffat 70/74 Chris Chibnall 16/19 Doctor 9 10/10 10 35/37 11 38/39 12 32/35 13 16/19 Series 1 10/10 2 8/10 3 10/10 4 10/10 5 10/10 6 11/11 7 13/13 8 10/11 9 7/9 10 11/11 11 8/10 12 7/8 Specials 17/18 |
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Mar 26 2020, 08:59 PM
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#30
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 26 February 2007
Posts: 14,277 User: 3,002
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My feelings of Ashildr have mellowed quite alot over the years. I really enjoy the Girl Who Died now. The Woman Who Lived isn't quite as good, but I think there is some good stuff in there.
There's certainly some duffers which should've gone before it 
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Mar 26 2020, 09:04 PM
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#31
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 ❤️❤️➕🟦
Joined: 3 June 2012
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The Woman Who Lived is so dull! It could have worked really well had it have been a character you actually cared about. Whilst Ashildr was great in The Girl Who Died, it was a bit odd to suddenly focus an episode on her. Also, I guess The Girl Who Waited had sort of already touched on some of the issues raised in that one, although on a different level.
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Mar 26 2020, 09:21 PM
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#32
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you never forget your first time...
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Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 121,537 User: 13,530
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I agree, The Woman Who Lived is reaaaaaaaaaally dull. So little happens in it. Not a fave. I feel like most of the topics it covered could have been covered in one conversation in Face the Raven instead????
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Mar 26 2020, 09:22 PM
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#33
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nabad
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 13 February 2013 Posts: 28,348 User: 18,316
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131
Arachnids in the UK Series 11, Episode 4 Written by: Chris Chibnall  Unrelated: starting to realise that most pictures I'm able to source on Google from the 13th Doctor's era are of her and all three companions looking up at something in fear / hope - there's never any promo pics that can adequately sum up an episode in a picture; something that's so great about the RTD and Moffat eras. Anyway, on Arachnids in the UK - this episode was great for a lot of reasons, but it also had a lot of reasons to finish as low as it has here. Let's start with the positives: Yaz and her family. The episode finally began to gave us some insight into Yaz, what made her tick, who she was, who her family were. Chibnall tried to deliver it all in an RTD-type way, having a completely ordinary family with ordinary lives and ordinary jobs, living in a block of flats, etc. Tried and tested should work, but honestly after this episode it feels like we still don't know a great deal about the family, and we don't exactly get many more episodes like this to keep drip-feeding us. Despite that, it's great to finally have some back-story to the crowded team of companions. As well as that, the monsters in this episode actually genuinely terrified me. The spiders were very well done, and their initial appearance in the hotel and their eventual outbreak into wider-Sheffield was great. The bathtub scene in the hotel was incredible, as was the scene where the Doctor and co. nipped round to check on someone that hadn't turned up to work (of course the two are related, right!?). Moving onto the negative aspects of this episode... A lot of it was too on the nose. Jack Robertson - Chibnall's attempt at creating a character mirroring Donald Trump - didn't go down very well. Fans didn't like it. I didn't like it. Chris Noth is a great actor, but you've got to wonder whether some actors are so desperate to appear in Doctor Who to be able to say they've done it that they won't turn their nose up at seriously sub-par characters and scripts. The pollution message is something Chibnall has been driving seriously hard in several episodes throughout his era now, and Arachnids in the UK was no exception. Making us believe that large corporations polluting large areas of land with trash will lead to an outbreak of deadly spiders, while scary, is just... a bit too naff. Then we have the moment where the solution to the episode's worries are found. In order to stop the spiders in their tracks, we have to contain them in a small space. While inventive, the best way to do that is to make them dance to the beat of Stormzy. While a comical episode in the sense that it's something you could imagine RTD doing too, it just adds to the silly nature of the episode and doesn't really seem like a great way to make us think 'wow, this brand new Doctor has so many tricks up her sleeve, how smart of her'. STATISTICS Episodes remaining by: Era Russell T Davies 45/47 Steven Moffat 70/74 Chris Chibnall 15/19 Doctor 9 10/10 10 35/37 11 38/39 12 32/35 13 15/19 Series 1 10/10 2 8/10 3 10/10 4 10/10 5 10/10 6 11/11 7 13/13 8 10/11 9 7/9 10 11/11 11 7/10 12 7/8 Specials 17/18 |
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Mar 26 2020, 09:25 PM
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#34
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you never forget your first time...
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 121,537 User: 13,530
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I enjoyed Arachnids on first watch, but god, the plotholes only get bigger the more you think about it. WHAT ABOUT THE SPIDERS OUTSIDE THE HOTEL?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?
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Mar 26 2020, 09:27 PM
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#35
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 26 February 2007
Posts: 14,277 User: 3,002
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Arachnids - dull, dull, dull
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Mar 26 2020, 09:27 PM
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#36
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❤️❤️➕🟦
Joined: 3 June 2012
Posts: 22,246 User: 17,160
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omg yes, the lack of actual promo pics for each episode for 13s era makes me sad. All we have are screen grabs
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Mar 26 2020, 10:02 PM
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#37
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nabad
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 13 February 2013 Posts: 28,348 User: 18,316
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130
Orphan 55 Series 12, Episode 3 Written by: Ed Hime  Although Orphan 55 hasn't exactly finished high up on the list, I really don't think it's as bad as most fans will say it is. The premise it presents to us on the surface and in all synopses - of the Doctor and fam going on an all-inclusive holiday - is rather cheap, but when we get down to business and find out where the episode is actually set, and the plot moves forward a bit, it's honestly a, still very basic, but enjoyable episode of Doctor Who. It is very on the nose with its message in that it really hams the fact that we have a responsibility now to make positive changes to Earth, or this is one of the potential futures we face. I honestly don't mind it though. Yes, there are subtler ways to go about bringing a subject like this into Doctor Who, but I thought it was entertaining enough and Ed Hime did a decent job at scripting a whole episode around it so it wasn't the driving force behind the whole thing; more a really sharp bookend. Obviously the episode isn't without flaw. There are a few things that happen (or rather don't happen) that take away from the episode's high points. We end up with a very crowded guest cast in this episode (something that's becoming a major problem in Chibnall's era considering we already have three companions fighting for air-time), and not all of them are given time to shine. We have some cute moments with Ryan when he befriends a terrorist who just wants some motherly loving, we have Hyph3n who could quite easily have been lifted straight from an RTD episode, and we also have the iconic and meme-able Vilma who spends almost all of the episode pining after her missing husband BENNI (only for him to be killed the moment we start to hear the end of her oxygen-wasting panting). Personally, the reveal that Orphan 55 was in fact Earth came as a surprise to me and did deliver that halfway twist where things kicked up a gear. Part of me doesn't see how people could have come to that conclusion before the reveal, unless they'd read spoilers. Either that or I just wasn't paying enough attention to any clues scattered throughout. All in all, this is an average episode that's not nearly as bad as some will have you believe, and while the Dregs aren't exactly the highest-budget monsters we've had in the show, I thought their presence was really quite creepy and commanding... until we stepped outside and saw them in full. My hopes and dreams were shattered in this episode when it hit me that we weren't going to be seeing the return of the Hoix from Love & Monsters, lmao! STATISTICS Episodes remaining by: Era Russell T Davies 45/47 Steven Moffat 70/74 Chris Chibnall 14/19 Doctor 9 10/10 10 35/37 11 38/39 12 32/35 13 14/19 Series 1 10/10 2 8/10 3 10/10 4 10/10 5 10/10 6 11/11 7 13/13 8 10/11 9 7/9 10 11/11 11 7/10 12 6/8 Specials 17/18 |
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Mar 26 2020, 10:04 PM
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#38
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❤️❤️➕🟦
Joined: 3 June 2012
Posts: 22,246 User: 17,160
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Benni? BENNI? BEENNNNIIIII
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Mar 26 2020, 10:12 PM
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#39
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 The owls are not what they seem
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Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,104 User: 9,232
    
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I feel even that's too high for Orphan-55. I don't normally go with the hyperbole directed at this era, but I can definitely see why some are calling that the worst ever episode. It just gets everything wrong, too rushed, too preachy, too crowded, BENNI, the list goes on! The monsters looked OK I guess.
Can't say I like anything much so far so good start! (It's stunning what a non-entity Maisie Williams' character turned out to be (to the point, I can't remember her name off the top of my head even though it's been posted in this very thread), I remember NOTHING about that whole plotline/her whole significance :')) |
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Mar 26 2020, 10:15 PM
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#40
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❤️❤️➕🟦
Joined: 3 June 2012
Posts: 22,246 User: 17,160
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omg its Me
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