May 20, 20178 yr The Zygon two-parter was really great and is exactly the sort of Doctor Who I love. It really did capture the intense political thriller feel and it was able to tackle relevant issues really well. It felt like a much more strongly handled Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. It was a neat little twist that it was something that had happened many times before. The Angels two-parter was also brilliantly done and really taking Blink in the opposite direction by producing a big budget story rather than the more intimate Blink. It was perhaps a bit of a get out by using the crack to resolve the story but, on the other hand, I think it did well to really incorporate the long-running arch into the story and the crack added an extra tension to it, through to soldiers being completely erased. There were so many other great ideas within the episode (an image of angel becomes an angel, Amy turning into an angel, having to walk past the angels with eyes shut) that it is definitely one of my favourite stories! I do agree that Amy coming onto the Doctor at the end spoils it a bit as it is so random and out of character. Smith and Jones would be nowhere near as high for me. Nice little story but nothing special, never really warmed to the Judoon either. Amy's Choice is such a fantastic story idea. It was done really well through the transitions and the idea that its Rory vs the Doctor's world. It really encapsulated the idea of dreams feeling SO real and it ended up creating two really tense scenarios. A brilliant (if dark!) conclusion too. A brilliant Top 20 overall!! Would like to see Human Nature/Silence in the Library/School Reunion out next and The Impossible Planet to win!!
May 20, 20178 yr Ooh I'd forgotten The Waters of Mars was still to come! Amazing story! The Weeping Angels one was good, not as great as the original story though
May 21, 20178 yr Author http://a142.idata.over-blog.com/640x451/3/24/24/45/asylumofthedaleksmovieposter.jpg 20 Asylum of the Daleks Series 7, Episode 1 Doctor: Eleventh Companion: Amy Pond, Rory Williams Also starring: Oswin Oswald The Doctor and a now divorced Amy and Rory are all individually taken by the Daleks to their Parliament, and are asked to carry out a mission. Below the ship is a planet - the Dalek Asylum, where insane Daleks are sent. A ship crashed into the planet, damaging the forcefield, meaning that the insane Daleks are potentially able to escape. They ask the Doctor to help them deactivate the forcefield entirely so they can remotely destroy the planet. The Doctor agrees having spoken to a woman named Oswin, trapped in the ship that crashed for a year now, making souffles. They are given bracelets to stop them being turned into Dalek puppets by the nanogene cloud, and are beamed down to the planet. The Doctor and Amy land on the planet, with Rory landing separately and falling down a well. They meet a man, Harvey, who was also a survivor from the crashed Alaska ship. He introduces them to the crew, except they're all skeletons. Harvey activates as a Dalek puppet, as do the skeletons, and the Doctor and Amy try to escape. Amy's bracelet is stolen, leaving her susceptible to being converted to a Dalek puppet herself. Rory meanwhile landed in a room full of deactivated Daleks. He tries not to make a sound but trips and one wakes up. Oswin saves him in the nick of time and guides him, much like she guides the Doctor and Amy through the planet. Amy becomes delirious, seeing visions of people when in fact they are Daleks. The Doctor creates an explosion to save them, and they are reunited with Rory. The Doctor guesses that when they deactivate the forcefield, the Daleks will instantly destroy the planet, before they can escape. Oswin agrees to deactivate it but only if the Doctor comes to get her, which he agrees, and they can teleport back to the Parliament after. Rory is left in charge of looking after Amy, and he pours his heart out to her as they reunite. Amy reveals that the Doctor gave her his bracelet, as he didn't need it. The Doctor walks through intensive care - the Daleks that survived meeting him. When he passes them, he meets Oswin - but in a heartbreaking twist, it's revealed she's a Dalek herself, still mentally unaware of her scenario. Ultimately, how could she have got the milk for the souffle? Oswin Dalek urges the Doctor to run, and he leaves with Amy and Rory, teleporting directly into the TARDIS on the Dalek Parliament. I feel like Asylum of the Daleks is quite overlooked a lot of the time, it's not often I see it being praised among the best New Who episodes but it really is up there for me. Certainly the best Dalek episode of the Moffat era and the one where they're utilised best, even if "every Dalek ever" wasn't quite fulfilled as most old variations were barely visible in the background! The twist of including Jenna Coleman in this episode was amazing, I did a double take when watching this the first time, and when she died at the end, I was incredibly confused but of course very intrigued (shame that plotline got tedious before long). Oswin realising she was a Dalek was heartbreaking and a cruel twist, but made for excellent viewing. The Amy/Rory split felt a bit pointless considering they were back together before long, but it wasn't a hugely important part of the episode anyway I guess. I loved the idea of the Dalek Asylum and it made for some great scenes, particularly when Rory first awoke surrounded by the deactivated Daleks! A great episode to kick off a hit and miss series 7, with plenty of rewatchability, and ultimately it's ended up as the highest episode from its series.
May 21, 20178 yr Time Of Angels I liked because of the introduction of clerical soldiers, very early onset Warhammer 40k from that sort of future human stuff. And the angels were still creepy although I wish we didn't have that shot where we could see them moving, they were good in that 2-parter aside from that and from then on it was downhill for them, Angels Take Manhattan had all sorts of plot holes with them moving that took me out of the moment. Smith and Jones was great, a lovely little introduction to Martha in a fairly low-stakes episode. And I'd put Amy's Choice very high also, one of the standout episodes from Moffat's era, really enjoyed that, unusually for one of these forced reality things, it came across as very real and threatening. Asylum Of The Daleks was a similarly good mindtrip.
May 21, 20178 yr Time Of Angels I liked because of the introduction of clerical soldiers, very early onset Warhammer 40k from that sort of future human stuff. And the angels were still creepy although I wish we didn't have that shot where we could see them moving, they were good in that 2-parter aside from that and from then on it was downhill for them, Angels Take Manhattan had all sorts of plot holes with them moving that took me out of the moment.Yeah I didn't like seeing them move, from what I understood from "Blink", they were only stone when they were being observed and could only move when not being watched so seeing them move as the viewer did annoy me, it took away the most scary aspect of the Angels for me, plus the Statue of Liberty was a bit much in "Angels Take Manhattan" (although the image of an Angel = an Angel thing was good) otherwise they were good episodes. If they do come back (and I hope they do), I'd like to see no on camera movement plz thx.
May 21, 20178 yr Author http://redqueencoder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/PeteRose.jpg 19 Father’s Day Series 1, Episode 8 Doctor: Ninth Companion: Rose Tyler Also starring: Jackie Tyler, Pete Tyler Rose tells the Doctor that she'd like to see her father, who died when she was just a baby. The Doctor takes her to Jackie and Pete's wedding, and she decides that she wants to be there for him when he dies. However, when the Doctor takes her there, Rose freezes and Pete still dies alone after a hit-and-run. They try again, and Rose ignores the Doctor's instructions and saves Pete, fracturing time. Rose is delighted that she's saved her dad but the Doctor is furious, storming off and leaving Rose at her house (albeit 19 years in the past). Rose and Pete head to the wedding of Stuart and Sarah, where they almost crash the car because of.... the hit-and-run driver from earlier! They meet up with Jackie, who accuses Pete of having an affair with a woman whose name is the same as his daughter. The Doctor catches up to her, having realised the TARDIS is nothing more than a phone box right now. They are attacked by a creature called a Reaper, and the Doctor orders Rose and the guests to hide inside the church. The guests take refuge as the Doctor thinks of a way out, using the TARDIS key to bring the TARDIS there. Meanwhile, Pete realises that Rose is in fact his daughter, all grown up, and when trying to explain to Jackie, he puts baby Rose in adult Rose's arms, creating a paradox and allowing a Reaper inside. It consumes the Doctor, trying to heal the wound in time, and knocks the TARDIS key, which transports it away. Rose feels helpless, but Pete realises what he needs to do, having added the clues together. He sees the hit-and-run driver again, stuck in a loop, and he runs out in front of it to save time. Rose rushes to his side as the guests look on in despair, forgetting the events of the day as time is now healed. The Doctor and anyone else consumed is restored, and he heads off with Rose. This is another episode that I feel is quite overlooked a lot of the time, especially when it's followed up by The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, but I've got a lot of love for this episode. Rose and Pete's relationship is developed well, and the moment he realises that Rose is in fact his daughter is touching, enhanced by Billie's acting as Rose finally gets the chance to meet her dad. I liked the Doctor telling Rose that time can't be changed just like that, obviously a subject that's touched on quite a lot in the show but not in a way that's as close to home for a companion as this. The Reapers are pretty decent threats although if they're meant to be guarding time almost, I wonder why we've not seen them again? Nevertheless, a really heartfelt story, and a necessary one to develop the Doctor and Rose's relationship too.
May 21, 20178 yr Oh, that was an excellent episode! Really memorable. My favourite of the Angels episodes is now definitely Fall of the Byzantium. I don't care for Blink too much.
May 21, 20178 yr I have a bit of a problem with Father's Day in that it's not internally consistent with all the future episodes and so is like a prime example of early weirdness, the show hadn't nailed down how it wanted to deal with paradoxes so we get these demon creatures... destroying the world when you do that sort of thing as opposed to the more sensible and grounded stuff we have about timey wimey (known as 'it just works that way accept it') or fixed points in time (known as 'actually, there are a few rules when we say there are'). But emotionally and character-wise it was good, most compelling I ever found Rose.
May 21, 20178 yr Father's day is excellent :wub: I really like the repears as threats and wish they would come back!
May 21, 20178 yr Fathers Day was excellent for it's emotional core and exploration of Rose's past. It could've done without the dragon things which seemed a bit shoehorned in, but a great episode overall.
May 21, 20178 yr I have a bit of a problem with Father's Day in that it's not internally consistent with all the future episodes and so is like a prime example of early weirdness, the show hadn't nailed down how it wanted to deal with paradoxes so we get these demon creatures... destroying the world when you do that sort of thing as opposed to the more sensible and grounded stuff we have about timey wimey (known as 'it just works that way accept it') or fixed points in time (known as 'actually, there are a few rules when we say there are'). But emotionally and character-wise it was good, most compelling I ever found Rose. That is true. It now no longer makes sense within their universe. Omg I've been rewatching season 1 and the production values, such as shaking cameras when they walk around, are so CHEAP and the quality of the cameras so bad :lol: In the later seasons, even outside shots are glossy and well-textured and not like camcorder shots. Also :lol: at Qassandra nearly burning Rose with the power of the sun. Also, I love the first doctor, but going back ... he's noit as great as I remember :lol: He's not conventionally good looking AT ALL, and this is referenced in the show, and his weird, rotten-looking teeth at the front are just :/ I always focus on them now. R.E Ozzy Osbourne's statement about that doctor looking like a Travelling Door Salesman - I didn't understand it at the time, but now I get it! Now I would probably rank them as: 1. Matt Smith 2. Chris Ecclestein 3. Old Man one 4. Tennant
May 24, 20178 yr Author http://img2.tvtome.com/i/u/vL/bbd3610575b2423ac2842895f7949620.jpg 18 The Waters of Mars 2009 November Special Doctor: Tenth Companion: Adelaide Brooke First of all, apologies for the delay, not really been in much of a mood to write these commentaries the past couple of days. Let's get things going again! The Doctor lands the TARDIS on Mars in 2059, and finds Bowie Base One, the first human colony on the planet. He meets Adelaide Brooke and her team, and is instantly concerned as he's previously read that every team member died after a nuclear blast and never returned to Earth. He, tries to leave, knowing it's a fixed point in time, but is distracted when Adelaide is unable to contact crew members in the biodome. They find two members - Andy and Tarak - have been infected by what seems like a water-based virus, and are chased back to the main base. Meanwhile, another infected crew member, Maggie, is put into quarantine. The Doctor and Adelaide figure out that the virus wants to get to Earth and infect the water there, taking over the planet. As the rest of the crew hadn't been infected, she actives an emergency program and they begin to prepare a rocket to return home. The Doctor attempts to leave again but Adelaide stops him, and demands to know what he knows. He regretfully informs her of her upcoming fate. Water begins to seep through the building courtesy of Andy and Tarak, and Maggie escapes, heading to the rocket. More crew members become infected and the Doctor continues to walk away, but after second-in-command Ed self-destructs the rocket after it is infected by Maggie, the Doctor returns to help Adelaide and the two remaining crew members Yuri and Mia. He used the base's robot, Gadget, to bring the TARDIS to them, and he saved the three of them, taking them back to Earth. Mia runs off, horrified, and Yuri follows her. Adelaide is disgusted as the Doctor becomes too big for his boots, knowing that her death inspires her granddaughter to become an astronaut. She kills herself once she's home, and restores the future to how it should be. The Doctor realises he's gone too far, and sees a vision of Ood Sigma, summoning him. This is one of the scariest stories of New Who for sure. The concept of a water-based creature is really eerie and as the Doctor said, "water always wins", giving us a really interesting and terrifying threat. Lindsay Duncan is the star of this episode as one-off companion Adelaide, and this is demonstrated primarily in the final scene on Earth. The Doctor becomes incredibly arrogant and unlikeable, and instead of going along with him, Adelaide puts the Doctor in his place before the heartbreaking gunshot - quite a brave move for Saturday night pre-watershed TV actually. The whole story is told really well in fact, and with a lot of tension throughout. Not hard to see why this is a huge fan favourite of the new series!
May 24, 20178 yr Some very strong episodes coming through now. The Zygon Invasion/Inversion, Asylum of the Daleks and The Waters of Mars all amongst the strongest from their respective series imo.
May 24, 20178 yr Author http://i.imgur.com/OZ35XuV.png 17 Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead Series 4, Episodes 8 and 9 Doctor: Tenth Companion: Donna Noble Also starring: River Song The episode opens with a little girl speaking to Dr. Moon, after she explains that she can see a place called the Library when she closes her eyes. She worries that someone's breaking in, and sees the Doctor and Donna bash through a door! We then see the episode from the Doctor's point of view, as they're summoned to a planet known as the Library, expecting it to be heaving with life, but find that there's no-one around. They speak to a Node - a statue with a human face - but find little information beyond an SOS call sent. The computer systems say "4022 people saved. No survivors", which confuses the duo, but they find there's more going on when they find themselves on the run from shadows. Eventually breaking through a locked door, we see the opening scene again, but the little girl is shown to be a security camera in the world of the Library. They're joined by a group of explorers, fronted by Mr. Lux, and including archaeologist Professor River Song, who seems to know the Doctor. She learns that the Doctor hasn't met her yet, and tells him that she's someone he'll trust in the future but doesn't divulge any further information (spoilers!). Together, the group learn that the Library seems to be controlled by a little girl, who speaks to the Doctor through the TV in her living room. Meanwhile, one of the group, Miss Evangelista, walks off after being ignored by the group, and after the group hear a scream, they find her skeleton and her communicator device, which bears her consciousness for a small period of time afterwards. The Doctor identifies the threat as Vashta Nerada - creatures that are ultimately shadows but can devour flesh at a very fast speed. When the Doctor notices that "Proper" Dave has two shadows, he's eaten from within his suit and the Vashta Nerada take control, chasing the group, but not before Donna's transported back to the TARDIS. As the group become cornered, the Doctor sees that Donna has become a Node, and isn't in the TARDIS after all. River uses a squareness gun to help them escape from the Vashta Nerada, and when they manage to find somewhere safe briefly, Lux explains that the Library was constructed by his grandfather for his aunt - Charlotte Abigal Lux, or CAL for short, and a giant computer was constructed to keep her mind alive in a virtual world among many other people - all of those "saved". Donna wakes up in this world, in a hospital where she's tended to by Dr. Moon, and meets a man called Lee. Time moves quicker in this world, and before long, Donna is married to Lee and living at home. Meanwhile, the Doctor is investigating the Library's moon, the "Doctor Moon" as it's installed with a virus checker, and briefly sees Donna for a moment. Likewise, Donna sees the Doctor, and briefly remembers her old life, but Dr. Moon assures her she saw nothing. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor tints her visor, hoping to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they're already inside the suit, and they head to the core of the Library to figure out why Donna was taken. Donna herself is visited by Miss Evangelista in a playground, where her kids are playing. Miss Evangelista shows her that every kid in the world is identical - every boy and every girl, and also that her face is disfigured after her upload was trickier. Donna begins to realise that the world isn't real, and panics after her kids vanish. The Doctor learns that the Vashta Nerada come from the Library and didn't invade, with the books being made from the forests from their home planet. The Vashta Nerada creatures agree to the Doctor being allowed to save everyone on the computer, and give him one day. He, River and Lux, the only surviving explorers, meet CAL - the face of the young girl from earlier on a Node. The Doctor prepares to sacrifice himself to bring everyone else back, but knowing they have many adventures left from his perspective, River sacrifices herself instead after handcuffing him. Everyone is downloaded, and Donna is pulled away from Lee. She reunites with the Doctor, having tried to find Lee, but she actually just misses him by a few seconds. The Doctor has a brainwave to save River, by downloading her to the virtual world, where she lives out the rest of her life alongside Anita, Miss Evangelisa, Proper Dave and Other Dave. Moffat delivered four spectacular stories during the RTD era, and unfortunately, one of them had to be the lowest of the four. This story takes that title, but it's thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. The episode presents a lot of mystery, particularly surrounding the little girl, and it's developed really well throughout. The Vashta Nerada are a fantastic concept and are pretty scary too. I've always loved River, and she's excellent from her very first appearance. The Donna subplot is heartbreaking, as she realises the life she's built isn't real in the end and the scene of Lee struggling to pronounce her name at the end is particularly upsetting. Another star of the episode was Miss Evangelista. I sympathised with her quite a bit at the start despite a lack of intelligence but she ended up as a very tragic character, and her deformed face in part 2 was terrifying. Such a well-crafted story with both a great threat and plenty of heartfelt character moments.
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