June 20, 20178 yr Blink is just phenomenal. An absolute GENIUS monster that is such a threatening menace throughout without even saying a thing. Really supberb characters too that make you forget about the Doctor! I could easily watch a full series of Sally Sparrow adventures! It really makes you feel sad for Kathy and Billy too, despite only being on screen for about 5 minutes each. Love the idea of the Doctor tapes too, another clever idea and they way they end up fitting together is just brilliant. The whole thing is just so well thought out, beautifully paced and so many interesting elements. The climax is incredibly tense and has a really good ending to tie it all up. Nust absolutely fantastic all round!
June 20, 20178 yr Author http://www.razorfine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/doctor-who-turn-left2.jpg 3 Turn Left Series 4, Episode 11 Doctor: Tenth Companion: Donna Noble, Rose Tyler Also starring: Sylvia Noble, Wilfred Mott On the planet Shan Shen, the Doctor and Donna are enjoying a rare moment of simple tourism as they explore a marketplace. Donna is tempted by a fortune teller, who explores how she first met the Doctor, leading all the way back to a decision she made - whether to head to an interview for a highly paid temp position at H. C. Clements, or take her mother's advice and work as a secretary for her friend Jival Chowdry. Donna turns left and this leads to her encounter with the Doctor on Christmas Day. However, the fortune teller forces her to change her mind, and Donna turns right. As she never meets the Doctor, Donna witnesses the Racnoss webstar from afar, having gone out for Christmas drinks with her friends. She heads into town and finds a man taken away by the ambulance - dead. A young woman in a purple top comes running, devastated by the news of the Doctor's death. This girl, Rose, knew him, but becomes distracted by something on Donna's back. Months later, after being sacked from her job, the Royal Hope Hospital vanishes from the middle of London. She watches the news coverage at home with Sylvia and Wilf, where they hear about the deaths of Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith (plus her team). Donna meets Rose again, who tells her that the raffle ticket she has will win her first prize for a Christmas break. Jump forward to Christmas, and sure enough, Donna and family are on holiday. There, they watch London be destroyed by a replica of the Titanic. The country is placed under marshal law and the Noble family have to be rehoused. They're sent to Leeds, where they share a house with many other people, including Mr. Colosanto and his family. As time goes on, the world begins to suffer further. A large chunk of America's population is dissolved into small fat creatures (the Adipose), while the world population starts to be suffocated by ATMOS devices in cars. Donna is initially dismayed at the noise created by Mr. Colosanto and his family but warms to him, joining in on their sing-song. However, when speaking to the soldiers outside about the ATMOS, Donna is interrogated and has a gun pointed at by one of them, who thinks he sees something on her back. She walks off to meet Rose, who tells her about the life she should've had, with the Doctor. The ATMOS problem is sorted by Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood - the latter perished and the former got transported off to another world. Nobody left to save the world. Donna refuses to help, going back to her family. Eventually she says goodbye to Mr. Colosanto and his family, who are taken away to a labour camp. Donna doesn't make the connection but Wilf does, and he bids a tearful farewell to his friend. Sylvia meanwhile is a broken woman, who's given up on hope for her daughter. When on the hill with Wilf and his telescope, the stars begin to vanish, and Donna finally agrees to help Rose. She takes her to UNIT to meet Captain Arisa Magambo, as well as the TARDIS. Donna is shown the creature on her back - a time beetle, that's caused her to change her mind. UNIT help Donna travel in time to the pivotal moment, but she arrives half a mile away and has to run the distance in a few minutes. Realising she won't quite make it, she walks in front of a vehicle and gets run over, causing a traffic jam. Due to this, Donna decides to turn left as opposed to waiting in traffic, and normality is restored. Rose whispers a message for the Doctor to Donna before she dies. The Doctor arrives back to meet Donna in the real world, where he explains that the beetle is one of the Trickster's brigade. Donna passes on the message from the blonde girl, whose name she was never told - bad wolf. This scares the Doctor and he rushes outside, to find every sign replaced with BAD WOLF, even the TARDIS signs! Turn Left is an episode that I loved on first watch but have grown to absolutely adore with rewatches. It had a lot to live up to - series 4 had been pretty near perfect up to that point, and this featured the long-teased full return of Rose Tyler. The idea of Donna never meeting the Doctor is a fantastic storyline, a unique concept for an episode and it was particularly interesting seeing the different perspectives of the alien invasions. There's a plot hole or two in this idea - who stopped all the invasions of the past, such as the Pyrovile? :ph34r: But I can overlook this because of the way the story is told. The beetle is pretty cheap and for what's actually the primary "monster" of the episode, it has a relatively small part throughout the episode. No surprise I guess, the budget can't have been high and I think a talking CGI beetle might have been tacky. It's the events it causes that are most interesting. Donna's relationship with her family is one of the best parts of series 4 and we see it particularly in Turn Left, in scenes such as the close-up of Sylvia, a now broken woman, totally lost in her life, as well as Donna and Wilf's relationship the entire way through. Bernard Cribbins gives one of the best performances in New Who when Mr. Colosanto and his family get taken away to the labour camp. The sheer terror and sadness in his portrayal is heartbreaking and this is something I've come to appreciate with further re-watches - a man who's horrified by the return of the concentration camps and is genuinely worried for the future of his own country. Catherine Tate is on top form, and Billie is great too. Having said that, it speaks a lot about the episode when it would stand on its own two feet even without the "gimmick" of Rose's return. Ultimately it requires a big suspension of belief but Turn Left is one of the most unique stories in Doctor Who with some of the best character moments of the revived series' 12 years on air, and without much interference from a monster or alien too. ARMY OF GHOSTS / DOOMSDAY vs THE STOLEN EARTH / JOURNEY'S END - battle of the EVENT TELEVISION spectacles, but which has gone all the way?
June 20, 20178 yr Author THE ALUEN IS A 2 POUNDA PLASTIC BUG FROM WILKO'S!!! AMMA NUT THE WALL!!! Don't get chippy with me, Vera Duckworth!
June 20, 20178 yr :( This was such a brill eposide and shows how important the Doctor is. It also shows how important Donna (and indeed all his companions) are.
June 20, 20178 yr Turn Left was one of the most important stories for me shows how important both the Doctor and his companions are :wub:
June 21, 20178 yr And the old woman in Night Terrors is the same one as Denise's exam buddy. Doesn't help that that Rory calls it Eastenders land. Love Turn Left. Definitely think it should be top 2.
June 21, 20178 yr I'd forgotten about turn left! Definitely a good one, and I remember having a toy Time Beetle in my room for years and having no idea where it was from :lol:
June 21, 20178 yr Author http://i.imgur.com/K3PUlEH.png 2 Army of Ghosts / Doomsday Series 2, Episodes 12 and 13 Doctor: Tenth Companion: Rose Tyler Also starring: Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler, Pete Tyler, Donna Noble Let's get some subtitles to break down the masses of text that will follow in the next two posts! :lol: SUMMARY: Army of Ghosts When Rose visits home with a bag load of washing for Jackie, she and the Doctor are taken aback by the arrival of ghosts. Jackie's convinced one of them is her dead father, and that she can smell smoke, something she associated with him. The Doctor immediately ruins the illusion, particularly when he realises they're on shifts and can be powered up and down at particular times of the day. This has taken the world by storm, with television taken over by shows circling around ghosts, including Trisha and EastEnders (Peggy vs the ghost of Den Watts *.*). Meanwhile, at Torchwood, Yvonne Hartman is celebrating another successful ghost shift, while Rajesh Singh is having little luck with a mysterious sphere in another room. Workers Adeola (our very own Freema Agyeman of course) and Gareth find themselves sneaking off for a quick snog in a restricted area while workmen are on their lunch, but they return seemingly vacant, wearing two earpieces. The Doctor and Rose manage to trap a ghost briefly, and the Doctor triangulates its origin. Yvonne sees the Doctor on CCTV after tracking the signal and eagerly awaits his arrival. Rose warns the Doctor that Jackie's still on board, and when they arrive at Torchwood, the Doctor accidentally brings out Jackie as his companion instead of Rose. Rose meanwhile stays in the TARDIS, hiding. Meanwhile, Adeola tricks Matt into entering the work area, and he faces the same fate as her. Yvonne takes the Doctor around Torchwood, telling him their motto is "if it's alien, it's ours". She takes him and Jackie to see the sphere, which the Doctor says is a void ship, and should be sent back into hell. She shows him where it broke through. Meanwhile, Rose sneaks out of the TARDIS and poses as a Torchwood employee with the psychic paper. She follows someone who seems to be running from her, and ends up in the sphere room. Raj sees through her psychic paper, and orders a lockdown of the room from co-worker Samuel - who is actually Mickey! The Doctor orders Yvonne to cancel the ghost shift, telling her that the more times they keep letting the ghosts through, the more chance the breach has of totally shattering. Raj video-calls Yvonne and shows her Rose, and the Doctor admits she's the real Rose and Jackie is actually her mother. Yvonne eventually complies and cancels, but the Doctor finds a signal from inside the building and checks it out. He and Yvonne go inside the cordoned off work area and find Cybermen hiding away. Adeola, Gareth and Matt have their own ideas and set the ghost shift to maximum power. As the ghosts come back, more than usual, they all morph into Cybermen, coming through from the parallel world to this one. Meanwhile, in the sphere chamber, Rose, Mickey and Raj are shocked as the sphere opens and four Daleks come out! SUMMARY: Doomsday Rose identifies the Daleks just as they're about to be killed, allowing their lives to be spared as they will be "necessary". They begin talking of the Genesis Ark, which they've brought with them. They seem intent on protecting it, but Rose is unsure why. The Cyber Leader speaks to the world, telling them they'll all be upgraded to Cybermen. The Daleks get information by extracting Raj's brainwaves, killing him. Both the Cybermen and the Daleks head outside to investigate the other species they've detected. Two Cybermen meet Dalek Jast, and the Doctor is horrified by the arrival of his oldest enemies. The Cybermen propose an alliance but Dalek Jast denies. The Cybermen then try to delete Jast, but fail, while Jast succeeds in exterminating them. During this, Rose had called the Doctor so he could hear the Daleks' discussions. The Cyber Leader speaks directly to the Daleks, who claim it isn't war, but pest control. Needing new recruits, Jackie and Yvonne are taken to be upgraded but the Doctor promises he'll save Jackie. The Doctor is then joined by Jake of the Preachers, who has hopped between parallel worlds. He takes the Doctor back and they meet parallel Pete Tyler in their own Torchwood. This worries the Doctor, as their world is ahead of our own and the walls breaking down has already taken its toll. They arrive back to find that Jackie has escaped, and they begin to create a plan. The Doctor arrives to save Rose, identifying the Daleks as the Cult of Skaro. Luring the Cybemen down there, the Doctor uses their conflict as a chance to save Rose and Mickey. However, Mickey accidentally places his hand on the Genesis Ark, activating it. The team escape and reunite with Jackie, who sees parallel Pete. Both of them have lost their respective spouses, so reunite with each other for the first time in a long time. Together, they retrieve a couple of magna clamps from the main operations area and head up to the office. The Doctor explains about background radiation or "void stuff", something you become covered in if you cross between parallel worlds. The Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Pete and Jake are all covered in it, with only Jackie not having any. The Doctor then explains that he's going to open the breach all the way, sucking the void stuff-drenched Cybermen and Daleks in and eventually sucking itself in, closing for good. Rose begins to worry when she realises that she's covered in void stuff too, and the Doctor explains that she must leave and go to "Pete's world" with her family. They transport her but she returns to help against the Doctor's wishes. Together, they open the breach, and grab hold of the magna clamps, cancelling the gravity of anything that holds onto it. Their plan works until the levers begin to regress on their own. Rose tries to pull it back up, losing her grip on the magna clamp and clinging onto the lever for her life. She succeeds in keeping it open but loses her grip, being sucked towards the void. Pete transports back and saves her just in time, before the breach closes and Rose is trapped in the parallel world. She's distraught, and the Doctor is emotional too. They place their ears to the wall where the breach was, sharing the connection for a moment, but the Doctor leaves. Months later, Rose hears her name being called, all the way to Dårlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay) in Norway. The Doctor appears as a hologram, saying his final goodbyes to Rose. She confesses her love for him, and just as the Doctor's about to reply - "Rose Tyler..." - he vanishes forever. The Doctor has no time to mope about though, because stood in the TARDIS.... is a random bride! My View The series 2 finale just misses out on the top spot to another episode featuring the Daleks and Bad Wolf Bay. I remember feeling sick with excitement for this finale - having seen the trailer with the Cybermen returning, and the knowledge of Rose's departure too. It was also the first series finale I watched, so there was a lot of hype on my part. The opening pre-titles sequences of both episodes is really well directed, teasing us with Rose's departure and the idea that she might die, although of course we learn she hasn't. The idea of the Cybermen posing as ghosts is one I really love too, and the shots of them invading people's homes are terrifying and some of the best uses of Cybermen since their revival. And then the Daleks...! I had absolutely no idea they were gonna feature and it was my very first experience seeing the villains I'd heard a lot about. I was blown away by their reveal, and so excited for the second part. The Cult of Skaro are pretty cool and it's a shame they got disposed of so easily in the Daleks in Manhattan two-parter (even if I liked that). Some of the smaller moments are really great too. Tracy-Ann Oberman is excellent in the role of Yvonne, and particularly in the moments just before her upgrade as she repeats "I did my duty". A scene I noticed particularly on a recent rewatch was Rose and Jackie in the TARDIS near the beginning of Army of Ghosts. Jackie warns her that one day, she may totally lose any links to Earth and become just as alien as the species she meets. It's an interesting conversation and one that of course foreshadows the end of the two-parter, but also highlights the superb chemistry between Billie and Camille on screen, something that made her exit even more heartbreaking in the shot of mother and daughter hugging in the middle of Bad Wolf Bay. I certainly cried at Rose's exit, one of the only TV moments I've cried at in fact. It was heartbreaking to see the Doctor and Rose drawn apart so dramatically, never to see each other again, but their goodbye on Bad Wolf Bay was even worse. Even as someone who doesn't really like the romantic touch between 10 and Rose, the tease of "Rose Tyler..." before the Doctor vanishes is a cruel twist from Russell T. Davies! One more thing I loved was how the show didn't end on a sad note, but instead we had Catherine Tate stood in the middle of the TARDIS, teasing us for Christmas. Superbly done from start to finish - an episode that promised a lot but delivered even more than expected (quite literally in the case of the Daleks). Rose's departure had twists and turns but it felt perfect and fitting for a character that would never have left of her own accord.
June 21, 20178 yr Author http://i.imgur.com/hQFiv7I.png 1 The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End Series 4, Episodes 12 and 13 Doctor: Tenth Companion: Donna Noble, Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler Also starring: Sylvia Noble, Wilfred Mott, Luke Smith, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Harriet Jones, Francine Jones, K-9, Mr Smith SUMMARY: The Stolen Earth Following on directly from the events of Turn Left, the Doctor and Donna arrive in present day Earth, to find absolutely nothing is wrong. They head back inside the TARDIS briefly, where Donna tries to calm the Doctor by suggesting Rose's return is actually good. They feel a huge shake and check outside to find themselves in the middle of space...despite not moving an inch! Meanwhile on Earth, Martha Jones wakes up. She's in UNIT Manhattan, and thinks they may have been hit by an earthquake. However, her co-worker Suzanne tells her to look outside. In Cardiff, Captain Jack wakes up, before checking on Gwen and Ianto. He runs outside to check what happened. Sarah Jane wakes up in Ealing, checking her son Luke is fine. She calls on Mr Smith for help, who suggests she looks outside as the visual evidence is "most conclusive". Wilf and Sylvia also check outside, noticing it's dark despite being morning. As everyone looks at the sky, they express disbelief. Rose materialises metres away from where the TARDIS was, holding a huge gun. We see a shot of the sky - full of planets. The Doctor and Donna are worried and unsure of what to do, so they head to the Shadow Proclamation. Martha phones Jack, both unsure of exactly what's happened. Luke informs Sarah Jane that Maria and Clyde are both safe, as she tries to figure out exactly what's happened using Mr Smith. Rose walks through the streets of London, where people are going absolutely crazy. She finds people looting a shop and warns them off with a gun. At this moment, Earth receives a communication from a ship that's orbiting, and Mr Smith plays it. All of them hear the words EXTERMINATE played on repeat in a chilling moment. Jack kisses Gwen and Ianto on the head as he hugs them, warning them that they're all dead. Sarah Jane worries about Luke, saying how young he is. They're terrified by the Daleks, who are preparing for the invasion of Earth. At the Shadow Proclamation, the Doctor and Donna are confronted by the Judoon. The Doctor speaks their language back to them, and is allowed to see the Shadow Architect. He learns from her that 24 planets are missing, and with the help of Donna, he adds in Adipose 3, the Lost Moon of Poosh and Pyrovilia - planets lost out of time that they heard about on their travels. While the Doctor and the Shadow Architect try to figure out a pattern, Donna becomes zoned out. One of the servants offers her water, and warns her of a loss that is yet to come. When the Doctor asks for anything strange on Earth that may have foreshadowed this, she mentions the bees disappearing, which clicks with the Doctor. Some bees are aliens, and they sensed it coming, so headed come using the Tandoca scale, which must have been used to shift the planets on a huge scale. They try to follow it, but don't get anywhere, leaving Donna worried for her family. On Earth, Martha is given a command by General Sanchez to use Project Indigo - a top secret operation within UNIT. Jack is sceptical and he doesn't believe it will work. Martha uses it regardless as the Daleks invade, knowing it's her only chance of survival, but Jack fears she is dead. Sylvia and Wilf witness the Daleks arriving on a street, ordering humans to leave their homes. When a family refuse, their house is blown up with them inside. Sylvia and Wilf head back but are stopped by a Dalek. Wilf uses his paint gun to blind it, but its "vision is NOT impaired" and it prepares to exterminate them. Rose saves them by blowing it up, and she asks for their help. At their house, Wilf fills her in on when he last heard from Donna, but is unable to offer more help. All of the companions are pretty downtrodden. Torchwood and Sarah Jane receive a message from someone, but both ignore it as a poor soul crying out for help. However, the voice addresses Jack directly, and former Prime Minister Harriet Jones (yes, you know who she is) comes into view. She's speaking to them through the subwave network, devised by the Mr Copper foundation to seek out any of the Doctor's friends in a crisis. The final contact is revealed to be Martha, who was taken home to her mother by Project Indigo. Rose also sees the broadcast through Sylvia and Wilf's laptops but they don't have a webcam ("she says they're naughty") so they can't be seen or heard. They all discuss a plan to get in contact with the Doctor. Martha will send the Doctor's number, while Mr Smith uses the power of every telephone network on the planet and Torchwood use the rift to boost the signal further. The Doctor and Donna latch onto this and use it to reach the planet, hidden one second out of sync in the Medusa Cascade. This plan makes Harriet detectable by the Daleks, and she's exterminated with dignity. Torchwood are now in control of the rift. Sarah Jane and Jack both leave to find the Doctor, as does Rose, bidding her farewells to Wilf and Sylvia. The Doctor and Donna arrive on a now derelict street on London. Rose appears at the other end, and she runs towards the Doctor. He runs to her too, while Donna looks on in awe. The moment is ruined by a Dalek, which appears out of nowhere and fires at the Doctor! Jack materialises and blows it up. They all rush to the Doctor and carry him into the TARDIS. Sarah Jane is stopped by a couple of Daleks in front of her car, and is about to be exterminated. Gwen and Ianto are detected by the Daleks and prepare to fight off any that arrive. The Doctor begins to regenerate, much to Rose's despair. SUMMARY: Journey's End The Doctor siphons his regeneration energy into his spare hand once he's finished healing himself, to stop himself changing form. Sarah Jane's saved by Jackie and Mickey, who arrive in the nick of time to destroy the two Daleks. Gwen and Ianto realise they're protected by a forcefield, specifically a time lock that Toshiko installed before her death. The Doctor and Rose catch up but the TARDIS is captured by the Daleks and taken to the Crucible. Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie witness this and, reluctantly in Mickey's case, surrender themselves so they can get closer to the Doctor. The Doctor, Rose and Jack walk out into the Crucible, as the TARDIS defences are down and if they don't walk out, the Daleks will get in. Donna gets distracted by the spare hand, and the door shuts on her. The Doctor becomes furious with the Supreme Dalek, but the TARDIS is sent to the engines where it will be blown apart. Donna begins to suffocate, but in a moment of quiet among the noise, she reaches towards the hand. The glass cracks and light surrounds her, as a new Doctor is grown from the hand. He dematerialises the TARDIS and saves them both. Jack shoots at the Supreme Dalek but is exterminated, playing dead (and fooling Rose who is unaware of his immortality). The Doctor and Rose are then taken to Davros. Meanwhile, Martha uses Project Indigo to take her to Germany, so she could access the Osterhagen station. She holds the Osterhagen Key, given to her by General Sanchez. Harriet warned her against it but she heads to the castle anyway, guarded by a lone German woman. Initially playing friendly, Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie are taken for "testing", but Sarah Jane notices a door to escape through and takes her chance, as does Mickey. Jackie however is unable to escape, and a Dalek ends up blocking the door. The Doctor and Rose are placed in holding cells, with Davros next to them. They talk, and the Doctor deduces that Davros is simply the Daleks' pet, hidden away in the basement. He shows the Doctor the test. Jackie escapes in the nick of time thanks to her teleport device having recharged (it needed 30 minutes), but other people are turned to nothing but dust when the test activates. Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie are joined by Jack, who's escaped from the incinerator after playing dead. Sarah Jane takes out a warp star, saying she could destroy the ship if necessary. The Doctor is outraged by Davros and the Daleks' plan, to turn every other being into nothing, so they are the only lifeforms in existence. Martha begins a transmission to the Crucible, to give Davros and the Daleks a choice. Jack and Sarah Jane do the same, but all of them are transmatted on board, helpless against the impending "reality bomb". The other Doctor (the Metacrisis Doctor as I'll call him) and Donna try to create a weapon that could be used against Davros, but when they arrive on the Crucible, to the pure shock of the original Doctor, both the Metacrisis Doctor and Donna fail to use it and are zapped away by Davros' metal hand. The former is placed in a holding cell, the latter falls unconscious. As the countdown to the reality bomb nears its conclusion, with nobody left to help, the signal is shut off! It's Donna - the electrical spark awakened the second part of the Metacrisis. Part of the Doctor is now in Donna, and part of Donna is in the Metacrisis Doctor. Deactivating the holding cells, Donna sends the Daleks spinning so they can't attack. The two Doctors help Donna to send the planets home - well, all except Earth! However, the Metacrisis Doctor blows up the ship and every Dalek in it, which angers the original Doctor. He gets everyone in the TARDIS, offering to help Davros too but he refuses. Once inside the safety of the TARDIS, they work on trying to bring Earth home. With the help of the rift and Mr Smith, with TARDIS basecode numerals provided by K-9, the TARDIS is able to tow the Earth to the correct part of space. The Doctor enlists Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, Jack and Mickey to help fly the TARDIS with him (but not Jackie :basil:), as it's originally designed for six pilots. They rejoice when the Earth is home, before the goodbyes begin. Sarah Jane, Jack and Martha leave to head back to their lives. Mickey heads off to join Jack and Martha, having decided not to stay on the parallel world anymore now his nan is dead. The next stop is Bad Wolf Bay in the parallel Earth. Rose tries to protest being dropped back, but the Doctor explains that the Metacrisis Doctor needs somebody to look after him after committing genocide. Rose asks the Doctor to complete his final sentence the last time they stood on the beach - "Rose Tyler..." - but the original Doctor refuses. The Metacrisis Doctor whispers in his ear, and she kisses him. The Doctor and Donna make their escape. When back in the TARDIS, Donna's brain begins to malfunction. She's human but with the knowledge of a Time Lord, something that should be impossible. Realising what's about to happen, Donna begins to protest, but the Doctor proceeds to wipe her memory. He takes her home, unconscious, and explains to Wilf and an angry Sylvia. The Doctor bids goodbye to Wilf, who says he'll always remember him on Donna's behalf. My View OK that was one bloody long summary! :lol: With such a mammoth cast, there was obviously a lot happening in this two-parter, and I think despite the crowdedness, it's still a really well played story with some fantastic character moments. I love the sparks of personality we see from Gwen and Ianto, with Gwen's phone call to Rhys and Ianto watching Paul O'Grady, both moments that could easily have been cut but they're great little scenes. Of course the best character scenes came from Donna's exit, as she pleaded with the Doctor not to wipe her memories. Whilst I wasn't in floods of tears like I was with Rose's exit, Donna's goodbye seems even more poignant because she doesn't remember the progression she made in herself whilst she was with the Doctor. She became a dignified woman, protective of her friends and a hero, but she goes back to being a loudmouth temp, and it's heartbreaking. Wilf's goodbye to the Doctor was just as heartbreaking, even though we go on to see both him and Donna again. The idea of the Doctor being surrounded by all of his closest friends but ending up with no-one just a short while later is sad but of course it upholds the central premise of Doctor Who - a lonely traveller in time and space. The Daleks were put to excellent use in part 1, and kinda took a back seat in part 2 although I guess the opposite could be said for Davros so it doesn't feel totally obvious. I loved the scene of the Daleks destroying the family inside their home - they actually felt scary in that moment, and totally inhuman, and that's exactly what the Daleks should be. Julian Bleach played Davros to a T, he was superb in the role (and was a second time in series 9 too). There wasn't a true weak link in the cast, a cast which promised so much and still delivered even more (with surprise returns from Francine Jones and Harriet Jones!), which made the crossovers from Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures feel natural and not out of place at all. On the topic of Harriet Jones, her death scene was superb - the Daleks continuing the running joke of "yes we know who you are", but I loved her response of "you know nothing of any human, and that will be your downfall". Superbly portrayed by Penelope Wilton! Heck, I even loved the scene of the Earth being towed back home. Cheesy? Definitely. But it was amazing television. The Doctor and his friends actually being happy for a change. Martha's grin at the camera, Donna's flirting with Jack, Jackie being snubbed by the Doctor, all just small things that made the scene so much FUN. And let's not forget the cliffhanger of The Stolen Earth! The media was sent into overdrive and so was just about every fan I guess. Despite the knowledge that David Tennant was in the finale, the shock regeneration played with my mind and the second episode really couldn't have come quick enough. What a fantastic twist from Russell T. Davies! Both The Stolen Earth and Journey's End felt like huge event television to me. This is highlighted by the ratings of course, where Journey's End was the top rated programme for the week, for the first and only time in Doctor Who history! I was insanely excited to see the return of so many classic New Who characters in The Stolen Earth, and I think I watched it every day for the week after it aired. Individually I'd say The Stolen Earth is my favourite of the two, but Journey's End is still incredible and I NEVER tire of watching either. I think I must know it word for word almost? I've seen them THAT many times! :lol: Ultimately there's pretty much nothing I can fault in these episodes. Sure, they have their moments of being cheesy and perhaps self-indulgent from RTD for his final proper series finale, but it's quintessential Doctor Who in every sense of the word. It's got fun, it's got action, it's got thrills and it's got some beautiful character moments too, which make for endless rewatchability and an episode that ticks just about every box in my Doctor Who wishlist. We'll finish off with a breakdown per series and a few other stats :D
June 21, 20178 yr Author Full List 1 The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End 2 Army of Ghosts / Doomsday 3 Turn Left 4 Blink 5 Heaven Sent 6 The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances 7 Human Nature / The Family of Blood 8 School Reunion 9 Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways 10 The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit 11 The Day of the Doctor 12 The Girl in the Fireplace 13 Partners in Crime 14 Midnight 15 The Eleventh Hour 16 Dalek 17 Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead 18 The Waters of Mars 19 Father’s Day 20 Asylum of the Daleks 21 Amy’s Choice 22 Smith and Jones 23 The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone 24 The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion 25 The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang 26 Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords 27 The Angels Take Manhattan 28 Dark Water / Death in Heaven 29 The Fires of Pompeii 30 Vincent and the Doctor 31 The Runaway Bride 32 Face the Raven 33 The Girl Who Waited 34 The Shakespeare Code 35 Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel 36 The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky 37 Gridlock 38 Planet of the Ood 39 Rose 40 Voyage of the Damned 41 Aliens of London / World War Three 42 The End of Time Pts 1 and 2 43 The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood 44 Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks 45 The End of the World 46 The Unicorn and the Wasp 47 The Christmas Invasion 48 Flatline 49 Mummy on the Orient Express 50 The Doctor’s Daughter 51 The Lazarus Experiment 52 The God Complex 53 The Husbands of River Song 54 The Time of the Doctor 55 The Power of Three 56 The Lodger 57 Listen 58 Planet of the Dead 59 Deep Breath 60 Boom Town 61 The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar 62 The Bells of Saint John 63 Time Heist 64 Last Christmas 65 The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People 66 Under the Lake / Before the Flood 67 The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon 68 The Idiot’s Lantern 69 The Caretaker 70 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS 71 The Unquiet Dead 72 The Beast Below 73 New Earth 74 The Next Doctor 75 Closing Time 76 Hell Bent 77 The Long Game 78 A Town Called Mercy 79 The Vampires of Venice 80 The Wedding of River Song 81 Night Terrors 82 A Good Man Goes to War 83 Cold War 84 Tooth and Claw 85 Into the Dalek 86 A Christmas Carol 87 Victory of the Daleks 88 The Return of Doctor Mysterio 89 The Name of the Doctor 90 The Curse of the Black Spot 91 The Doctor’s Wife 92 Robot of Sherwood 93 The Snowmen 94 Let’s Kill Hitler 95 Fear Her 96 42 97 Kill the Moon 98 The Girl Who Died 99 The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe 100 Hide 101 The Woman Who Lived 102 The Rings of Akhaten 103 Nightmare in Silver 104 In the Forest of the Night 105 Sleep No More 106 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship 107 The Crimson Horror 108 Love and Monsters
June 21, 20178 yr YES YES OMFG YESS OMG YESS. Words cannot describe how much i LOVE The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End. Having the threat creep up as the series progressed was a great touch, it felt more obvious but at the same time more minor if that makes sense? Like, in seaosn 3 the Harold Saxon thing felt too shoehorned in episodes. But the slight glimpses of Rose, the DoctorDonna stuff, the bees disappearing, the mention of planets vanishing.... brilliance. The way that the whole planets being moved was a larger version of a previous threat as a wya to re-introduce Davros was brilliant too. And having him and the Doctor meeting face to face was intense. The return of previous characters was a nice touch. Seeing Harriot redeem herself and sacrifice herself was really emotional. Rose being a badass was epic. And now...DONNA. I could go on forever about her being the best companion ever but all you need to do is watch these episodes to see why. She brings comedy but without being chees. She brings heart. She keeps the Doctor human and she is more than capable of taking care of herself. The fact she was the one to help the Doctor figure out how and why the planets were moving was brill. And her being the DoctorDonna and saving the universe, amaze. She was the Doctor's best friend and there was no added romantic tention (Rose and Martha), no overly complicated backstory (Amy and Rory being River's parents, and Clara being different people or whatever) she was a plain human who was there to have fun and help her mate out. I've not cried as much in a DW episode as I did when her wind was wiped. All the things she did, everything she saw, the people she saved and helped, the development of her character....gone. It was too cruel. And seeing everyone gather round and flying the Tardis :wub: lovely.
June 21, 20178 yr Definitely the right winner! Donna is superb and I don't mind the cheesiness because the whole thing was epic! The daleks turning up in Army of Ghosts was so secret I remember going mental when they appeared on the screen!
June 21, 20178 yr Author Statistics By Series Series 1 1 The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances 2 Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways 3 Dalek 4 Father’s Day 5 Rose 6 Aliens of London / World War Three 7 The End of the World 8 Boom Town 9 The Unquiet Dead 10 The Long Game Series 2 1 Army of Ghosts / Doomsday 2 School Reunion 3 The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit 4 The Girl in the Fireplace 5 Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel 6 The Idiot’s Lantern 7 New Earth 8 Tooth and Claw 9 Fear Her 10 Love and Monsters Series 3 1 Blink 2 Human Nature / The Family of Blood 3 Smith and Jones 4 Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords 5 The Shakespeare Code 6 Gridlock 7 Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks 8 The Lazarus Experiment 9 42 Series 4 1 The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End 2 Turn Left 3 Partners in Crime 4 Midnight 5 Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead 6 The Fires of Pompeii 7 The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky 8 Planet of the Ood 9 The Unicorn and the Wasp 10 The Doctor’s Daughter Series 5 1 The Eleventh Hour 2 Amy’s Choice 3 The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone 4 The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang 5 Vincent and the Doctor 6 The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood 7 The Lodger 8 The Beast Below 9 The Vampires of Venice 10 Victory of the Daleks Series 6 1 The Girl Who Waited 2 The God Complex 3 The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People 4 The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon 5 Closing Time 6 The Wedding of River Song 7 Night Terrors 8 A Good Man Goes to War 9 The Curse of the Black Spot 10 The Doctor’s Wife 11 Let’s Kill Hitler Series 7 1 Asylum of the Daleks 2 The Angels Take Manhattan 3 The Power of Three 4 The Bells of Saint John 5 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS 6 A Town Called Mercy 7 Cold War 8 Hide 9 The Rings of Akhaten 10 Nightmare in Silver 11 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship 12 The Crimson Horror Series 8 1 Dark Water / Death in Heaven 2 Flatline 3 Mummy on the Orient Express 4 Listen 5 Deep Breath 6 Time Heist 7 The Caretaker 8 Into the Dalek 9 Robot of Sherwood 10 Kill the Moon 11 In the Forest of the Night Series 9 1 Heaven Sent 2 The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion 3 Face the Raven 4 The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar 5 Under the Lake / Before the Flood 6 Hell Bent 7 The Girl Who Died 8 The Woman Who Lived 9 Sleep No More Special Episodes 1 The Day of the Doctor 2 The Waters of Mars 3 The Runaway Bride 4 Voyage of the Damned 5 The End of Time Pts 1 and 2 6 The Christmas Invasion 7 The Husbands of River Song 8 The Time of the Doctor 9 Planet of the Dead 10 Last Christmas 11 The Next Doctor 12 A Christmas Carol 13 The Return of Doctor Mysterio 14 The Name of the Doctor 15 The Snowmen 16 The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe By Doctor Ninth 1 The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances 2 Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways 3 Dalek 4 Father’s Day 5 Rose 6 Aliens of London / World War Three 7 The End of the World 8 Boom Town 9 The Unquiet Dead 10 The Long Game Tenth 1 The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End 2 Army of Ghosts / Doomsday 3 Turn Left 4 Blink 5 Human Nature / The Family of Blood 6 School Reunion 7 The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit [The Day of the Doctor] 8 The Girl in the Fireplace 9 Partners in Crime 10 Midnight 11 Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead 12 The Waters of Mars 13 Smith and Jones 14 Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords 15 The Fires of Pompeii 16 The Runaway Bride 17 The Shakespeare Code 18 Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel 19 The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky 20 Gridlock 21 Planet of the Ood 22 Voyage of the Damned 23 The End of Time Pts 1 and 2 24 Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks 25 The Unicorn and the Wasp 26 The Christmas Invasion 27 The Doctor’s Daughter 28 The Lazarus Experiment 29 Planet of the Dead 30 The Idiot’s Lantern 31 New Earth 32 The Next Doctor 33 Tooth and Claw 34 Fear Her 35 42 36 Love and Monsters Eleventh 1 The Day of the Doctor 2 The Eleventh Hour 3 Asylum of the Daleks 4 Amy’s Choice 5 The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone 6 The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang 7 The Angels Take Manhattan 8 Vincent and the Doctor 9 The Girl Who Waited 10 The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood 11 The God Complex 12 The Time of the Doctor 13 The Power of Three 14 The Lodger 15 The Bells of Saint John 16 The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People 17 The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon 18 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS 19 The Beast Below 20 Closing Time 21 A Town Called Mercy 22 The Vampires of Venice 23 The Wedding of River Song 24 Night Terrors 25 A Good Man Goes to War 26 Cold War 27 A Christmas Carol 28 Victory of the Daleks 29 The Name of the Doctor 30 The Curse of the Black Spot 31 The Doctor’s Wife 32 The Snowmen 33 Let’s Kill Hitler 34 The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe 35 Hide 36 The Rings of Akhaten 37 Nightmare in Silver 38 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship 39 The Crimson Horror Twelfth 1 Heaven Sent 2 The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion 3 Dark Water / Death in Heaven 4 Face the Raven 5 Flatline 6 Mummy on the Orient Express 7 The Husbands of River Song 8 Listen 9 Deep Breath 10 The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar 11 Time Heist 12 Last Christmas 13 Under the Lake / Before the Flood 14 The Caretaker 15 Hell Bent 16 Into the Dalek 17 The Return of Doctor Mysterio 18 Robot of Sherwood 19 Kill the Moon 20 The Girl Who Died 21 The Woman Who Lived 22 In the Forest of the Night 23 Sleep No More By Companion (excluding cameos and minor appearances - and seeing as most companions appeared in The Stolen Earth / Journey's End, I'll specify a second highest for the returnees) ROSE TYLER Best: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End || Army of Ghosts / Doomsday Worst: Love & Monsters MICKEY SMITH Best: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End || Army of Ghosts / Doomsday Worst: The Christmas Invasion CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS Best: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End || The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances Worst: Boom Town DONNA NOBLE Best: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End Worst: The Doctor's Daughter MARTHA JONES Best: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End || Blink (Doctor and companion-lite) || Human Nature / The Family of Blood Worst: 42 RIVER SONG Best: Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead Worst: Let's Kill Hitler AMY POND Best: The Eleventh Hour Worst: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship RORY WILLIAMS Best: The Eleventh Hour Worst: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship CLARA OSWALD Best: The Day of the Doctor Worst: The Crimson Horror
June 21, 20178 yr Author Finally... I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who's commented or just read this thread at some point. This has been one of my favourite experiences on Buzzjack, and it would've been much less fun without all the amazing contributions you guys have provided. Whether you've agreed or disagreed with me, I've loved hearing all of your thoughts so much, even Michael's undecipherable posts :kink: I've done my best to thank as many of the regulars as I can in my Buzzrate comments, apologies if I missed you (or if you're not in the rate) but all of you are amazing and I really hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have!!
June 21, 20178 yr Thanks for taking the time to do this Joseph. I said it before but this has re-ignited my love of Doctor Who. I'd love to do some kind of countdown but there is no way it would ever be as in depth :lol:
June 21, 20178 yr Fabulous Top 3. Doctor Who really did peak during Season 4. That finale was truly epic and no finale since has even come close.
June 21, 20178 yr Will comment on the Top 3 later but just want to take this opportunity to say a HUGE THANKS to Joseph. I find it SO interesting to see other people's opinions on my favourite ever TV show, and to do it so comprehensively and in so much detail is incredible! Loved hearing everyone else's thoughts too and it was a great celebration of the best TV show ever made. :kink: I'll give it a bit of time after this huge event but hopefully we'll be able to do some Doctor Who related game/feature in the near future!
June 21, 20178 yr Loved reading all this Joseph even if I didn't comment all that much, I agree with a lot of it as well! I absolutely adored all of your top 10 and while I'm watching series 10 now (and enjoying it a lot more than the last few on the whole!) I do get nostalgic about the earlier ones (particularly series 1-4) and this really makes me want to rewatch them. Good choice for #1, even though it might not be mine it'd be in the top 5 at least! I still remember being so excited to see Rose back for Turn Left (WHAT an episode :heart: ) and of course in the subsequent finale two parter.
June 22, 20178 yr The Stolen Earth/Journey's End was a very good finale, the only possible criticism is it had a bit too much going on with all the different companions, planets aligning, Daleks and Donna turning Time Lord, but the bonkers-ness is why I love Doctor Who and it was definitely one of the better season finals as they are often hit and miss. That moment when the Daleks came out of the Sphere is still one of the most goosebump-inducing moments in the show, it just came as SUCH a surprise to me that the Daleks AND the Cybermen would feature and they didn't disappoint, the sassy exchange between them in Doomsday remains one of my favourite Doctor Who moments UCsXO7r6-z4 'You are superior in one respect, you are better at dying' *.* However though I did think the emotional core and build up to Rose's inevitable 'demise' was the main focus, and it was done perfectly. That last scene is so beautifully done. Turn Left I didn't remember much at the time, but having rewatched it, it's fantastically done. I do love these 'what if?' scenarios and it manages to remain gripping and enigmatic all at the same time. Hell, even I can admit Donna was amazing in this one. This has been wonderful to follow, Joseph, your passion for the show is second to none and the effort you put in and the excellent commentaries have been marvellous :wub: and with me rewatching seasons now, it's almost brought back the Whovian in me! (he says having not seen this week's episode yet oops :kink:)
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