Human Nature/Family of Blood is absolutely superb. Such a unique story and one that manages to effectively explore the Doctor's hidden human side really well and the medieval setting and the villains made it all look so refreshing, I love Joan's parting words to the Doctor when he asks her to come with him, so bittersweet, but powerful.

What episodes are left? Can't wait to find out #1

http://i.imgur.com/tA9M4Ye.jpg

 

6 The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances

Series 1, Episodes 9 and 10

Doctor: Ninth

Companion: Rose Tyler, Captain Jack Harkness

 

When the Doctor and Rose follow a strange and dangerous vehicle through space, they land in an alleyway in London, no more than a month later than when it landed. The Doctor heads off to ask the locals if they'd seen it, while Rose is distracted by a young boy on a rooftop. The Doctor interrupts a small gathering in an intimate venue and asks the audience if anything's fallen from the sky, before he hears a familiar siren and realises they've arrived during World War II :basil: Rose climbs a rope to get to the boy, but the rope's coming from a barrage balloon and as it takes off, Rose goes with it, hanging from a rope in the middle of the London Blitz. The Doctor wonders where Rose is, and gets especially confused when the TARDIS phone rings and a young girl orders him not to answer it. She vanishes and he ignores her advice, hearing a young boy ask "are you my mummy?" over the phone. He explores the alleyway and peeps into a garden, where a family are heading into the air raid shelter. The young girl, Nancy, sneaks into their house and begins preparing dinner for the homeless kids of London. The Doctor interrupts and asks them questions, but Nancy remains frosty. Rose is saved from plummeting to her death by Captain Jack Harkness and his invisible spaceship located by Big Ben. She burns her hand, and gets it healed by nanogenes on Jack's ship. They flirt, before he assumes she is a time agent and tries to strike a deal regarding the object the Doctor's looking for. Nancy's meal is interrupted when the young boy, wearing a gask mask, arrives and she orders the kids to scarper, before doing it herself. The Doctor remains, against her advice, and tries to speak to him. However, he vanishes, and the Doctor pursues Nancy once again, who directs him to Doctor Constantine, the only person remaining in a hospital otherwise packed with unconscious people, all identical in injury with the gas mask wielded to their head. Doctor Constantine says that Nancy knows more than she's letting on, but succumbs to the "injuries" himself, and the Doctor witnesses a gask mask form on his face. Rose and Jack arrive, and the trio become surrounded by newly awoken gas mask zombies, while Nancy is cornered in the house she broke into by the young boy, Jamie - her brother.

 

The Doctor orders the zombies to go to their room, and they obey, as if they were being punished. This saves Nancy's life too, as Jamie retreats. She is however captured by the family who own the house, but escapes when she reveals she has dirt on the husband that he would hate to be revealed. The Doctor and Jack are introduced properly, where he confirms he's been conning them once he realises they aren't time agents after all. They proceed to another room in the hospital, where a recording of Jamie was kept when he was first admitted to the hospital. However, when the tape stops running and the voice keeps going, they realise Jamie is in the room with them - the Doctor sent him to his room, and that WAS his room! Jamie calls on the help of the other zombies to attack the trio. Using Jack's sonic blaster, they manage to escape to the ground below and lock themselves in a cupboard. However, Jack vanishes and leaves the Doctor and Rose stranded. Inspired by her dance with Jack on his ship, she tries to convince the Doctor to dance with her, and without them realising, Jack teleports them onto his ship. Nancy meanwhile tells the homeless kids to stay away from her as Jamie wants her, not them. It's proved when the typewriter is being tapped away at, but nobody is actually using it! She heads to the site of the ship, and tries to investigate, but is captured by the soldiers guarding it and placed in the guard of a man with a scar on his hand, identical to that of Jamie. The Doctor, Rose and Jack manage to break in after the "disease" becomes air-borne and takes over the guards. The Doctor saves Nancy and together they work to learn more about the crashed ship. Jack is adamant it's harmless but the Doctor soon realises the truth. The ship landed and killed Jamie, who was wearing a gas mask at that point. Nanogenes revived him but they'd never seen a human before, and decided they must look like Jamie, injuries and all. He also figures out the answer to Jamie's question - "are you my mummy?" - can be answered by Nancy, who isn't his sister after all and is in fact a teenage mum. She finally embraces him, and the nanogenes use the template of Jamie's mum to fix their problems, saving Jamie and every other person taken over by the gas mask. The Doctor is gleeful as "everybody lives", and he and Rose save Jack from his spaceship, carrying a WWII bomb that was close to detonation.

 

I've been reading a Doctor Who non-fiction book recently, which covers the history of the show right from its creation until around 2010. One thing it talks about a lot is how Doctor Who at its best always discusses social and political issues under the guise of aliens. This two-parter is a great example of that, as it looks at teenage pregnancy. Even nowadays it's not looked at in the best possible way but during World War II, it was a taboo subject to the point where Nancy had to pretend Jamie was her brother and not her son. This leads to the nanogenes "healing" more and more people, when in actual fact Nancy could probably have answered Jamie's question much sooner and solved the problem if she didn't feel ashamed. The story itself is one of the scariest episodes of New Who, with scenes such as Doctor Constantine's transformation, Jamie's arrival at the house, the typewriter moment and my favourite of all, the tape running out but Jamie's voice continuing, being absolutely terrifying. The threat is incredibly well thought out and is complex without being confusing. Nancy is incredibly likeable and it's easy to root for her, while Jack adds an interesting dynamic to the TARDIS team (and it's great to see his progression in the story too, from a bitter time agent to a hero who'd sacrifice his life to help others). The comedy moments are great too, I love the Doctor's arrival at Nancy's meal as well as the tongue-in-cheek moment of him asking if anything's fallen from the sky...during WWII :lol: Overall it's a gripping story and is told perfectly, with both a genuine threat and a hugely emotional story intertwined - totally worthy of being Eccleston's best story for me.

What episodes are left? Can't wait to find out #1

Army of Ghosts / Doomsday

Blink

Heaven Sent

The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End

Turn Left

 

:D

Human Nature / The Family Of Blood is my absolute favourite episode, even above Vincent. The setting itself is beautiful, set on the eve of true battle, the absolute height of the complacent Edwardian age, there's so much of a lovely halcyon feel to it. It's old-school England so the social values are different, but the Doctor fits right in as a caring teacher and you could almost believe that he could spend the rest of his life there. Very powerful stuff and the villains are powerful, scary and familiar as they inhabit captured humans, and they get everything that is coming to them.

 

Empty Child never felt quite as good for me as many others but I will admit that the gas masks worked and the Doctor's joyful cry of 'Everybody lives' was quite something.

 

 

SORRY

 

NOT HERE FOR THIS SHIT

 

THOSE DESERVE TO BE NO1 FOLLOWED BY ROSE AT 2.

 

TURN LEFT WITH A PLASTIC POUNDLAND BEETLE AND THAT CHEESEFEST STOLEN EARTH WITH MARTHA BLOODY JONES AREN'T A PATCH ON IT.

OH MY GOD NO WAY IS HEAVEN SENT WITH DANNY PINK ROBOT NOSE STRETCHED ACROSS HIS COMPUTER FACE AS LOVE SAVES THE DAY THERE

 

ABSOLUTE TRAAAASSSHHHHH

 

Doomsday can stay because of the weave snatching and dragging of the two most linguistically gifted species in the universe.

 

We do not base our design on style!!!

 

Obviously.

Edited June 11, 20178 yr by Willy's Tears

Heaven Sent doesn't have Danny Pink in it!! :kink: (it was the series after, I think you're thinking of Dark Water / Death in Heaven which dropped out at #28 :heehee:)

Oh right.

 

Heaven Sent with Mi and some talk about a hybrid right? That one's alright, not great rhiugh.

 

I hope it doesn't include that aaaeful one where he is trapped in a clock and punches through diamond.

Heaven Sent is the diamond wall one, which you'd know if you googled it! :kink:

I have to admit I found Heaven Sent quite boring tbh and I hope it's out next. I don't think it's Capaldi's best episode.

 

Everything else truly deserves to be this high.

 

I like Rose but it shouldn't ever be top 2 except for when we were 2 episodes into New Who.

Of the WW2 stories, this was my least fave, although I did enjoy the whole gas mask child as a villain. Very scary. Mind you, Sebby in a gas mask would scare me as much as it would entice me, those things are scary AF.

Bad Wolf, Rose and Empty Child should be top5!!!

I really like that Doctor Dances two parter doctor Constantine's transformation was so scary! One of the most intense, scary and interesting two-parters they have ever done.

Blink & Turn Left are extraordinary episodes of New Who and definitely deserve to be this high. They are flawless episodes in their own right. Funnily enough, both of these episodes are actually "Doctor-Lite". In a television show where the Doctor is the main character in almost every episode, some of the best are the ones without him.

 

Blink introduced the world to the most fking terrifying of all DW monsters ever created. Sure the Daleks and Cybermen are scary but overused and mostly just filler these days (with 2 super obvious exceptions which are also in this top5), but the Weeping Angels are insane.

 

Turn Left is where we see what the world would be like without the Doctor, something that is never really touched upon in the show but surprisingly has a huge impact. From the Torchwood & Sarah Jane Smith cameos to all the plot points from different series 3-4 episodes on Earth it was truly thrilling and heartbreaking. Arguably my favourite DW episode; gripping from start to finish.

 

That said - I don't think either of those should make it to the top spot. It's great having episodes without the Doctor but it's not "Doctor Who" without him, really. Number one belongs to The Stolen Earth / Journeys End for the sheer fact that the Doctor finally reunited with Rose. I can't remember Heaven Sent tbh but I'll rewatch it as soon as this list is completed.

Edited June 12, 20178 yr by Dexton

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is fantastic, a lot of interesting aspects that are all able to come together really well. Introducing Captain Jack was another brave move for a first series but it helps to give the story and the series another different edge. Nancy is also an intriguing supporting character that is really well developed. The whole tone works so well, it is so dark and incredibly creepy. I've never been so scared by something as I have by the gas masks. I was genuinely terrified for MONTHS afterwards. The boy was so creepy and the transformation of Richard Wilson was horrifying. But that's what makes it so good too! The explanation for why it all happened was a good one too I felt.

 

I've never warmed to Human Nature/The Family of Blood as much as everyone else. I can appreciate it but it's not as enjoyable for me. I just really hate John Smith I think haha. It is well written though and the ending is particularly dark.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is fantastic, a lot of interesting aspects that are all able to come together really well. Introducing Captain Jack was another brave move for a first series but it helps to give the story and the series another different edge. Nancy is also an intriguing supporting character that is really well developed. The whole tone works so well, it is so dark and incredibly creepy. I've never been so scared by something as I have by the gas masks. I was genuinely terrified for MONTHS afterwards. The boy was so creepy and the transformation of Richard Wilson was horrifying. But that's what makes it so good too! The explanation for why it all happened was a good one too I felt.

 

I've never warmed to Human Nature/The Family of Blood as much as everyone else. I can appreciate it but it's not as enjoyable for me. I just really hate John Smith I think haha. It is well written though and the ending is particularly dark.

I did too :lol: I just wanted to punch him. Martha and Joan were the saving graces.

I've reached the end of series 5. I forgot we did briefly meet Amy's aunt.

 

I was gonna stop here but I've decided to plow on all the way to series 9.

Blink & Turn Left are extraordinary episodes of New Who and definitely deserve to be this high. They are flawless episodes in their own right. Funnily enough, both of these episodes are actually "Doctor-Lite". In a television show where the Doctor is the main character in almost every episode, some of the best are the ones without him.

 

Blink introduced the world to the most fking terrifying of all DW monsters ever created. Sure the Daleks and Cybermen are scary but overused and mostly just filler these days (with 2 super obvious exceptions which are also in this top5), but the Weeping Angels are insane.

 

Turn Left is where we see what the world would be like without the Doctor, something that is never really touched upon in the show but surprisingly has a huge impact. From the Torchwood & Sarah Jane Smith cameos to all the plot points from different series 3-4 episodes on Earth it was truly thrilling and heartbreaking. Arguably my favourite DW episode; gripping from start to finish.

 

That said - I don't think either of those should make it to the top spot. It's great having episodes without the Doctor but it's not "Doctor Who" without him, really. Number one belongs to The Stolen Earth / Journeys End for the sheer fact that the Doctor finally reunited with Rose. I can't remember Heaven Sent tbh but I'll rewatch it as soon as this list is completed.

 

I agree - Blink and Turn Left are really fantastic and testament to how the show can even work incredibly well without the Doctor if needed. Turn Left really showcased how incredible a character Donna was and set up that incredible finale brilliantly.

http://i.imgur.com/6OPZpAN.jpg

 

5 Heaven Sent

Series 9, Episode 11

Doctor: Twelfth

Companion: Clara Oswald

 

In what looks like a castle, something crawls its way into a room and pulls a lever. The figure crumbles to the ground and the Doctor arrives in the teleport pod in the centre of the room. Having just seen Clara killed, he's angry and furious, knowing that whatever brought him to this place was partially responsible for her death. He starts to explore the castle and, across the way, he notices a creature. The creature's POV is displayed on televisions around the castle, so the Doctor knows where it is. He's followed down a walkway, and becomes trapped, as the creature, which is surrounded by flies, closes in on him. The Doctor recognises it, and confesses he is afraid of dying. The creature, known as the Veil, then freezes and the castle reconfigures itself, giving the Doctor a chance to escape. He finds himself in a bedroom, with a painting of Clara hung on the wall, but when the Veil catches up with him, he jumps out of the window. We then see the Doctor in the TARDIS - a technique of quick thinking in his mind, talking to "Clara", to figure out his survival using the physics of the place he's in. He crashes into the water but wakes up and pulls himself to safety, finding a new set of identical clothing and shoes by a fireplace. Still figuring out exactly what is going on, the Doctor finds himself in what looks like a garden. He picks up the shovel placed conveniently in the garden and begins to dig, finding a message saying "I am in 12", before being attacked by the Veil. In his mental TARDIS with Clara, he figures out that it was his confession of being scared that stopped the Veil before, and confesses that he didn't leave Gallifrey because he was bored, but because he was scared. The Veil stops once more and the castle realigns itself.

 

As he spends more time there, the Doctor realises that he has up to 82 minutes before the Veil arrives for him, if he runs from one extreme end of the castle to the other. He finds room 12 but it's blocked by a door, needing the castle to realign before he can get in. The Doctor makes his way back to the control room and finds the skull of the figure that activated the teleport, and the word BIRD scribbled in the sand-like matter on the floor. He takes the skull to the top of the tower, noticing he is totally surrounded by water. He says he must be 7,000 years in the future looking at the sky, but knows for a fact he hasn't been transported in time. The Veil arrives again, and the Doctor confesses this time that the Hybrid is real, he knows what it is and that he's scared of it. The skull is knocked into the sea, joining many other skulls at the bottom. The Doctor then finds room 12 and gets in, but sees there is a huge glass-like wall at the end, made of Azbantium. Talking to Clara once again, the word 'bird' clicks in his mind, and as the Veil approaches, he begins to punch the wall. The Veil grabs him and burns him, before it vanishes. A severely burnt Doctor spends days climbing his way up the castle to the control room, plugs himself in, and uses his last bit of life force to power the teleporter. He writes the word BIRD in the sand, and crumbles, as a new Doctor arrives in the teleporter, ready to start the entire process over again. This continues to happen, with a little bit more of the Azbantium wall being broken away each time. Over and over, the Doctor dies and duplicates himself. Billions of years in the future, the Doctor finally breaks through the wall, and walks through a portal - finding himself on a familiar orange-tinted world. The portal closes and is revealed to be the Doctor's confession dial - he was trapped in there the entire time. He tells a young boy to warn the city that he is back - before we see that the world is in fact Gallifrey.

 

Generally I've been doing one paragraph for each episode (so two paragraphs for a two-parter), but there are SO many important details that this episode requires two :lol: Heaven Sent is a totally unique episode, in the sense that it's a one-hander starring only Peter Capaldi for 99% of the time. The Veil doesn't speak and Clara only speaks a couple of lines in the Doctor's mind. This allows Peter Capaldi to give possibly his best performance as the Doctor, in one of the most interesting episodes the show has produced. The lack of a supporting cast doesn't affect the episode at all, which is impressive considering how vital they are to other episodes, particularly Blink and Turn Left which are still to come! The Veil is creepy and I love the air of mystery around it, and the actual plot is incredibly well thought out. I've expressed already how I'm often not a fan of Moffat's wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey plots most of the time, but the presentation of a similar theme in Heaven Sent is gripping from start to finish. It didn't click that the man at the beginning was actually the Doctor until it reached that point again nearer the end, and everything made sense. A perfect example of how experimentation in Doctor Who can pay off hugely, and it's by far and away my favourite Capaldi era episode.