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83 Cold War

Series 7, Episode 8

Doctor: Eleventh

Companion: Clara Oswald

 

In 1983, a Soviet submarine is sailing near the North Pole during the Cold War. In the cargo, a sailor begins to prematurely defrost a block of ice that is said to contain a mammoth, but what is inside actually attacks and kills him. The submarine starts to sink, and the TARDIS arrives. The Doctor manages to prevent the submarine from sinking but the TARDIS dematerialises. The Doctor, Clara and the crew come face to face with an Ice Warrior, the first appearance in the show since 1974. The Ice Warrior is named Grand Marshal Skaldak, and despite the Doctor encouraging the crew to be peaceful, Stepashin knocks Skaldak out. The Doctor knows that Skaldak will avenge this, and they chain him up. Clara volunteers to reason with Skaldak, who realises that he was frozen for 5000 years and has no family anymore. He had previously submitted a signal calling for back-up but stopped after hearing this, believing there was nobody out there. Skaldak escapes from his armour and kills three crew members, which the Doctor believes is because he has nothing left to lose. Skaldak plans to launch a nuclear missile to ignite a thermonuclear war and eradicate humans for what they have done to him, but is stopped when a tractor beam from an Ice Warrior ship beams him up.

 

I think this is a pretty solid base-under-siege style episode. The supporting cast aren't very memorable but I like the Ice Warrior, and as someone who's not seen many classic episodes, this is the only time I've seen the race (so far...). The conclusion is a bit rushed and the reasoning for the TARDIS dematerialising (the Doctor accidentally reactivated some emergency protocol) is a bit weak, but it's certainly more enjoyable than a chunk of series 7.

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Aww no, Tooth And Claw is one of my highlights of series 2. I think that's where that
(1:15 on) that Series 2 had when the werewolf was set free first came about (to return gloriously in The Satan Pit 2-parter a LOT). And werewolves are some of the essential monsters in folklore for me, very scary and effective when done right and it certainly is here, I'd say this is one of the scariest episodes of DW I can think of.

 

Plus, Queen Victoria was great and all the atmosphere it has with being in the remote Scottish highlands (didn't the werewolves in Being Human also come from Scotland?), the whole history of the werewolf coming to Earth before so well laid out, the decades-long plan of the diamond coming to fruition and it feels like a really well-planned out set piece. And there's the founding of Torchwood and the tongue-in-cheek attempt to suggest the royals are all now lycanthropic. I love it.

 

Actually, there is one thing bad about it, that 'we are not amused' running joke was awful but I'm chalking that up to my dislike of Rose rather than a dislike of the episode.

 

You don't like the best ever companion but lust over personality-devoid Martha bloody Jones?! FLEERRP!!!

 

Aww I like Tooth and Claw, one of the best historicals and some really creepy moments too!!

 

Cold War was a bit disappointing, really atmospheric but they shouldn't have removed the Ice Warrior from its armour.

 

That's the one where they can magically speak Russian right? Yeah... :unsure:

The TARDIS automatically translates? :P

You don't like the best ever companion but lust over personality-devoid Martha bloody Jones?! FLEERRP!!!

 

Precisement. Martha is excellent because she's attractive because she represents what the companion should be, a normal, everyday person along for the ride who ends up doing amazing things without any romance, without being so special the universe will bend for her and just thinking about that gets me bored already.

 

Cold War was okay, I never got that much out of it, I feel it could have been a little better - although that guy stanning Ultravox from a Russian sub was cool to see.

Rose is the PROTOTYPE for the new companions.

 

Martha is sooo bland and uttery dull that she could literally NOT be worse.

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82 A Good Man Goes to War

Series 6, Episode 7

Doctor: Eleventh

Companion: Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song

Also starring: Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, Strax

 

The mid-series finale for series 6 sees the truth about River Song revealed, as the Doctor and Rory track down Amy after it's revealed she had been replaced by a flesh imposter. The Doctor realises that Amy was being held on Demon's Run, a top secret military base held on an asteroid ran by Madame Kovarian and inhabited by Headless Monks, and he enlists the help of some old allies, including Dorium Maldovar, and introducing Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax. River Song declines to help, knowing the time is near where the Doctor will learn her identity. The Doctor and his allies infiltrate the base, and Rory goes to save Amy and Melody. The Doctor realises that Melody was conceived in the time vortex, so she is "human plus Time Lord". The group are attacked by Headless Monks, in an attack that sees Dorium beheaded. Kovarian reveals they have fallen into her trap, and baby Melody dissolves into flesh, being yet another duplicate. River arrives, and realises that she is in fact Amy and Rory's daughter, so he heads off alone to track down Melody.

 

The series 6 arc wasn't really a huge favourite of mine, it was very drawn out and totally messy, and unfortunately this episode is bogged down by being totally draped in this story arc. The Headless Monks are cool enemies and I'd be intrigued to see them in a story where they're more central to the plot. The River Song reveal was pretty good, not something I actually saw coming (although it was spoiled for me in advance, not by choice!). Otherwise it's quite messy, the pacing is all over the place and there's a lot to keep track of with the plot. By the time the series returned with Let's Kill Hitler, I'd totally forgotten a lot of this too :') a good set-up ruined by a heavy series arc.

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81 Night Terrors

Series 6, Episode 9

Doctor: Eleventh

Companion: Amy Pond, Rory Williams

 

The Doctor receives a message on his psychic paper in this episode, from a frightened 8 year old boy called George. He, Amy and Rory split up to find where he lived on a council estate, and the Doctor finds him, with his father Alex. George had been frightened of many things for his whole life, and anything scary is put, metaphorically, inside his wardrobe. Amy and Rory however take the lift, and are taken down into what appears to be a doll's house. They are found by life size peg dolls, which transform Amy into a doll. After Alex shows the Doctor some old photos, the Doctor notices that George's mum Claire did not appear to be pregnant in the weeks leading up to George's birth, and Alex then remembers that Claire cannot have kids. George feels scared after the Doctor realises that he is an alien called a Tenza child, and puts them both into his wardrobe, where they meet Rory in the doll's house. The Doctor suggests that George is scared that Alex and Claire will send him away, so Alex rushes to embrace his child, which calms him down and everything is restored to normal.

 

I find George's story pretty sweet I must say, and Alex is very likeable. Much like The Curse of the Black Spot, this is a welcome break from the heavy series 6 arc, but otherwise it's pretty bog standard for an episode. Very interesting concept, and the threat is very much at the forefront of the episode. Solid but not a big favourite.

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I'll continue this later on (post-chart show) but in the mean time, a reminder of what's in the top 80! Any particular faves you'd like to see nice and high?

 

A Town Called Mercy

Aliens of London / World War Three

Amy’s Choice

Army of Ghosts / Doomsday

Asylum of the Daleks

Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways

Blink

Boom Town

Closing Time

Dalek

Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks

Dark Water / Death in Heaven

Deep Breath

Face the Raven

Father’s Day

Flatline

Gridlock

Heaven Sent

Hell Bent

Human Nature / The Family of Blood

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Last Christmas

Listen

Midnight

Mummy on the Orient Express

New Earth

Partners in Crime

Planet of the Dead

Planet of the Ood

Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel

Rose

School Reunion

Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead

Smith and Jones

The Angels Take Manhattan

The Beast Below

The Bells of Saint John

The Caretaker

The Christmas Invasion

The Day of the Doctor

The Doctor’s Daughter

The Eleventh Hour

The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances

The End of the World

The End of Time Pts 1 and 2

The Fires of Pompeii

The Girl in the Fireplace

The Girl Who Waited

The God Complex

The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood

The Husbands of River Song

The Idiot’s Lantern

The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon

The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

The Lazarus Experiment

The Lodger

The Long Game

The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar

The Next Doctor

The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang

The Power of Three

The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People

The Runaway Bride

The Shakespeare Code

The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky

The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End

The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone

The Time of the Doctor

The Unicorn and the Wasp

The Unquiet Dead

The Vampires of Venice

The Waters of Mars

The Wedding of River Song

The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion

Time Heist

Turn Left

Under the Lake / Before the Flood

Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords

Vincent and the Doctor

Voyage of the Damned

Idk names but that one where Clara has died and The Doctor is stuck in that capsule for billions of years. Also the first two where River Song is introduced and that guy repeatedly shouts 'Oy, who turned out the lights!'

 

EDIT: Just looked them up, I'm thinking of Heaven Sent and Silence In the Library/Foresst of the Dead

Edited by PeteFromLeeds

I am so surprised and pleased A Town Called Mercy is still in the running. And I do have a certain minimum where I shall require Vincent to be, I won't say but that better be high x

 

Night Terrors was abysmal, everything about it was wrong (the dolls) and annoying (the kid).

I am hoping to see a lot high particularly The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and Silence In The Libary/Forest Of The Dead :wub: also Blink to go far!

I liked Tooth and Claw, it's certainly one of the better historical ones. Really fab episode!

 

A Good Man Goes To War was a bit too sensationalist but I did enjoy it.

 

Night Terrors was pretty bad, certainly worse than some of those below it.

Night Terrors is a lot worse than some jt's above!!

 

That Melody Pond one was a good episode, but the whole arc was confusing and I kept thinking I'd lost a part of it or another. By the next episode I was back to being confused by forgetting a lot too!!

 

 

My fave is the Bad Wolf two parter, the London blitz two parter with Rose, the one where the Ponds snuff it, the arc heavy Good Man Goes To War, the mannequin one of season one, the one where Rose comes back with a gun and the one in Pompeii and the Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens ones.

I do like the set up for A Good Man Goes to War and it very much does its job as a mid-season finale! Not really something you can watch as a standalone though and there was a lot more potential for the Headless Monks! Still, a very ambitious episode and of course that interesting shock at the end!

 

The kid is Night Terrors was extremely annoying! I would probably put it in a similar position as you, a good concept but I feel it was probably quite restricted in terms of budget and making it child-friendly. Possibly with a couple more re-writes it would have been a stronger episode.

 

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit MUST be at least Top 10 please, along with The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and Blink!! Rooting for Last Christmas too but I'm scared it will soon become a victim to the Christmas massacre :kink:

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