I can never really go back to Series 11, I really don't think that no series arc and weak monsters worked for it at all, the messaging was far too heavy handed throughout and three companions didn't work. It felt like a children's show at times.

 

Series 12 was better and had some bright sparks, but the pay off was ultimately a disappointment (not particularly new for Doctor Who granted, but I still can't get my head around why it was necessary). Flux had the same problem exactly. The finale of the era ironically was probably the strongest as Chibnall could just afford to go mad and not have something of a coherent plot and mythology to maintain.

 

Not a vintage era at all really, whether it will get better with time remains to be seen and it certainly got a harder time than usual due to the bigotry/anti-woke crowd, but I just don't believe Chibnall was really right for Doctor Who as a writer, and that is reflected in his record before showrunner as they were all really average episodes.

 

Orphan 55 was almost funny with how bad it was that it ranks higher for me than some of the other borefests, and the others so far are ranked about right too ( does live that above Praxeus though)

I got what Chibnall wanted to do with series 11 but there was so much I'd change about it. 13 didn't get enough character development with three brand new companions to wrestle for screentime with immediately too, I'd have started off with one or two of them and built the "fam" up if needed over the series. Not to mention the lack of threat throughout the series giving it a very low-stakes feel, evidenced in the total anti-climax of a finale.

 

Series 12 felt like a course-correction and I enjoyed it more as a result, but it wasn't without its flaws. I think Chibnall proved he shines best with the legacy monsters though, because the episodes featuring the Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Sontarans and Weeping Angels are the best of the era (Sea Devils are the exception okay x) and I loved Dhawan's Master too. Flux was a step-up again if not perfect (take the Grand Serpent out and let Vinder be more developed in that time and it comes together a bit better... oh and maybe explain what happens to the universe how most of it's apparently gone lol).

 

As for Orphan 55, I didn't actually mind it, but BENNI!!!!!!!!! was extremely grating :lol: and the heavy-handed "moral" at the end wasn't great. Doctor Who's always been "woke" but it's about taking a real world issue and putting it in sci-fi terms, not giving exposition about said issue at the end.

Isn't Doctor Qho now somehow the universe itself? Lol. God, Chibnall sucks. Those two really camp Flux monsters, qho literally steepled their hands and cackled!!!! like humans, not aliens, and came across as camp and pantomine as Sharon Watts, were just the cherry on top of a shit sandwich.

25

It Takes You Away



Series 11
Written by Ed Hime
Guest starring Sharon D Clarke, Ellie Wallwork, Kevin Eldon, Christian Rubeck, Lisa Stokke

Audience Appreciation Index score: 80
Reviews: Radio Times (1 out of 5 stars), Rotten Tomatoes (7.5 / 93%)

And just like that, both of Ed Hime's stories for Doctor Who are wiped out of the countdown. It Takes You Away was actually one of the most recent rewatches for me having left Series 11 to last to revisit. I did actually find myself enjoying it just a smidge more this time around, but it's still... not very great considering some of the stuff we did get this era that was substantially better. Much like The Tsuranga Conundrum, I think this episode suffers drastically by having its main threat reduced to nothing more than silliness - this time in the form of a frog (because "Grace loves frogs!!11!). Another problem that this episode presents (that isn't actually apparent until you consider the era as a whole) is that the threat/supposed villain could actually be very high-stakes, but ultimately is very watered down and meaningless.

There's a lot of build up in this episode; discovering the Antizone, trying to figure out what's going on with Hanne and her father, meeting Ribbons and mazing through the Antizone further to reach the other side, but in the end all it was leading to was some character development for Graham and establishing how he's coping (or not coping) following the loss of Grace in the first episode of the series; and then Graham and Ryan's bond somewhat strengthening with Ryan finally calling Graham 'granddad' in the closing moments of the episode. This, admittedly, is a cute moment between the two, but it's one of very few where Ryan is tolerable to me. For much of the rest of the episode, Ryan just comes off severely annoying, and there's not much for him, Graham or Yaz to do, even with what's possibly one of the smallest guest casts of the era? Ellie Wallwork as Hanne could have easily been one of Series 11's best guest stars had the episode actually allowed for the eeriness and horror factor to remain all throughout.

It was of course nice to see Sharon D Clarke reprise her role of "Grace", but when it's revealed that nothing is as it seems and all of this is the Solitract simply in search of a friend or companion, we're left watching Jodie Whittaker try her hardest to showcase her acting chops conversing with a universe masked as a frog on a chair before parting ways (something from the Series 11 trailer that will ALWAYS annoy me - the shot of her walking away blowing a kiss as though it was going to be an emotional farewell to somebody). This could very well have been an incredibly eery and intense episode had we stuck with the original location and had a proper haunted cabin story in a deserted Norway with an evil unknown, but that would have been too much to ask sadly. Overall, this had all the makings of what could have been an epic penultimate story for the series, but what we ended up with was a decent start that slowly but surely descended into chaos (and not the good kind!).

I mean, I've not rewatched it in a long time (or possibly ever), but I liked It Takes You Away a lot! The frog was silly but it's Doctor Who so I didn't mind, it had a great premise, though I don't think it was *quite* as exciting as the premise suggested. Definitely the first "loss" at this stage though!

Hmmm Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos seems to be exceedingly high.

 

Saying that I don't like It Takes You Away - I actually don't mind the frog, but the episode is just sooooo dull. The Interzone scenes are awful as well.

Why is Ranky Avocados still here 👀

 

Otherwise absolutely no shocks so far. Orphan 55 is the absolute messiest New-Who episode in every form except the design of the Dregs.

24

Once, Upon Time



Series 13 (Flux)
Written by Chris Chibnall
Guest starring Thaddea Graham, Jacob Anderson, Nadia Albina, Jo Martin, Steve Oram, Craig Parkinson, Barbara Flynn, Amanda Drew

Audience Appreciation Index score: 80
Reviews: Radio Times (2 out of 5 stars), Rotten Tomatoes (7.2 / 75%)

Once, Upon Time... where to start? There are some really good things about this episode, and there are other things that just fall really short. We start off with the Doctor trying to save Yaz, Dan and Vinder by hiding them throughout their timelines. It's good to see Dan with Diane again sharing a heartwarming moment, but I guess what's most interesting is trying to decipher exactly what's happening with Vinder when he's with his superior. At the time, none of this appeared to make much sense, but it's only with hindsight and having seen the whole series that you know the background with the Grand Serpent, etc. This of course also serves as the introduction to the Grand Serpent, aka quite possibly one of the most pointless villains in the whole series considering his rise and demise were both about as quick as each other, with no real explanation offered as to his origins, his motivations and such.

Thaddea Graham's character Bel takes centre stage for some time in this episode too, jumping around on a stolen Lupari aircraft encountering Daleks and Cybermen, all with her little Tamagotchi in hand smiling at her for the duration of the episode (one of the most cringe things about all of Flux, truth be told). Bel is likeable enough, but the way that both her and Vinder's stories were pushed throughout this episode and the rest of the series is just so... off, like there wasn't enough depth to all the other 90,000 story threads dangling that they needed to create all of this to fill the gaps. I'd have much preferred to see more of Joseph Williamson's tunnel exploration and becoming lost in all of these different times than this doomed-lovers story. But then of course we have the introduction of Barbara Flynn's character "Awsok" (yeah, right!) too, letting us in on the fact that the Flux was a deliberate creation and is all the Doctor's fault - definitely a good moment that led us into the second half of the series waiting to see what was going to further unfold.

Of course, one great thing to come of this episode was the unannounced return of Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor and her role in the Atropos story - confronting and defeating Storm and Azure. It was good that there was at least some exploration of the Doctor's lost memories, and that Jo Martin was pivotal and a key part of the previous encounter with the Ravagers, but something like this feels like it would be good spin-off material to add more context to what happens in the main show, as opposed to living it and further reducing Jodie Whittaker's screen time as the only star of the show during her era. One final thought about this episode from me (there's not really much more I want to add without saying that I find it an average, 'okay' episode at best with some great moments scattered throughout) is that the scenes with the Doctor inside the time storm speaking to the giant Mouri has the potential to challenge for - again - some of the worst CGI we have seen in this era. COVID happened, sure, but it seems that from Series 13 onwards they just stopped caring about how bad certain things may look on screen; and it's a shame considering how wonderful they managed to make both Series 11 and Series 12 look no matter the budget constraints.

Hmmm Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos seems to be exceedingly high.

 

Why is Ranky Avocados still here 👀

 

B-)

I didn't mind Once, Upon Time really, though it's not one to be watched in isolation as it relies a lot more on the arc of Flux.

23

Can You Hear Me?



Series 12
Written by Charlene James & Chris Chibnall
Guest starring Ian Gelder, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Sharon D Clarke, Buom Tihngang

Audience Appreciation Index score: 78
Reviews: Radio Times (3 out of 5 stars), Rotten Tomatoes (6.6 / 67%)

An episode set in Aleppo, 1380 with a monster on the loose in a mental hospital?! Sign me up! Oh wait, shame it lasted all of five minutes before the episode changed course and we ended up back on modern day Earth with an entirely different threat for the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan to deal with... only revisiting the location later down the line as a plot device to defeat the bigger evil ensuing in our time. There are a lot of good (and some experimental) ideas in this episode, but some of them being so all over the place make it all seem quite disjointed and so it doesn't quite stand up as one of the best Doctor Who episodes of the modern era (or, evidently, of the Chibnall era itself either).

Whether it's Charlene James' penmanship or Chibnall decided to finally up his game a little bit here, this is an episode where Ryan isn't completely unbearable. His scenes with Tibo are definitely an improvement on some of his character arc so far developed throughout the era, and I actually find myself sympathising with him at this point. He's been taken away on this magical journey with the Doctor that he's forgotten about the people he's left behind, and there are consequences to that. A grounding moment for all three of the companions, for sure. Zellin makes for a decent enemy in this episode (and a welcome return to the Whoniverse for Ian Gelder who appeared as Dekker in Children of Earth :magic:), but again we have a classic case of a villain in the Chibnall era being marketed as some formidable foe that can't be defeated so easily, but in the end is actually quite underwhelming and will never be considered a classic one either.

We get another glimpse of Yaz's home life in this episode, and these are scenes that really make me miss what both Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat did so well in Doctor Who (maybe not the latter to an extent, but at least when he acknowledged the home life of his companions, it just *worked* for some reason). Which leads us onto one of the most controversial moments of the episode, where Graham decides to confide in the Doctor about his cancer. I don't want to comment too much on this, but I think it's something I can see from both sides. This could have been an incredible opportunity for the Thirteenth Doctor to show a really deep, sympathetic side to herself, but instead the scene was approached in a way where we are supposed to feel sympathetic for family members of those with cancer struggling to deal with that situation and being able to find the right words to say to comfort someone. It's a difficult watch, and the execution absolutely leaves something to be desired, so we can only hope that if anything like this ever does happen in Doctor Who again, we have a much more sensitive approach taken - especially when it involves our lead character. For this scene, Yaz definitely wouldn't want to be referring to her WWTDD pen marking on the palm of her hand...

tbh I'm with the others, why is Ranskoor still in xxx

 

Can You Hear Me is firmly average for me too, nothing much to write home about but it's fine.

The animated scene in Can You Hear Me? is nice... but the rest is a no from me.

 

I'm calling Av Kolos as the winner :D

 

22

Arachnids in the UK



Series 11
Written by Chris Chibnall
Guest starring Chris Noth, Sharon D Clarke, Shobna Gulati, Tanya Fear

Audience Appreciation Index score: 83
Reviews: Radio Times (5 out of 5 stars), Rotten Tomatoes (7.2 / 87%)

Side-note before beginning my commentary for this episode: shook at Radio Times giving this 5 stars - were they watching something completely different to the rest of us? Anyhow, Arachnids in the UK is actually a decent episode, and it has a lot of great things that I actually appreciate a lot, but I think what lets it down is once again the social commentary that is very on the nose and really hams it down our throats without being subtle in the slightest, particularly in the final act of the episode when we know exactly what the problem is and what's happened to cause all of the story's events. But that's not the only social commentary in this episode - we also have a guest character in the form of Jack Robertson who is deliberately painted as an extreme Trump-like man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants and what suits his own agenda. While it's always good seeing good overcome evil, is a figure like that somebody we really need to see represented on television in a series that represents absolutely everything the opposite of those like that?

This episode also gives us our first glimpse into Yaz's home life, and seeing Shobna Gulati of Coronation Street fame in the role of Yaz's mother is delightful. She's a great guest character, and it's just a shame that she didn't play a more central role during the Chibnall era (akin to Jackie Tyler or even to a lesser extent Sylvia Noble). Further to that when we get back to the main action in Jack Robertson's hotel, the first scenes with the spiders running rampant - being more of a threat than they are towards the end when they're dancing along to Big For Your Boots by Stormzy into the panic room - are excellent. For those that aren't fans of spiders, it's definitely something that would give you chills and be a genuinely quite creepy episode. But by the end it seems they're less of a fear and instead just classically misunderstood or overshadowed by a bigger evil at play.

I do think Jodie is absolutely brilliant in this episode, and some of the awkwardness that's so likeable about her incarnation of the Doctor comes across brilliantly - even with the bad Ed Sheeran jokes or when she's struggling to interact with Yaz's family socially and ends up going on a house call to settle her curiosity. Overall, when you consider Series 11 as a whole and when you also consider that this was one of SIX scripts penned by Chibnall in a ten-episode series (and the fourth of five consecutive episodes either co-written or written by him alone), this really isn't that bad and quite an enjoyable romp besides some daftness.

The more I think about Arachnids in the UK, the more it falls apart. I enjoyed it on first watch, it has some good ingredients but it wasn't even fully resolved, what happened to the spiders across the city, outside the building? :lol:

 

also Najia is an icon x

That's where I'd seen her before!!!

 

Yeah, arachnids was truly woeful, and shows just how bad Chibnall is!!! There is a giant spider living next door to Yaz's family, and they are all over the city, too!! :rofl: There is no resolution at all, except for locking SOME spiders away.

Apart from the inventive title, I think that's my least favourite of the whole run - the painfully obvious and unsubtle Trump figure playing a pantomime villain throughout and being finger wagged at would be bad enough, but the worst thing is that the Doctor is completely in the wrong - in what universe is it more 'humane' to starve spiders to death locked in a room over ending it quickly with a gunshot?! The fact he's made to look so cruel for shooting the large one at the end when it was quite literally suffocating is ridiculous. You spend the whole episode preaching and yet the villain actually has a good point, well done! :lol:

 

Awful, AWFUL moral, I cannot believe no one realised how ill-thought out that was. The fact that is just ends after that with no resolution to the spiders roaming around leads me to believe this was genuinely done in a rush before Chibnall needed the loo or something.

Apart from the inventive title, I think that's my least favourite of the whole run - the painfully obvious and unsubtle Trump figure playing a pantomime villain throughout and being finger wagged at would be bad enough, but the worst thing is that the Doctor is completely in the wrong - in what universe is it more 'humane' to starve spiders to death locked in a room over ending it quickly with a gunshot?! The fact he's made to look so cruel for shooting the large one at the end when it was quite literally suffocating is ridiculous. You spend the whole episode preaching and yet the villain actually has a good point, well done! :lol:

 

Awful, AWFUL moral, I cannot believe no one realised how ill-thought out that was. The fact that is just ends after that with no resolution to the spiders roaming around leads me to believe this was genuinely done in a rush before Chibnall needed the loo or something.

 

100% THIS!! :lol:

 

Also, spiders can be cannibals, and so they woulx have started fighting and eating each other, too, before the final ones starved.

21

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos



Series 11
Written by Chris Chibnall
Guest starring Phyllis Logan, Mark Addy, Percelle Ascott, Samuel Oatley

Audience Appreciation Index score: 79
Reviews: Radio Times (3 out of 5 stars), Rotten Tomatoes (6.3 / 73%)

Narrowly missing out on the top 20 from the Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who is the first of Chibnall's series finales in the form of The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. Now, when you consider this as a finale compared to what we are used to, yes it's disappointing. We had RTD who built series-long arcs that led up to epic, blockbuster finales with a big bad and devastating consequences or farewells for beloved characters of the show. Then we had Moffat who gave us that on a lesser scale, but still very much wrapping up a central storyline or arc and bringing everything full circle, with a major dilemma and big consequences/fallouts. There was always something taking centre stage in a showdown with high stakes. This episode however - and for a first to introduce yourself as showrunner and show your audience what you can really do to end a series on a high - delivered practically none of what we were used to and was treated pretty much as the tenth and final standalone story with no real gravity, consequences, end-game, what have you.

However, when you also consider the episode simply for what it is, I really don't think it's that bad. Tim Shaw really wasn't the big bad (either here or in The Woman Who Fell to Earth) that he was hyped to be (and the blissful ignorance of the Stenza, any of their background, etc besides a brief moment of realisation from the Doctor that they had massacred another planet in The Ghost Monument), but it did the job and it worked in this episode as a decent 'revenge' story after the events of the series opener. One of the most interesting creations to come from this episode were the Ux. Granted, they really weren't utilised to their full potential and another story with them to further explore their capabilities and culture would have been magnificent, but the idea all tied together neatly with Tim Shaw's plan.

I think for me one problem in this episode is that it's the beginning of Yaz, Ryan and Graham magically, from nowhere, understanding what they need to do to resolve certain things in difficult situations with the Doctor, as if between episodes they've been studying libraries of books in the TARDIS about how to apply certain skills in whatever disaster crops up next. It just isn't natural, and we're left wondering if we've missed something. Graham and Ryan's scenes in this episode, however, are pretty nice and if only they had both left at the end of this series instead of staying for the entirety of Series 12 before deciding enough was enough, I'd have been content. All in all, this episode does have some action to keep me entertained. I certainly wouldn't say it's as bad as some would make out, but it's certainly not an incredible episode or finale by any means and leaves much to be desired about what Chibnall can actually deliver moving forward if that's the crescendo.

__________

Before moving on to the top 20 (when I'm back from holiday on Sunday, currently typing from a hotel room in Marrakech :magic:), here's a rundown of what's still to come:

Series 11 (6 remaining) [20.69%] (60% indiv.)
The Woman Who Fell to Earth
The Ghost Monument
Rosa
Demons of the Punjab
Kerblam!
The Witchfinders

Series 12 (5 remaining) [17.24%] (62.5% indiv.)
Spyfall
Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror
Fugitive of the Judoon
The Haunting of Villa Diodati
Ascension of the Cybermen / The Timeless Children

Series 13 (Flux) (5 remaining) [17.24%] (83.33% indiv.)
The Halloween Apocalypse
War of the Sontarans
Village of the Angels
Survivors of the Flux
The Vanquishers

Specials (4 remaining) [13.79%] (80% indiv.)
Resolution
Revolution of the Daleks
Eve of the Daleks
The Power of the Doctor

Surprisingly, Series 11 has the most episodes remaining in the top 20 with 6 episodes giving it a 20.69% share. Series 13 (Flux) however still has 5 of 6 episodes remaining with 83.33% left in the race to be crowned the best of the Jodie Whittaker era! What's next and what's going to come out on top?

About time x