147 Survivors of the Flux

Series 13 Episode 5

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Dan Lewis

Also featuring: Inston-Vee Vinder, Bel, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Karvanista, Professor Jericho

First aired: 28th November 2021

Writer: Chris Chibnall

There's lots to be said about how remarkable Flux is given the pandemic it was produced during, and sure enough, it's the last Jodie series to lose an episode. The only real issues I have with it come from how it ties together in the end, which was always an ambitious task, but I'll discuss the nitty gritty of that when The Vanquishers drops out. The penultimate episode did a lot of setting up for the finale, though. I did really like seeing Yaz and Dan with Jericho, there's a real sense of chemistry between the three, and Dan probably suits being Yaz's companion more than the Doctor's...! I also think it's probably the first solid hint of "Thasmin" but I wish it would've committed to that a little more to seed it even just a couple of episodes before it became canon. I don't think they really explore the consequences of Yaz and Dan being away from the Doctor for a whole three years though. The Doctor spends much of the episode with Tecteun getting answers, which is good for us to fill in some blanks but it's a lot of talking and Tecteun's a pretty unsympathetic character, sadly not particularly layered, and unceremoniously killed by Swarm at the end of the episode, ruining any chance of development. We also see the Grand Serpent infiltrating UNIT, and the return of Kate Stewart for the first time since The Zygon Inversion, but I don't feel this story strand was necessary at all and basically wastes time given the Grand Serpent amounts to a whole load of nothing in the end. The episode ends up feeling like a lot of treading water, moving each piece into the position it needs to be in for the finale. Also, worst resolution to a cliffhanger ever - the Doctor becoming an angel is undone in seconds!

SOTF, definitely did feel like we were leading up to huge final, was good to see a serial arc like classic who days but they definitely left it a bit late for Thasmin especially given she was leaving the following year,

UNIT was probably shoehorned in to make them more important and relevant again for the next year (did feel like it was so she can say she met all the doctors Tennant onwards) Tecteun was disposed off too easily even if she wasn't the greatest of characters (seems to be running them with the writers and big characters),

The Dan and Yaz pairing is significantly better than the Yaz Graham and Ryan, shame we couldn't get more to be fair But given what was coming it is what it is,

Have to agree considering Covid visually these episodes are impressive even if they were probably overcomplicated so much

146 The Curse of the Black Spot

Series 6 Episode 3

Doctor: 11th

Companion: Amy Pond, Rory Williams

First aired: 7th May 2011

Writer: Stephen Thompson

We're already firmly into a region of stories that don't really have anything actively wrong with them, and in fact, I actually quite like to a degree. The Curse of the Black Spot came after a heavier than usual series premiere, and landed the Doctor, Amy and Rory onto a pirate ship under attack from a Siren, who targeted anyone with an injury by placing a black spot on their hand. Rory becomes a victim of this quickly, and much of the episode is spent trying to keep him away from the Siren's magnetic song. Hugh Bonneville guest stars as Captain Avery, and brings in a solid performance, particularly when Avery's son Toby is found as a stowaway and their complex family dynamic is explored. The rest of the supporting cast are just numbers waiting to be picked off, and the ship is an even more claustrophobic setting than usual which is both a blessing and a curse. The reveal of the Siren effectively being a virtual doctor for a medical ship, and I think the pacing of the episode goes a bit haywire here but it's not a bad resolution. The episode also features one of Rory's most notable death scenes...! Ultimately the episode's perfectly decent but not super memorable or one that I feel an urge to revisit very often.

TCOTBS biggest curse is it didnt really adavance what had just happened in the IM/DOTM after some shocking twists we get a random episode , that was still good just didnt answer any questions

I did like the fact that it was Amy getting jealous for a change up to here it was always Rory with the grand gestures (minus the one time he was erase from existence) and one sided

4 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

TCOTBS biggest curse is it didnt really adavance what had just happened in the IM/DOTM after some shocking twists we get a random episode , that was still good just didnt answer any questions

I did like the fact that it was Amy getting jealous for a change up to here it was always Rory with the grand gestures (minus the one time he was erase from existence) and one sided

I think that's my issue with the series 6 arc, it's a much heavier arc than any we'd had before but it's sort of forgotten about in this episode. That said, I was SO confused about Day of the Moon at the time so this was something of a reprieve!

145 Empress of Mars

Series 10 Episode 9

Doctor: 12th

Companion: Bill Potts, Nardole

Also featuring: Missy

First aired: 10th June 2017

Writer: Mark Gatiss

The second of two Ice Warrior episodes in the modern show came in the second half of series 10. With the Monk trilogy over, I was ready for a more typical standalone episode, and Empress of Mars was a decent enough return to "normality" for the show. The Doctor and Bill attempt to manage a conflict between humanity and the Ice Warrior queen Iraxxa while the TARDIS leaves them stranded with Nardole inside, leaving him to ask Missy for help to return. Much like The Eaters of Light, this is a perfectly serviceable episode but nothing super exciting, and the Ice Warriors don't feel utilised to their potential here (I say that as someone who hasn't seen their classic episodes), but Bill gets some good moments through Iraxxa's relative willingness to listen to her contributions, and the supporting characters are relatively well fleshed out if somewhat forgettable. Nardole and Missy's scenes are great, Michelle Gomez doesn't need to do much to steal a scene, though this doesn't play a particularly big part in the episode. The other Ice Warrior outing, series 7's Cold War, is still to come.

6 minutes ago, JosephBoone said:

I think that's my issue with the series 6 arc, it's a much heavier arc than any we'd had before but it's sort of forgotten about in this episode. That said, I was SO confused about Day of the Moon at the time so this was something of a reprieve!

I think thats the probably we were left confused , asking question like WTF and then we got this, not a bad episode in its own right but could of been lifted almost from.anywhere, could of been Squeezed in anywhere between VAmpires in Venice and hungry earth series 5 and still would of made sense

2 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

I think thats the probably we were left confused , asking question like WTF and then we got this, not a bad episode in its own right but could of been lifted almost from.anywhere, could of been Squeezed in anywhere between VAmpires in Venice and hungry earth series 5 and still would of made sense

I think series 6 probably needed a Flux-style approach to make the arc properly work. Someone like Mels could have been seeded in sooner, without standalone episodes that are quite obviously entirely unrelated, as opposed to stuff like War of the Sontarans or Village of the Angels which still made sense in the Flux narrative even if they were largely separate!

Will catch up properly soon but leave your series 6 slander at the door please ✋

Kind of ironic just mentioned The hungry earth as EOM has a lot of similarities human accidentally wakes species , leads conflict, conflict resolved 😅 i thin thats part of the reason its not as impactful

I do like that it advances Missy redemption arc further glad she was master/mistress for more episodes as personally think she the strongest incarnation of the character,

On 23/08/2025 at 15:53, JosephBoone said:

150 Fear Her

Series 2 Episode 11

Doctor: 10th

Companion: Rose Tyler

First aired: 24th June 2006

Writer: Matthew Graham

I've defended this episode somewhat in the past as I find it gets a pretty bad time from the fanbase. That said, it's still towards the weaker end of Doctor Who episodes, and it lands as the second lowest episode of RTD1 regardless. The Doctor takes Rose on a trip to the future to the 2012 London Olympics (!), only to encounter a neighbourhood with an abnormal number of missing children. The story focuses on Chloe Webber, possessed by a small creature called the Isolus who was desperate for friendship. I find it a cute story, particularly as mum Trish tries to reconnect with her distant daughter, a story strand enhanced by the backstory of Chloe's father. There's some solid stakes as the Doctor becomes one of the Isolus' victims, leaving Rose behind to solve the problem herself, involving some iconic comedy scenes with council worker Kel. Despite this, in parts, the episode feels a bit amateur, and the acting can occasionally be shaky from the guest cast. Not a highlight of the show but it's at least a little better than it's given credit for in my view.

I enjoy Fear Her but can see why it’s considered one of the weaker episodes of RTD era. There’s something about it’s placing between a Doctor-lite episode and the big two part series finale that gives it a filler/forgettable vibe, can’t quite explain why that is but yeah, I do tend to overlook it when thinking back on the episodes. This was also a last minute episode after the Stephen Fry-penned episode was pulled.

The Doctor/Rose chemistry and the fun they have together is a highlight for me- love the scene in the kitchen when the Doctor dips his fingers into a jar of marmite(?) - and the Chloe/Trish relationship feels very real. There’s some quite sinister tones with the missing children aspect and the backstory of Chloe’s dad being abusive, the latter of which really drives the story. Not sure why this episode was said to be specifically aimed for children because I find the drawing of dad in the wardrobe coming to life quite terrifying!

18 minutes ago, Liam.k. said:

I enjoy Fear Her but can see why it’s considered one of the weaker episodes of RTD era. There’s something about it’s placing between a Doctor-lite episode and the big two part series finale that gives it a filler/forgettable vibe, can’t quite explain why that is but yeah, I do tend to overlook it when thinking back on the episodes. This was also a last minute episode after the Stephen Fry-penned episode was pulled.

The Doctor/Rose chemistry and the fun they have together is a highlight for me- love the scene in the kitchen when the Doctor dips his fingers into a jar of marmite(?) - and the Chloe/Trish relationship feels very real. There’s some quite sinister tones with the missing children aspect and the backstory of Chloe’s dad being abusive, the latter of which really drives the story. Not sure why this episode was said to be specifically aimed for children because I find the drawing of dad in the wardrobe coming to life quite terrifying!

I definitely agree that the positioning doesn't help it - I think Love & Monsters and Fear Her are in a similar position to Empress of Mars and The Eaters of Light from series 10 actually, late series standalone episodes sandwiched between more hyped multi-part stories, and they end up slightly swallowed up. Love & Monsters obviously has the novelty factor of being the first Doctor-lite episode, and that and Fear Her generally get a worse rep than the series 10 episodes (not unfairly), but they all fall into a similar category of, largely, not being particularly well regarded. When you're surrounded by The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, it's always going to be tough to hold your own!

Compare that to something like series 3, which in theory could've had the same issue between Human Nature/The Family of Blood and the finale, but they served up Blink instead and roped Utopia into the finale. Likewise, series 4 had Midnight and Turn Left in its back pocket between the library two-parter and the finale! It's not the part of the series to be resting on your laurels, you want the momentum to be driven upwards for the big finale.

As the flux goes on you start to realise there was too many villains and not enough breathing space for each one and that's why it struggled second half.

I'd have The Curse Of The Black Spot above The Empress Of Mars personally but both aren't top tier Doctor Who both I'd label as varying levels of okay

Empty child / doctor dances s1
Midnight s4
The Time Of The Doctor s7
Turn left s4
Army of ghosts / doomsday s2
Stolen earth / journeys end s4
Blink s3
The Day Of The Doctor s7
Silence in the library/ forest of the dead s4
The girl in the fireplace s2
Rosa s11
Magicians Apprentice/ Witch's Familar s9
Deep Breath s8
The Name of The Doctor s7
He'll Bent s9
Waters of Mars s4
Human nature / the family of blood s3
War of the sontarans s13
Heaven Scent s9
The Haunting of Villa Diodati s12
Mummy on the orient express s8
Under the Lake/ before the flood s9
Into The Dalek s8
Bad wolf/ parting of the ways s1
World enough and time/ doctor falls s10
Time Heist s8
The runaway bride s3
Fugitive of  the Judoon s12
Flatline s8
The Angels Take Manhattan s7
Asylum of the Daleks s7
Partners in crime s4
A good man goes to war s6
The Impossible Astronaut/ Day Of The Moon/ S6
Voyage of the dammed s3
Listen s8
The impossible planet / the Satan pit s2
Dark Water/ Death In Heaven s8
Pandorica opens/ The Big Bang s5
The Time of Angels / Flesh & Bone s5
Planet of the ood s4
Father's Day S1
The idiots lantern s2
Unicorn and the wasp s4
Dalek S1
It takes you away s11
Hide s7
Knock knock s10
End of time s4
Nightmare in silver s7
The wedding of river song s6
Fires of pompeii s4
The Doctors Wife s6
Face The Raven s9
Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood s5
Vincent and the doctor s5
A Town Called Mercy s7
The next doctor s4
Rise of the cyberman/ age of steel s2
Christmas invasion s2
Sonatarn strategy / posion sky s4
Utopia s3
Rose S1
Gridlock s3
Smith and Jones s3
Halloween Apocalypse s13
Kill the moon s8
Kerblam s11
Night Terros s6
The battle ranskoor av kolos s11
Thin Ice s10
The Bells of St John s7
Snowman s7
Let's Kill Hitler s6
Sound of drums / last of the time Lords s3
Doctors daughter s4
Planet of the dead s4
Resolution s11
The witchfinders s11
Twice upon a time s10
The Husbands of River Song s9
Smile s10
Tooth and claw s2
End of the world s1
New earth s2
Victory of the daleks s5
The Long Game s1
Orphan 55 s12
The eaters of light s10
School reunion s2
The Pilot s10
The doctor the widow the wardrobe s6
Nikola teslas night of terror s12
Cold War s7
Last Christmas s8
Aliens of London / ww3 s1
Ascension of the Cybermen/ The Timeless Children s12
Curse of the Black Spot s6
The unquiet dead s1
Spyfall s12
The tsuranga conundrum s11
Robot of sherwood s8
The Power Of Three s7
Beast below s5
Rings of Akhaten s7
Arachnids in the UK s11
Darleks in manhatten / evolution of the darleks s3
The Shakespeare code s3
Lodger s5
The girl who waited s6
The Rebel Flesh/ Almost People s6
Eleventh Hour s5
Crimson Horror s7
Extremis/ Pyramid / Lie s10
The woman who fell to earth s11
Lover and monsters s2
Boom Town s1
Empress of Mars s10
Closing Time s6
Dinasours on a Spaceship s7
The ghost monument s11
42 s3
Fear her s2
Zygote Invasion/ Zygon Inversion s9
Vampires of venance s5
Lazaraus experiment s3
The Caretaker s8
Demons of the punjab s11
Amy's Choice s5
Can you hear me? S12
A Christmas Carol S5
The god complex s6
Revolution of the Daleks s12
Sleep no more s9
Praxeus s12
In the forest of the night s8
The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived s9
Oxygen s10

This was my ranking few years ago from a re watch 😀 from good to bad x

Edited Monday at 06:561 day by Rough_edges

4 hours ago, Rough_edges said:

Empty child / doctor dances s1
Midnight s4
The Time Of The Doctor s7
Turn left s4
Army of ghosts / doomsday s2
Stolen earth / journeys end s4
Blink s3
The Day Of The Doctor s7
Silence in the library/ forest of the dead s4
The girl in the fireplace s2
Rosa s11
Magicians Apprentice/ Witch's Familar s9
Deep Breath s8
The Name of The Doctor s7
He'll Bent s9
Waters of Mars s4
Human nature / the family of blood s3
War of the sontarans s13
Heaven Scent s9
The Haunting of Villa Diodati s12
Mummy on the orient express s8
Under the Lake/ before the flood s9
Into The Dalek s8
Bad wolf/ parting of the ways s1
World enough and time/ doctor falls s10
Time Heist s8
The runaway bride s3
Fugitive of  the Judoon s12
Flatline s8
The Angels Take Manhattan s7
Asylum of the Daleks s7
Partners in crime s4
A good man goes to war s6
The Impossible Astronaut/ Day Of The Moon/ S6
Voyage of the dammed s3
Listen s8
The impossible planet / the Satan pit s2
Dark Water/ Death In Heaven s8
Pandorica opens/ The Big Bang s5
The Time of Angels / Flesh & Bone s5
Planet of the ood s4
Father's Day S1
The idiots lantern s2
Unicorn and the wasp s4
Dalek S1
It takes you away s11
Hide s7
Knock knock s10
End of time s4
Nightmare in silver s7
The wedding of river song s6
Fires of pompeii s4
The Doctors Wife s6
Face The Raven s9
Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood s5
Vincent and the doctor s5
A Town Called Mercy s7
The next doctor s4
Rise of the cyberman/ age of steel s2
Christmas invasion s2
Sonatarn strategy / posion sky s4
Utopia s3
Rose S1
Gridlock s3
Smith and Jones s3
Halloween Apocalypse s13
Kill the moon s8
Kerblam s11
Night Terros s6
The battle ranskoor av kolos s11
Thin Ice s10
The Bells of St John s7
Snowman s7
Let's Kill Hitler s6
Sound of drums / last of the time Lords s3
Doctors daughter s4
Planet of the dead s4
Resolution s11
The witchfinders s11
Twice upon a time s10
The Husbands of River Song s9
Smile s10
Tooth and claw s2
End of the world s1
New earth s2
Victory of the daleks s5
The Long Game s1
Orphan 55 s12
The eaters of light s10
School reunion s2
The Pilot s10
The doctor the widow the wardrobe s6
Nikola teslas night of terror s12
Cold War s7
Last Christmas s8
Aliens of London / ww3 s1
Ascension of the Cybermen/ The Timeless Children s12
Curse of the Black Spot s6
The unquiet dead s1
Spyfall s12
The tsuranga conundrum s11
Robot of sherwood s8
The Power Of Three s7
Beast below s5
Rings of Akhaten s7
Arachnids in the UK s11
Darleks in manhatten / evolution of the darleks s3
The Shakespeare code s3
Lodger s5
The girl who waited s6
The Rebel Flesh/ Almost People s6
Eleventh Hour s5
Crimson Horror s7
Extremis/ Pyramid / Lie s10
The woman who fell to earth s11
Lover and monsters s2
Boom Town s1
Empress of Mars s10
Closing Time s6
Dinasours on a Spaceship s7
The ghost monument s11
42 s3
Fear her s2
Zygote Invasion/ Zygon Inversion s9
Vampires of venance s5
Lazaraus experiment s3
The Caretaker s8
Demons of the punjab s11
Amy's Choice s5
Can you hear me? S12
A Christmas Carol S5
The god complex s6
Revolution of the Daleks s12
Sleep no more s9
Praxeus s12
In the forest of the night s8
The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived s9
Oxygen s10

This was my ranking few years ago from a re watch 😀 from good to bad x

Oxygen last??

28 minutes ago, JosephBoone said:

Oxygen last??

Yeah I thought that... God Complex bottom 10 too!

I'll have to do my own list at some point, I have done it from time to time and have run various things on GB too.

144 Can You Hear Me?

Series 12 Episode 7

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair

Also featuring: Grace O'Brien, Sonya Khan

First aired: 9th February 2020

Writer: Charlene James & Chris Chibnall

Companion development was something I was desperately craving during series 11 and 12. A packed TARDIS team of three new companions, in addition to a new Doctor, was an ambitious move from Chris Chibnall at the start of his tenure, and unfortunately their character development often felt like the last priority. Can You Hear Me? earns its place in this era of the show for tackling some of that development, even if it was too little, too late. We learn about Yaz's battle with her mental health during school, see the effect of Ryan's absence on his friend, and Graham confronts his fear of his cancer returning. Individually, all of these feel like important moments, but when this is right near the end of Ryan and Graham's tenure, it feels insignificant, and Yaz's story is never referenced again despite her sticking around. The actual villains, Zellin and Rakaya, two of the Eternals, were a little forgettable, but some of the imagery around Zellin near the start was quite spooky. The Doctor's role in the story actually feels less significant and the Aleppo parts make the story feel a little disjointed. I think the episode as a whole would feel more essential if the companion development actually had any real impact on the long-term story. Oh, and the Doctor's reaction to Graham opening up about his cancer fears is the single worst bit of writing the show's had...! No criticism for Jodie who I love but I think the Doctor's response basically being "I'm socially awkward soz" is a fundamental misunderstanding of the character. The Twelfth Doctor would often say the wrong thing, but when it came to it, he would do his best to support his companions, even if he had to use Clara's cue cards. The fact the Doctor was written to not even try to give Graham some words of wisdom is baffling! A stain on an otherwise pleasant episode.

11 hours ago, JosephBoone said:

I definitely agree that the positioning doesn't help it - I think Love & Monsters and Fear Her are in a similar position to Empress of Mars and The Eaters of Light from series 10 actually, late series standalone episodes sandwiched between more hyped multi-part stories, and they end up slightly swallowed up. Love & Monsters obviously has the novelty factor of being the first Doctor-lite episode, and that and Fear Her generally get a worse rep than the series 10 episodes (not unfairly), but they all fall into a similar category of, largely, not being particularly well regarded. When you're surrounded by The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, it's always going to be tough to hold your own!

Compare that to something like series 3, which in theory could've had the same issue between Human Nature/The Family of Blood and the finale, but they served up Blink instead and roped Utopia into the finale. Likewise, series 4 had Midnight and Turn Left in its back pocket between the library two-parter and the finale! It's not the part of the series to be resting on your laurels, you want the momentum to be driven upwards for the big finale.

Yes absolutely agree with the last paragraph - those episodes are excellent! Makes you wonder if Fear Her aired earlier in the series if it would have been better received? I get that they needed another Doctor/Rose adventure before the finale though, going from an episode they barely appear in to a two-parter that sees the end of their relationship wouldn’t have the same impact.

Definitely agree with you on CYHM, it almost felt like oh yeah these 2 are leaving soon better give them more development which came across too little too late, especially considering the next 3 episode were a loose trilogy

142 42

Series 3 Episode 7

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Martha Jones

Also featuring: Francine Jones

First aired: 19th May 2007

Writer: Chris Chibnall

The first episode Chris Chibnall contributed to the Whoniverse is a pretty run-of-the-mill episode. 42 was Martha's first trip in the TARDIS after being invited aboard long-term, at last, by the Doctor. It sees the duo fighting to save a failing ship on the cusp of falling into a star, but when captain Kath McDonnell's husband Korwin roams the ship on a rampagne, incinerating people with his eyes, the Doctor is horrified to discover that star they've been harvesting for fuel is actually alive. It's a pretty standard "base under siege" style story, with a great claustrophobic feel despite the vastness of the ship. Martha and Riley being trapped in the escape pod makes for a touching character moment and some great breathing space to explore Martha's relationship with her mum, and the twist about the star being alive is pretty interesting. Otherwise it's quite a standard episode, some of the guest cast are dispatched in very quick succession, leaving only McDonnell, Riley and Scannell to get any real development. It feels a little too similar to The Impossible Planet in some regards, particularly as it only arrived a year later, but I find this episode decent enough in its own capacity.

[edit: moved up a position, #143 is revealed next]