I'll start with the negative which is that the 2nd part of the story for me was by far the weakest, even boring at times. That being said, every other part was sheer perfection. I had no idea where they were going with Sally but this aspect of the story really moved me. I am loving getting to know Evelyn more, and this was a great story with lots of heartache for her. The story itself balances the humour nicely, with so many great camp moments and the SINGING!!!! Just phenomenal.

there need to be more stories where they try to prevent suicide using parodies of gilbert and sullivan

Doctor Who and the Pirates is one of the silliest Doctor Who stories I’ve ever experienced, and I absolutely love every bit of it for the same reasons that the first Pirates of the Caribbean film is so ridiculous, yet people love regardless! The style and tone of this story is so campy and over the top, but never reaches the point of being annoying. It always manages to keep that fun energetic feel throughout while also having a lot of heart.

Doctor Who and the Pirates sees Evelyn call in on one of her students who’s been out of sorts lately and tells her a story of a recent adventure, one on the high seas encountering pirates in search of treasure. But to make things more fun the story she tells is littered with inconsistencies, certain parts end up having to be retold because she misremembers events in her excitement, the sailors are all voiced by the same actor as Evelyn’s not an impressionist, and then later the Doctor turns up to tell his part of the story which consists of the characters being unrealistically complimentary of his attire. The captain of the pirates, Red Jasper, is brilliantly played by Bill Oddie who’s having an absolute blast with this role. This man was born to play a pirate and he goes all out, being a perfect mix of menacing and hilarious. As an example of the inconsistencies in Evelyn’s story he starts off being portrayed as having hooks for both hands until it’s decided he needs a free hand for a swordfight, and also having two wooden legs until the student points out how ridiculous that is. We get a scene of the sailors agreeing to join the pirates in their treasure hunt and not only are they all voiced by the same actor, but they keep throwing out made up names until Evelyn can’t think of anymore and start throwing out names of other fictional characters.
If you think that’s weird you ain’t heard nothing yet as towards the halfway point the Doctor decides to liven things up by turning the story into a musical! Which leads to Doctor Who’s funniest cliffhanger where the Doctor, much to Evelyn’s horror, starts to sing!!! The entirety of part three plays out as a Gilbert & Sullivan parody with Doctor Who themed lyrics. It even makes fun of the common musical trope of having a song for every conversation…

"I just can’t understand why you would want to work for Red Jasper! Perhaps……you could sing me a song about it!"

This all builds up to the reveal as to why this student is so depressed and the real reason for Evelyn’s visit which is moving and features a beautiful solo from actress Helen Goldwyn. It then ties into the final part where we learn why this adventure was so personal to Evelyn. This story is a brilliant mix of hilarious, silliness, clever, heart-warming and emotional. Of course, you should bear in mind going in that you’re in for something very over the top and ridiculous but it’s all part of the fun, I never get tired of listening to this one, highly recommend!

One of the finest things Doctor Who can do as a framework of telling stories is to experiment and do what had not been done before. Doctor Who and The Pirates is perhaps the pinnacle of this experimentation and what it can do for a series at the top of it's game. This isn't a Pure Historical. This isn't a Sci-fi tale. It's not even, though it tries to convince you, a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. This is Doctor Who at it's unreliable best: a bit of lightning in a bottle, the spark to a beautiful cascade of fireworks, something bright, small and new, and you'll never see anything quite like it again. Weird, sad, unapologetic, and mad in all the ways. Love this one to death.

I very much enjoyed this story, and am giving it a 4.5/5. I like how it began silly and making fun of itself, with darker themes such a suicide and grief being handled tactfully. The use of the unreliable narrator (aka Evelyn and the Doctor making things up for dramatic effect (and funsies)) was delightful, and I liked the way the theme music was used as part of the joke, with the music separating the parts repeated at certain changes of narrators. Another absolutely lovely story from Rayner (and, after reading a certain story of hers that I really disliked, this very much restores my faith!)

Oh my, did Rayner just have good ol' Sixie call the Daleks robots?? Someone's getting exterminated!