Elisabeth Sladen’s decade spanning contribution to Doctor Who ends here. No other companion has had the kind of impact that she managed during her time across three(!) spin offs. Pleasingly this story is a good one, and the extended outro is a touching tribute to The Sarah Jane Adventures.

This story has a sparky plot. A hologram, controlled by alien slaves under the control of a melevolent force, poses as a tech billionaire to trick the public until buying the “surf” board, which  is a good pun in the context of a story introducing children to the horrors of slavery. The design and prosthetics of the alien’s face is quite impressive, and very sweet. I could have watched them for much longer.

The Smith Family are vety sweet together. It’s nice having three of them now, they make a good unit. The posh actor attempting a Romanian accent is less good - I am not sure why they felt she was the ideal woman for the role.

Had Elisabeth Sladen lived longer, I truly believe this show would have been allowed to run on and on and on. We were so lucky to have it

Sky is brilliant! They found an excellent young actor to play her and it’s a terrible shame that she gets such a truncated run on the show as she’s a little star!

There is a famous actor playing guest character Ellie, later better known for being in Skins. Rani’s got competition! She’s been on the streets for 2 years, but not so long that she can’t get their roots done! The romance was played really well, I am looking forward to seeing how it interacts with Clyde and Rani’s budding romance.

The rest of the plot is a little thin. Clyde and Sky work out what’s going on far, far after the audience has and you watch the same scenarios play out again and again. Luckily the cast are more than capable of handling the lacklustre script, giving all the oomph of any other story.

After leaving defeating the Daleks and leaving his grand-daughter behind him it is understandable that the Doctor seeks out rest, but the TARDIS has other plans. They land in the future on an alien planet and a fairly ordinary two-parter ensues. I think it is true to say that this is more of an introductory episode for Vicki then anything else.

There is some thoughtfulness in the script. Barbara is scared for her life and kills an innocent sand monster, not understanding it had good intentions, as soon as Vicki reveals to her that it was an innocent creature she immediately feels guilty - so it has some stakes. I am glad that over the 11 stories not all the aliens have been evil, showing there is plenty of good in the universe. I am disappointed though that The Doctor played down the tragedy of this creature's death in order to win Vicki round to liking Barbara. It would have been interesting to see Vicki learn to forgive Barbara on her own merits.

There are nice moments, Barbara and Ian have plenty in common with Vicki as a companion - they are both from Earth and trapped outside of time. My main worry with Vicki is that she will take Susan's role directly in the TARDIS and have little to do that we have not already seen.

For the first time the show was working within an epic landscape. The huge sets and real locations look amazing on screen. The bravery in a children's television programme taking on a post-apocalyptic London in the early 1960s is considerable, but pays off massively. They made the Dalek's even more formidable through turning them into a worldwide threat.

All of non-regular cast in this story are fantastic. It gives you a strong idea of how different characters would react to this kind of invasion. Some would group together, some would screw others over.

Sure, susan's relationship with some random character develops a bit to quickly for most fan's liking. After only a couple of days they have to spend their whole life together, but in the context of a show from this time, I can forgive this. Susan's leaving scene is fantastic, a perfect piece of Doctor Who history. It is always odd to hear the Doctor's famous "one day I'll come back" speech within its original context. The first companion leaves, and the show's mechanism for continual renewal is set in motion.

It felt like I was watching The Twilight Zone with the oversized props throughout episode one. This added an extra element of fun, slightly different from the rest of the show around it, which is usually a good sign. I would say though that the 'giant world' novelty does wear off during the second part, somewhat saved by the more engaging storyline.

The Doctor feels more in charge at the start of this season which changes the group dynamic, he feels more like the character we see in later seasons. The sets are the best in the show so far, it feels like they had higher budget to play with (though another tardis.guide user suggests that these are re-used sets from another show - makes sense!)

I liked the idea of the Doctor and his companions were fighting an enemy that did not know they existed, in such a surreal episode a welcome element of realism in the baddies' ultimate plan - to sell unsafe products to the market!

The first of the missing stories has distinct, well developed characters who jump out of the screen despite the lack of the visual cues. I ache to see the visuals for these 7 episodes but thankfully the loose cannon reconstruction shows off the beautiful sets and costumes used for the production. Its a particular shame to miss the sword fight in the final installment. The choreographer for this is credited, so I imagining it took a bit of coordination. I hope at least Marco Polo Part 7 is out there somewhere waiting to be rediscovered.

There is some interesting dialogue and character development in this, as well as the most coolest water dispenser I've ever seen (I wish they existed). However, nothing really happens story wise across the two episodes. They very much feel like 'spare' episodes when compared to The Daleks but its nice to see various different rooms in the TARDIS and see the seeds sown for the idea of the time machine being a 'living creature'.

It’s bittersweet seeing the show reset itself so definitively ahead of its unplanned and all too early end. The public had so much love for Elisabeth Sladen, enough to guarantee 5 series and what would have been more to follow, but alas.

It’s interesting that they opted to put a child in the main cast. Oddly, Rani and Clyde look ancient compared to Sky. Plot wise it borrows as much as possible from the show's pilot and Luke’s origins, however it’s the lack of a strong villain that means this story doesn’t sing quite as well as the original.

The ending of this book is sublime. In Doctor Who the “big speeches” can be hit and miss but this story has the Doctor’s biggest and most impactful speech. Beautifully realised both on screen and in this book. Like the best of science fiction it makes you reflect on related real world issues

Overall this book is a solid retelling of a complex couple of Doctor Who episodes which don’t read quite as well on the page as they came across on television. There are however lots of funny moments and newly added moments that make it a worthwhile read for fans. It reminded me of the story in question and made me feel like I knew the story that bit better.

Phil Ford is the man behind some of the very best The Sarah Jane Adventures scripts, including an all time favourite of mine The Lost Boy. It was only right that, at the tail end of RTD’s original tenure, he was asked to write for Doctor Who. The Waters of Mars is one of David Tennant’s most iconic and very best stories. It is certainly amongst the most chilling. We can now also count it amongst the best Target books ever written.

For me, the core appeal of The Waters of Mars is the catharsis you feel following a talented team of experts who’s certain fait it is to fail despite their every effort. It is so perfectly written that even though I knew how it ends I still felt, this time through, that there was some way the team would be able to escape Bowie Base One without massive casualties. The suicide of the main guest character at the end of the story is possibly the bravest move Doctor Who has ever made.

The first and last third of this book follow most of the television story beats with little additions here and there. The major difference of being able to be in the character’s heads which allows Ford to build out motivations and backstories. Most successfully it more convincingly details Adelaide’s journey from admiring to detesting The Doctor and The Doctor’s temporary dive into becoming the Time Lord Victorious - which felt all too brief in the televised episode.

The middle third of the book is home to a newly introduced story which massively expands Adelaide Brooke’s backstory, explaining more thoroughly what happened in her childhood to make her into the pioneer she became. It is a gripping read for those who are already very familiar with the source material.

Some Target books are “nice to haves”, this one is essential reading. Given that you can get through these books in a day or two there’s nothing to lose!

A fantastic story. Elliot Chapman’s Ben Jackson feels like the real thing and gives you the other half of that iconic Ben and Polly relationship that Anneke Wills truly deserves. Even today (or when this was recorded in 2015) her and Frazer sound to me exactly as they did in the 60s… and Frazer’s Doctor is as strong an approximation as you could hope for - it just *feels* right.

The writing on this one feels era appropriate but pushes the team to a location and time (Singapore during World War 2) that feels a little outside of the show’s route one comfort zone. Giving Ben a run in in the past with his much younger father is something that you’d be much more likely to see in the new series - but it’s an idea which fizzes with energy in this context. It gives the character serious development - a feat given how long Ben has been in our imaginations. Ben’s father joins an exciting guest cast - I particularly liked the hotel owner who kind offers then “a special rate”.

The “fear monster” which our TARDIS team defeat with bravery is a well worn idea in science fiction but it works beautifully in this context with these characters.

What an interesting story. It is not a story you often hear described as a Big Finish “classic”. Perhaps this is because it’s release #85 in the Main Range, from 2006, it hasn’t got the sheen of the range’s early years that fan’s adore so deeply.

Red is about a society that has such a poor frame of reference for pain and suffering that their incapacity to feel these sensations makes them seek it and simulations of them. They want to be scared, they want to be hurt - now that's a Doctor Who pitch.

You also get to hear Mel (the health nut) on drugs which is a hell of a listen! The fact they were allowed to do this at a time when the new show was back on BBC1 is flabbergasting, but it really works. I was recently reading an archive issue of DWM from 2003 where I saw that some fans were dismayed at the idea that Bonnie Langford was being employed by Big Finish, she was being held up as one of the problems with the show in the 1980s. Red is proof, if any were needed, that she is a stellar actor and the character has so much potential for development left in her following season 24. So many avenues to go down.

Oh, also. Shout out to Sandi Toksvig who has an incredible guest turn as a fascinating but unscrupulous, serious but funny, well written lesbian character. She adds a lot of dynamism to the story. It’s always nice to hear a familiar voice too.

There are so many ideas in this one, if they were to have run with and truly exploited one or two of them I think we could have had a classic. It’s looking over the shoulder of Aliens of London and wondering how that same time jump would impact Peri’s family - which is not a bad idea in and of itself, but then it tries to be a big scary, twisted dark story… killing Peri’s mum at the end was completely needless - it was entirely tacked on, added nothing to the plot and we’d only just be introduced to the character.

I loved the Cyberman’s plot and how it was dealt with. The use of trickery and the dead from the graveyard was very smart. I really didn’t like the Cyberman dialogue which essentially amounted to the age old “you see Doctor, emotions can be used against you, they make you weak.” Which has to be amongst the most boring sci-fi tropes.

I’m making it sound worse than it is. Meeting Peri’s family, the 1980s setting and some of the more unique story ideas made this one a 6/10. But it had the potential to be so much more.

One of the best Big Finish dramas I’ve heard in a fair while. I could vividly imagine how it would look on screen, the miniatures being very simple to picture. I now “get” the Noonan Doctor a lot better. It might have just taken a bit of time for his voice to click as the doctor. I felt this story was tight and compelling. I wish they’d sequenced it first in this set.

A charming, brilliant story which tapped into a slightly different take on Eccleston’s Doctor for me. Stories where they take established villains and do something completely new with them are extremely rewarding but very rare - this takes home that accolade. The addition of female Sontarans and the Salvation Sontarans in general to the show’s lore is welcome - I hope we see them all again!

Overall it was an okay read for me. Not the best prose but more than worth it for the final couple of chapters which were an incredibly emotional read. The description of the destruction of Pompeii had me totally wrapped up in the tragedy of it all and fully taken in by the writing.

A solid adaptation of a good story, and one that left me wanting to learn more about the history of Pompeii.

This is a mildly entertaining retread of Davros stories that have been covered elsewhere in Big Finish’s and the TV show’s output. The comedy aliens are completely out of place tonally - both in writing and performance which is off putting as they are 40% of the cast.

It pales in any kind of comparison to I, Davros which this is apparently a sequel to. Creating a sequel for I, Davros is a tricky proposition and not one worth pursuing unless you are sure you have a solid gold idea. Traces of the thoughtfulness from the original series can be found here but it is all lumped into clumsy speeches spouted off by psychologist Lareen - rather than introduced through carefully constructed conversations or plotting.

I, Davros felt like Gary Russell’s baby and it does feel quite carelessly treated by Briggs. Especially after it was explicitly stated that a sequel to that iconic set would be pointless.

I am a big fan of Matthew Sweet’s work on Jago & Litefoot. I was also very taken with the documentary he did around the time of the 50th anniversary and thanked him personally for it at the 2013 ExCeL centre convention. As a result of this, and the pretty extreme, divisive reactions to this play, I was expecting to be in the “10/10” camp. Unfortunately, his first outing for Big Finish doesn’t really go anywhere for me.

There is understandably some great dialogue throughout but this is paired with paper thin plotting and a chronic lack of conciseness. It certainly relies on you finding the central premise of a man-pig more entertaining than I do.

Its an all-star cast with recognisable and exciting names such as Adjoa Andoh, Michael Keating and Maureen O’Brien joining Colin and Nicola. Unfortunately though, as everyone is putting on their best Received Pronunciation accent I had to really focus to be doubly sure who was talking at points. Adjoa could be mistaken at a distance for Maureen, Colin could be mistaken at an alarmingly closer distance for the pig man! And these are voices that I am in most cases very familiar with.

I was really taken by David Warner’s Isaac Newton. I found the concept of him seeing into the future through looking at coins from the Doctor’s pocket absolutely fascinating and perfect idea to work out over 30 minutes.

The 5th Doctor and Nyssa are given so much life and agency in Autumn. Nyssa falling for a man in a slowly paced and believable way feels so *right* for a character which has been denied any real romance up until this point - it feels meaningful and groundbreaking for the character. Equally, The Doctor gets another shot at justifying his long held tangential relationship with cricket. I really get a sense of his passion for the sport which completes an element of his character that feels a bit random without this story (regardless of Black Orchid). Both characters are forever elevated by the story.
Paul Cornell knocked this out of the park.

It’s amazing how well the pacing of a 6 parter fares when the story is split into two distinct sections. Here we are treated to an initial two episode burst at a polar icecap, acting as a tragic origin story for the Krynoid’s discovery on Earth. Satisfyingly for the narrative, The Doctor only achieves a partial victory at the end of part two. The first Krynoid is destroyed, but all the innocent people on the polar base are killed by one of Doctor Who’s all time great henchmen Corby. It’s sister pod is also stolen and makes it’s way back to another top tier villain (Harrison Chase) to the very different setting of the English countryside for parts 3 to 6.

A lot of what occurs in the middle of the story is a runaround, with The Doctor and Sarah-Jane falling in and out of trouble and the establishment of another Krynoid, but it’s written with such skill that you never feel like the story is treading water - there is an propulsive energy to the production. Critically, whereas the first time this threat emerged they were in the middle of nowhere, closer to civilisation, this threat becomes potentially apocalyptic.

Harrison Chase is what makes the last third of this story really shine, giving a human face to the menace. His key character trait is that image is fanatical about plants, an unhealthy obsession that he would put ahead of anything else - even humanity. Whilst your bog standard Who villain would have been rallying guards and begging the monster of the week to not kill them, Chase is fascinated in the developing menace, taking photos of it and delighting in its power.

Whilst Terror of the Zygons was a good story, The Seeds of Doom confirms Robert Banks Stuart to be an absolute master at writing Doctor Who. It is such a pity that we only have one last script left from him to enjoy. This story is another all time classic continuing Tom Baker’s superb run as The Doctor.

Louis Marks is not one of the series' more inspiring decade spanning writers, but I did enjoy his fourth Doctor stories (this and Planet of Evil) significantly more than his previous efforts for the first and third Doctors (Planet of Giants and Day of the Daleks).

The most exciting moment of this serial happens up top with The Doctor introducing Sarah-Jane to the "old" TARDIS console room, it is a more radical interior redesign than we ever could have hoped for. A beautiful Victorian mahogany console - so much more "The Doctor" than everything that has come before. By making it a different room in the TARDIS rather than a redesign it adds to the mythology of the show and sense of infinite space inside the machine.

Its not just that TARDIS that looks beautiful but the locations and costumes. I loved seeing Sarah-Jane in her posh 15th century frock - period costumes are something the BBC was and continues to be fantastic at. Anyone who has seen The Prisoner would admit that the location of Portmeirion could have been put to *slightly* better use in this story, but there is no doubt that it livens up the screen considerably more than your typical Doctor Who set.

The story itself has some exciting twists and turns, the villain we are presented in part 1 does not end up being the ultimate threat, which is satisfying. It is let down by a couple of far-fetched elements in the plot, where annoying leaps of logic are made which pull you out of the drama.

The baddies are often wearing static masks, which work well in the cloak and dagger scenes but less well in the brightly lit conversational scenes, with the actors relying on their vocal acting chops (not the most engaging TV). The main character you are routing for in 14th Century Italy is another one of these limp, young, wet leaders (that we saw twice on Peladon) that seem to be "nice" rather than have any character. His friend Marco however is a very passionate and exciting character to follow - his brief interactions with Tom Baker were marvelous.

The trouble with this one is that Eldrad and the other cloaked figures from their planet are not relatable or compelling. The female version Eldrad is in excellent costume and make up, but there is something very slightly off about the script and performance. The male, regenerated version of Eldrad is completely off the boil. It’s a terrible performance. Almost every scene on Eldrad’s planet is drab.

Better are all the scenes between Sarah-Jane and The Doctor in episodes one and two. The extensive location filming is exciting. Seeing as this is Baker and Sladen’s final outing together I was lapping it all up. There has never been a better Doctor/ companion duo before or since.

I appreciated Sarah-Jane's extended goodbye, she was fairly well served. I also appreciated her not really wanting to go in the end. Whilst the story wasn’t the best for her to go out on, I appreciated her being comedic, cheery and full of personality to the end.

After 13 and a half seasons of randomly pottering around time and space, with the occasional dash of continuity, The Doctor finds himself back home and revealing unprecedented amounts about his his race and home planet.

This story has the rare accolade of being both set on Gallifrey and actually being good. It helps that a large chunk of the story is set in a frightening nightmare hallucination, so you never get a chance to get bored of the setting - which is home to assassination, lies and political games.

I like that The Time Lords are set up as generally being total bastards. It makes total sense of why The Doctor left his home planet. It was wonderful to see The Master back after all this time - and in a new incarnation. It only increases the grand sense of history this story has. It’s a very special 4 parter that fees like a reward for sticking with the show up to this point and a celebration of its 13 year history.

Up until this point in the show’s history, there has has only been one other time we’ve had two such strong stories back to back. 1966’s The Tenth Planet into Power of the Daleks, which was 10 months ago in this marathon. Doctor Who is a naturally uneven show, so on the rare occasions that it manages to be consistently flawless I find myself in awe of the producers.

Leela is magnificent. They had a hell of a job following Sarah-Jane but they managed it. Four companion free episodes buttered us up for someone new. Having someone from an entirely different culture who retains some of that culture and does not come across as contemporary the moment they step through the TARDIS doors is also a rarely used and brilliant move at this point. Leela follows in the tradition of several 1960s companions, particularly Victoria, Zoe and Jamie.

The story is of a survey team and a tech team who for generations have been manipulated by a sentient, malfunctioning computer which was set on the wrong course by The Doctor many years before. I mean. Read that pitch. It’s perfect. The survey team becomes the tribe, prized for their brawn and reflexes, the tech team become a learned book smart race. The computer has a plan to use the best example of each species in a eugenics experiment. Bloody hell. Now THAT’S science fiction.

First time Who writer Chris Boucher can stay based on this performance. In fact - he is back next week!

The consistent run of quality stories continues. Based on the last 8 episodes I’ve seen I am at as loss as to why Chris Boucher is not a widely celebrating figure in the Doctor Who universe.

The Robots of Death is Agatha Christie in space, on a stylish spaceship with a varied and interesting array of inhabitants - including iconic looking robots. The world building and work out into the interpersonal relationships between characters is what makes this story special. You never feel like you are watching a run of the mill, sterile vision of space - rather it is messy and exciting.

The visuals are particularly strong in this story in all aspects - including the detailed model shots, that gives the setting a grand sense of scale. Also the rudimentary CGI which turns the robots eyes red is very effective.

If there is one thing that stops it from being quite as good as The Ark in Space or The Seeds of Doom it’s that Dask’s reveal as the main villain is a bit perfunctory. It should have been a grand climax with a look of shock on Leela and The Doctor’s face, but instead it’s just a shot of Dask in shiny makeup, which didn’t honour the complexity and detail of the overall story. After the resolution The Doctor and Leela leave without any kind of debrief from the team - some final words would have been nice. Regardless, this is still one of the best we’ve seen.

It’s a bittersweet feeling, watching the greatest story in this marathon so far. On one hand it’s a marvel that such a production exists. It is a whole world in its own right - the gritty streets of Victorian London, the theatre, the coroners’ house. It’s no wonder that it inspired a Big Finish spin off which successfully continues the vibe and feeling on display here. But on the other hand this is the final chapter of the Hinchcliffe era and it pains me that there is nothing left for me to discover with him at the helm.

Of course I’d seen this story before, but oddly I was far more familiar with the first half than the second, and plenty of engaging the interactions, especially those between Jago and Litefoot, felt totally fresh to me. Once again, and more than ever, I was in awe of Holmes’ writing. The story is split between so many settings, on both beautifully realised locations and sets, that you never get a chance to be overly familiar with any aspect of the story - it’s fresh and exciting from start to finish. The storyline is layered and complex but easy to follow. The clash of the 51st and 19th centuries feels believable and engaging because this unrelatable alien menace is shrouded in a Victorian language we can understand.

As it stands Leela is my favourite companion in the show so far. She is so inspiring and brave in this story, pushing the whole narrative forward. We’ve never had such a tenacious companion. She is unique, in large part owing to her origin story. I wish they’d take a chance like this with a companion again. She manages the impossible task of filling Sarah-Jane’s impossibly large boots and makes an excellent pairing with the best Doctor we have seen up until this point.

The performance of Li H'sen Chang is impeccable, but that of course brings us to the flaw in the Persian rug. It is a real pity that The Doctor views the Chinese so cruelly. It may have been reflective of attitudes in 1977 but it was appalling and makes for uncomfortable watching today. This paired with, for want of a better phrase, “yellow face” doubles down on this discomfort. At points the script is simply racist, many fans today will quite fairly not be able to see beyond this.

If I have seen any of season 15 before, it will have been this story, at least 11 years ago. I immediately recognised the Rutan in part 4, though knowing my memory I could have picked this up from a DVD extra for another story.

This is a brilliant way to kick off the Graham Williams era, continuing the extraordinary run the show has seen since The Deadly Assassin. Like many of my favourites it is set in the recent past, where life is recognisable but different enough to be interesting. The world building is top notch, I loved seeing the different generational attitudes towards electricity for example. The story felt claustrophobic and frightening, inventively set on four sets all seemingly one story above another - it really felt like I was in that lighthouse, it felt real.

The acting of the younger lighthouse worker was not all that great in part one, but for some reason it dramatically improved when the cast grew in part two, with the introduction of the shipwrecked citizens. Otherwise there were flawless performances all round from the well balanced ensemble of actors. It is shocking that every single character other than The Doctor and Leela die, especially given how well developed they were.

This story carries on the Gothic darkness I associate with the Hinchcliffe era (not exactly considered Williams' trademark by fan consensus). It will be interesting to see if and when this is dropped. This was also Terrance Dicks' best effort since The War Games, 8 years before. I have everything crossed hoping this run of form will continue.

Baker and Martin’s script is great, they have always been good at strange and psychedelic sci-fi concepts. Unfortunately their (admittedly ambitious) work is let down by the direction. Derrick Goodwin, in his one and only story on the show, does not manage the difficult balance of comedy and action the script gives him. The pacing is totally off, with plenty of awkward pauses throughout the 4 episodes which rip any tension out of the performances and presentation.

There are excellent model shots and of course the amazing creation of K-9 to distract you. The way he is written in as a regular character is clunky, but you’re happy to have him (I hope he gets less noisy though). Some of the humorous characters work - the receptionist woman in particular is inspired. Others don’t. K-9’s original owner is a bit on and off form, depending on the scene - his last words “I hope he is TARDIS trained” were definitely not good enough for the whole story to go out.

Totally off putting makeup on middle aged men that look very uncomfortable in it makes for unintentionally pitiable villains. If these are bad then don’t get me started on “the nucleus”. The downsides are so unfortunate, because at the heart of this story are some great gags and an interesting concept - an infectious disease in space. I’d love to see this story re-done as a new production. Or even as a Big Finish drama. There’s so much to love

This story starts poorly. The on location direction is far superior than the stuff done in the studio. I understand the benefits of being on film, but the director (George Spenton-Foster) feels totally out of their comfort zone, arriving at awkward performances. I’m all for more “stage theatre” inspired acting, but at points in this production I have absolutely no idea why certain actors are facing in certain directions, often completely away from the people they are supposed to be talking to.

Although we've been told about what the Fendahl is all about and what it wants, we're not given much of a reason to care. The drama feels detached from any of the character's experiences. They manage to build to a terrifically tense (if a little unearned) cliffhanger which is then totally let down by the resolution for the doctor being completely flat at the beginning of episode two when he ambles away from the apparent threat.

Leela and The Doctor are easily the best thing about this story, I particularly like the "tea and fruit cake" scene. I know it’s a minor point, but Leela’s classic look is really off in this one too, the bun does nothing for her, which probably accounts for why her look is completely reset at the end of the story.

Having said all this, there is enough plot and intrigue to keep the show moving along at a fair pace. It's a small cut above The Invisible Enemy if nothing else.

This one starts extremely well, exploring how governments / companies can exploit their population with aggressive tax and extreme control. Annoyingly, as sometimes happens with Doctor Who, it descends into a runaround. The Doctor is trapped, Leela runs after him, then Leela is trapped, The Doctor runs after her. Much of this can be forgiven this time round as it’s a fun setting with creepy, interesting villains and our wonderful regulars.

What is harder to deal with is shootouts with absolutely no pace or drama. A lot of telling and not showing and tension-free cliff hangers. Enemy rebels, who treat the doctor and Leela very poorly become friends with them all too easily.

There is a thread of fun and cleverness though, and a great sense of victory when the regime is overturned in the end (I can’t believe they threw that man off the top of the building with such glee!)

Each of these episodes are a bit shorter than typical Who and the reprizes last longer than usual too - which screams production issues. When you’re dealing with as much green screen as on Underworld, perhaps that should be expected.

There are some interesting ideas at the centre of this story. Spaceships which become the core of planets, the soft planet, “the pacifier”, Time Lords being the gods of another race of regenerating beings, beings who can live too long, regenerating thousands of times over. By and large I can’t fault the writing on this one, but it's an ambitious thing to try and put into production.

Things look good on the spaceship. When you move into the underworld, whether on a set or in CSO land, you move into a brown landscape with uninspiring visuals. Whilst a lot of the CSO sits remarkably well considering what they were trying to do, it is so reliant on it that you get bored of the special shots and all too often they are a little off. The costumes on the baddies are very funny, a couple of zips away from gimp suits.

The futuristic gravity lift scene is hilarious, the muzak is a nice touch and pulls the concurrent sacrifice scene into sharp contrast. Everything comes together very well there. Though when our heroes pull the victim away from his certain fate it all seems a little too easy. Tom Baker’s performance when he comes up against The Keeper is phenomenal. He still feels at the height of his powers here. He is an inspiring Doctor.

Like most of season 15 so far, despite all of its promise, the results are totally “fine” and a bit forgettable. I think season 1 and 2 were similar in terms of quality, but at least those had high heights and low lows. So far, bar from the excellent opening story, this season has just been a bit meh.

Given how intriguing the plot of The Invasion of Time is, with all its twists and turns, it is a crying shame that once again the production is a bit of a mess. The silvery tin foil monsters with the voices of preppy sixth formers make it impossible to take them seriously as a threat. I’ve never had consistent issues with Doctor Who’s production until season 15, but this series a lot of design and directorial choices have missed the mark and waster brilliant scripts and acting.

It’s Overlong. By part 5 it turns into a studio bound action adventure that I think could only be done justice by the new series’ budget. I actually rather enjoyed part 6 in many ways though, despite it being quintessential runaround by this point in the lesser seen, rather unconvincing quarters of the TARDIS.

Although Leela has the classic “I've suddenly found a man” send off, both she and the love interest play the scene convincingly - it’s touching. I will miss her. There’s a nice misdirect with the K-9 farewell… I do hope he is less noisy in season 16!

We’ve never had a season long arc in Doctor Who before now, a concept well ahead of its time in 1978. It gives a new lease of life to the show after a meagre season 15 and gives me the impression that season 16 will be far superior. Although Robert Holmes is always likely to perk up a a production.

Romana is a nice switch up from Leela. Hyper intelligent, one of The Doctor’s race, posh. Her intro screams “male gaze” though as the camera pans up showing the length of her legs in the cut of her glamorous dress. It has the desired effect but feels a bit seedy and makes an effort to overshadow a lovely, understated performance. She reminds me of Caroline John's Liz Shaw. Someone who is not going to get the dues of a Leela or a Sarah-Jane but shines in each and every one of their scenes.

Binro the Heretic is one of Robert Holmes’ best characters. I am especially fond of the the “Binro was right” scene which I remember well after not seeing the story for the best part of 10 years. It is amazing how well his character comes across given how few scenes he appears in and how inessential to the plot he is.

The story feels like a historical adventure despite its alien setting which is to its credit. Much in the mould of the Peladon adventures it makes a more convincing setting of the alien world whilst still allowing for menacing green creatures to be part of the narrative without them being disguised from the local.

I liked the con men double act at the heart of this story too - the dastardly one and kind-hearted one balance each other out well.

Here's to season 16 (hopefully) being a continuing success. And to a much improved, much quieter K-9 mk 2!

The Pirate Planet is good humoured and has excellent character moments. It takes a bit of time to fall into Douglas Adams’ idiosyncratic writing style, but once it does it is particularly charming. The comedic exploration of fascinating sci-fi concepts is quite different from typical Doctor Who. It is the very same year Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first released and has a milder form of the same bookish, British, slightly surreal humour. The epic realisation at the end of part two, that the planet they have found themselves on eats other planets and strips them of their resources is both brilliant in scientific terms but also in analogous when thinking about the real world - an example of Adam’s flare for storytelling.

In the opening episode Adams pens some brilliant dialogue between Romana, K-9 and The Doctor. It's actually a better introduction to the new companion / Doctor relationship than the previous story. You get a great insight into The Doctor’s charming childishness and inability to accept that another Time Lord might be better at some things than himself (working the TARDIS, finding out information from locals). I love how his pomposity is periodically pricked by Romana, who feels like a much more distinct and full bodied character in this one. I remember when I saw this story for the first time, in 2013, I found the larger than life, bombastic and overacted lead villain irritating. For some reason his performance sat better with me this time round. I like how the excellently named Mr Fibuli is his punching bag, only in the final moments of his life being touchingly, almost homoerotically appreciated.

If the villains were a little less moustache twirling and more believable as characters I think this story would be considered a real classic. As it is though it is still a strong second instalment of season 16.

The non-corporeal justice machines in parts 3 and 4 of The Stones of Blood keep the Douglas Adams feel going into this story. I’d love to know the extent of Adams’ input as script editor. Their inclusion goes some way to tying up a disparate and muddled storyline. The setting of the spacecraft and the contemporary stone circle all works rather well - but the plot falls to pieces.

The other issue is that the older woman central to this story was miscast. For a character given such confident, knowledgeable lines she’s fluffs her delivery more than William Hartnell. When she’s not tripping over her words or adding unnatural pauses she’s desperate to get her lines out or just waiting for the other actors to finish.

I’m still enjoying this series though. Despite its flaws, this was another entertaining addition to the ongoing arc.

This is the best story we’ve had since Horror of Fang Rock. The budget goes a long way on this one with well realised medieval costumes and props serving a futuristic setting. The pacing is perfect and the Android human copies gives rise to a series of fun, comedic and gently dramatic situations. Tom and Mary are on their top form in this one. It feels like Baker is reinvigorated (perhaps by the quality of the script or cast). K-9 is weaved better into this serial than many others before it.

The quality of the direction has increased significantly too, bringing to mind the moodier, darker shots of Talons. The shots of Baker and K-9 on a canal boat at night are particularly enchanting.

The competing factions provide some good drama and push the plot along nicely. The lead villain (who has some serious Master energy) is particularly good. I like that they leave his ending open for a potential sequel… showing the production’s confidence in his performance! The body double drama is pushed to such a ridiculous extreme - more than any other show I’ve seen. The fact that Romana just happens to have a real life lookalike in a story featuring several android lookalikes, including one of Romana herself is mighty convenient! It is the definition of a romp and I’m here for it.

Despite having seen this before I had no recollection of how good it was. You can tell it’s a Holmes script. You factions and brilliant allegories for colonialism, racism and imperialism.

The stark contrast between the film sequences in the swamps with the swampies and the interior sequences with the cruel colonialists keeps the direction fresh and engaging. Holmes is great at making both factions feel human - there are no caricatures here. And of course it teaches you all the right lessons.

Holmes’ skill is in keeping the swampies sympathetic despite them putting our heroes in consistent danger. Having The Doctor and Romana lumped in with a gun runner who had seriously betrayed the swampies is a wonderful way of making the whole thing murky and compelling.

They realised Kroll pretty well. It’s always hard trying to make a convincing giant monster but it came off pretty well to me - especially the giant tentacles.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a story of quite this quality and it is helping up the enjoyment of what has been a pretty solid series. I hope they keep it up.

The last Dave Martin script! Feels like a milestone given that with Bob Baker he made a whopping 8 serials - few writers on Who have had more screen time. Perhaps apt then that this really *feels* like a series finale in the modern sense, wrapping up our journey with the key to time. Their first script, The Claws of Axos, still stands as by far their best unfortunately, but this story is one of their better ones. Merac’s psychedelic experience at the hand of Lalla Ward’s character nicely calls back to Claws. Baker and Martin often have those cool, very visual, druggy looking scenes.

An interesting revelation comes in part 3, when the twin planet that the army has been locked in a war with is in fact home to only one entity - an emotionless robot that has been running the whole show on behalf of a shadowy master. There are some neat concepts at the heart of the story but sometimes in the process of getting to those points you have to sit through some fairly workmanlike, serviceable but not particularly exciting plotting.

The time loops in this story are a great idea - but you spend probably 2 minutes of running time watching the same loops again and again. That countdown gets dull. Drax, the time lord who spent many years in Brixton reveals Douglas Adams as the script editor - it’s a fantastic idea but I do wish his character had been bedded in a bit better with more time on screen.

I love that K-9 gets his hero moment with Drax and The Doctor jumping out of him at the end in their miniaturised form. Lovely to see Lalla Ward with K-9 - pointing towards an exciting new era.

I’m not sure the whole “key to time” thing adds up to much in the end. It was disbanded as quickly as it's pulled together but was a good mcguffin to tie the series together. About as meaningful as “bad wolf” anyway. This series was not quite as good as Tom’s first three but was a huge step up from season 15.

Without seeing a single frame of this story it is a momentous proposition. It is the final Terry Nation script and the second and final Dalek story across Tom Baker's long tenure. The last time Terry Nation, the Daleks and Tom Baker collided we ended up with an all time classic, so in theory this has all the right ingredients.

The first episode is far and away the best one. A wonderful start to season 17. It is a small shame you don’t see Mary Tamm regenerate into Lalla Ward, though I loved the humour in the scene with Romana picking her new body! I LOVE the outfit she lands on, a much better than a lot of the looks that Tamm got stuck with - and very much in keeping with The Doctor's wonderful, well established outfit.

Across episode one Nation’s writing feels fresh. He isn’t defaulting to his usual beats. There is a lot more comedy than usual too. Especially like The Doctor criticizing the book ‘origins of the universe’. After an epic first part, part 2 is more standard fare Nation - albeit with wonderful performances from our leads. Ward and Baker are a match made in heaven. The Movellans look fabulous and add a lot of visual flare to what could be just a typical Who story. Hats off to whoever is dressed these actors!!

The further you slip into the story the more disappointing it gets. They’ve taken all the menace out of Davros, which is a tragedy given this is only his second ever appearance. He barely complains about being wheeled around by the doctor, a directorial mistake perhaps. The Daleks are made into a bit of a joke too. One has its vision impaired by the Doctor's hat then suddenly starts acting like a complete idiot. Why would it freak out in a non-threatening situation just because it can't see?

In the end, the Movellans don’t make a convincing match for the Daleks if they are incapacitated so easily, often just by someone removing something from their belt. Some of the law is a bit off too. Since when have Daleks been robots? I’m not sure robots would be any better or worse at rock paper scissors than humans either. I don't think it makes a great deal of sense.

City of Death is the most well handled comedic Doctor Who story since the show began, with perhaps only Carnival of Monsters as close competition. It is a welcome antidote to the studio and quarry bound productions which preceded it. The high proportion of shots on film give it an expensive Spearhead from Space vibe (a good thing) and there is a freeform, loose quality to the direction. At points it feels as if as if Tom and Lalla are improvising within the bounds of Adam’s excellent script.

The cliffhangers are consistently surprising and spine tingling. The guard character and the lead baddie / Jagaroth are particularly inspiringly and humorously portrayed. I love the idea that the explosion at the beginning of the story has splintered this man through time - spine tingling! We then get to see that pivotal scene again at the end - when the Doctor, Romana and Duggen stop the nemesis of the week from subverting the proper order of time.

The major plot point around a time travelling art dealer who buys prestigious pieces from the past and makes huge profits in the future gave me echoes of The Evil of the Daleks - though I must say it was carried off a lot better here.

It’s a crying shame that this is Adam's final broadcast effort for the show as it’s by far the most inspiring thing I’ve seen from Doctor Who since season 14. I am looking forward to the animated/ live action Shada though!

This is a very, very funny story. Until the final act it is the funniest Doctor Who story so far. Everything is played for laughs in what otherwise would be a pretty traditional, almost old school piece of Who. Sure, the cast are sending the jokes up about 30% more than necessary but the theatrical direction and performance feels like an endearing stage play.

It’s very strange (not in a good way) to hear a new voice actor play K-9, and the tin dog has gotten very shooty and verbose, but it’s rewarding to see this, usually minor character, get a chance to have a story where it gets to shine.

Tom Baker is blisteringly good in this. He is loving the humour. See him speak into the giant monster’s tentacle is truly wonderful. And in my opinion the monster is very well realised.

If you were to smooth off the rough edges in the performances and tighten/ brighten the script - especially the ending which is a flabby let down. I think this would be a classic. As it is, it’s a welcome and very memorable addition to the cannon.

We are just about still in the 1970s in terms of when this was recorded and transmitted but it is starting to feel very 80s. Bob Baker, sadly in a solo capacity for the first time, is doing a tremendous job of delivering us something new - daring to take on drugs as a topic on a tea time show with a relatively young audience is daring. A drug that makes people disinterested before ultimately leading to their death.

As it’s a Bob Baker script, there is a typically psychedelic edge to the way this is shot. K9’s voice has been tweaked and sounds a little more “traditional” in this one. More helpings of natural comedy and a fresh, loose feel to the production. Parts three and four unfortunately devolve into a runaround and the black capped baddie is about as bog standard as it gets but I do like the twist of the Dutch scientist Trist being revealed as the actual drug smuggler.

The realistic baddie, the foolish, selfish co-pilot displays the worst in humanity in a believable, relatable way. I love how he leads the drama into the central plot, the prisoners being taken to be sacrificed to a God on another world and a selfish, imperialistic race in awe and frightened of that God who ultimately kills the foolish man. The prisoners, initially barely focused on, give the sequence where the spaceship “crashes” some much needed drama. A superb way to kick off a story.

This might make the story sound very serious - it's not. There is a lot of humour packed into these four episodes. K-9 twisting his neck is particularly hilarious! Lalla and Tom have never been better together. It is great to see Romana given some independence and take charge of the situation on the ship once The Doctor gets stranded. In part four when she verbally takes down the lead human villain she is in fiery form with her superb acting, proving she could easily have taken the lead role in the show herself.

The costume, movement and voice of the Nimons leave a lot to be desired. They are certainly not as well realised as the costumes and props that surround them. It's a shame they didn’t get a killer look for the intelligent beasts, but it's a small quibble which is outshined by the wonderful script, far better than Anthony Read’s previous effort. Concepts like the ever-changing high tech maze walls put a sci-fi spin on these classic themes.

Parts one and two feel particularly strong with it slightly losing its way the further you get through it, especially when it descends into a shoot out. But endings are always trickier than beginnings.

Talking of endings, that marks the final (complete) story from the Graham Williams era. After a dodgy first season I felt the through line of the key to time, then the comedy of season 17 lifted William's performance. It was a good era but one that pales in comparison to what came before it. With Hinchcliffe and Williams' eras considered together, the fourth Doctor's time so far is about as satisfying as the third's.

You want "missing" or "incomplete" Doctor Who to be better than this don't you? Shada is funny in parts, very well acted and home to some excellent characters but boy is it overlong. There is simply not enough plot to drive the story and the plot there is is mildly interesting at best. Had Douglas Adams had the freedom to make this a four part story not only would it be tighter - they might actually have finished it before strike action took hold! It would be nice to think that if Shada actually got finished it would have been a more well rounded production, but the animation does a good job of realising how the story most likely would have panned out.

In fairness my enjoyment was most likely hampered by watching it in its extremely lengthy omnibus form. The upside of this 2017 production is getting to see the modern day Tom Baker appear in all his glory at the end, it is charming. It reminds me that the real joy of Shada is seeing Lalla and Tom in action. Lalla Ward is an exceptional actor. Season 17 in the hands of many other companions would have been totally lifeless, but she made a season of, on the whole, perfectly acceptable scripts truly shine. Romana II and The Doctor are a match made in heaven. Thank goodness this extra piece of their time exists - even in this uneven form.

John Nathan Turner and Christopher H Bidmead’s time has begun and you can immediately feel, despite some humorous scenes on Brighton beach, the tonal shift. This is not Doctor Who aimed at kids, as in the Williams era - the show feels more dense, but not in a negative way. There are a lot of full on science fiction ideas to take in. The story and setting immediately sticks with you. And while not all of the risks that the director and editor takes work, many do and the fact that so many risks are being taken feels new and exciting.

The way the spaceship tannoy talks and the aliens on the ship converse feels like it was of great influence to Russell T Davies' first series. Not to mention the human skin suits and the Doctor greatly aging - tropes we’d see later during Davies’ tenure.

Rooted in science or not, there is a lot of technical gobbledygook which makes you feel like your not really "getting" what's going on. There is something to be said for drama being easy to follow. With all the excitement in the world, if you’re wading through technical chit chat it’s difficult to fully get into a story - despite all its attractive features.

They are clunkily reminding us of the black guardian again... who'd I'd basically forgotten about. Hopefully he will be more interesting on his return!

Meglos is plagued with stagey direction and pretentious, boring writing. Thankfully John Flanagan & Andrew McCulloch never write for the show again. If this drop in quality is the impact of Bidmead then I am not appreciating it. Even the welcome appearance of Jaqueline Hill, the actor behind the first doctor’s legendary original companion Barabara isn’t enough to overcome the stilted, lifeless feel of the production. It’s a story which is annoying to follow.

I do like the fact that Meglos is a cactus, and how it interacts with the humanoids around. Meglos taking the form of The Doctor is a nice way of mixing up Baker’s familiar performance. The sets and CSO backdrops are rather nice, weaving neatly with the live action in a more polished way than ever before.

Since JNT took over the episodes seem to be significantly underrunning. If you discount credits, opening titles and reprises, episode four is just over 15 minutes long - possibly a good thing in this case. This new era hasn’t fully clicked yet.

The first part of Full Circle does a marvelous job of introducing Adric. Based on what I’ve seen from him so far he seems like a well rounded and entertaining character (not quite understanding any negativity towards him yet). It’s a nice surprise to see them build up this character without The Doctor and Romana in focus, allowing you to get to know him properly. The death of his brother is a memorable and surprisingly emotional moment for a show that often avoids delving into emotions too deeply.

The plot moves along at a good pace and I was invested in the various factions we found on this new planet and the mystery surrounding why the TARDIS thinks they are on Gallifrey (it will be interesting to see where this E-Space thread takes us next). I like that Adric is trying to help Romana but because of the people around him he continually is put in situations which put her at peril. The lack of cosy relationship between The Doctor and anyone within the society he is surrounded by also creates a continually, interesting conflict. The TARDIS team is split up for most of this adventure and it serves the story well.

Space spiders hatching from watermelons must be one of the most delightful visuals the show has ever delivered up - it feels very inventive, very Doctor Who. I genuinely jumped in my seat when one hatched into Romana’s face - an affecting and jolting cliffhanger - one of the best we’ve ever had. It is satisfying when The Doctor uncovers the decider’s grand conspiracy. Efforts to fix the spaceship will go on indefinitely, not because the ship is not good to fly, but because no-one actually knows how to fly it. They do not want the public to be disheartened by this information. With a little nudge from The Doctor they eventually make the right decision.

With a little added humour and some of the formal tones taken from the show, I think this is another which would be considered a classic. As it is, it's the best season 18 has had to offer so far. The biggest surprise that it packed in the end is that The Doctor and Romana do not leave in the TARDIS with Adric - I didn’t expect that for a second!

The first we've had from Terrance Dicks in since the excellent Horror of Fang Rock. It is rare to have a writer who is established on the show these days, so great to know it’s not the end of our time with Dicks.

Mathew Waterhouse is a little stiffer in this story. It feels like he should be getting notes from the director (direction seems all over the place). I love how he is introduced as a stowaway, without The Doctor or the audience realising he is there until well after the story had gotten started.

It’s another futuristic medieval setting, similar in some ways to Meglos, which I always find a little boring and lends itself to pompous, archaic verbiage. I had to watch the cliffhanger for part 1 twice to really get what was going on. It was so low energy and poorly realised that it was not very obvious at all that The Doctor and Romana were supposed to be being attacked by birds. Considering that the last story had one of the best cliffhangers ever (watermelon spider) it’s a bit of a shame to see a shoddy production impact the overall quality here.

I’m surprised this sits side by side with Full Circle in this season given that they both feature a disused spaceship that has sat there for generations and a population who is having their behaviour and access to the truth limited. Bidmead and JNT should have been looking at these similarities from a higher level view and weeding them out. The use of vampires however is something that has until now not been fully explored in Doctor Who (and no, I’m not counting The Chase).

The best parts of this story are when The Doctor and Romana or K-9 are chatting to each other and have interesting character moments that the show often doesn’t have time for. When it gets stuck into the plot there are generic baddies and predictable perils. Dicks makes Adric appear ungrateful and foolish before revealing his apparent attitude to be all part of his plan. This is a good beat for him but in general he doesn’t shine quite as well here as the story before.

The way the story ties up, with the very large monster being pierced with a spaceship that had *just* enough fuel left to blast off before hurtling back down to earth, was very clever. It doesn’t quite make up for the rather unremarkable villains though. There is something about Middle Ages inspired characters who speak in overly formal, arch and hyperbolic ways that bores me to death.

As The 4th Doctor is stuck in e-space, we teeter on the end of his era in this fascinating story.

There is a strong moral throughout this story that The Doctor presents to the two sides about the need to treat any creature with the power of reason with respect and not as an opportunity for free labour.

The timey-wimey aspect is exciting, flipping between different realms, states and times where the forties of our lion looking friends change and fade. The intersection between e-space and n-space reminds me of Big Finish’s Scherzo, this is a good thing. The direction, CSO and editing is wonderful here, it’s a refreshingly slick production. The lion looking alien being out of phase when he enters the TARDIS is extremely trippy - very impactful.

The only way The Doctor and his human enemies will escape e-space is to listen to his reasoning. He is a great negotiator. Romana’s decision to stay behind with K-9 “to be true to herself” is far less satisfying. Whilst K-9 has a motive, being unable now to work beyond the mirror, Romana just does it to help a group of people she’s spent very little time connecting with. From what I’ve seen there is little to love about e-space, so it’s an odd place to call home, even if they do have a mission.

I will miss Lalla Ward - she has been exceptional and played perfectly against Tom Baker. For K-9 however, this does feel like the right time to depart.

As sometimes is the case in Bidmead's era the show, this feels overly formal and uptight. It’s a pretty weird mode of a programme which has always felt so carefree. It somehow manages to be camp without being all that fun in it’s presentation. There is perhaps the worst performance from any Master ever in this iteration of the charred master.

There is however plenty of interest and intrigue with the plot (which is unfortunately spoiled for anyone not watching this at the time). The Master! I like the clues they lay “you will obey me”. I imagine for the audience though, this legendary return will have come left of field. I also like the forced perspective shots with that statue, they are pretty clever.

Considering how exciting the plot points are and how epic what happens at the end is, with the new master. it’s amazing that it’s so limp. It’s the same epic big moments that ultimately pull it through.

And here we are finally, Tom Baker’s last story. It has been a long road since Robot - the longest road I suspect I'll ever spend with a Doctor. Whilst this season has, on balance, been his worst, I can’t say it wasn’t sad to say goodbye. Though we do now have a wonderful cast of new companions to distract us!

Whilst Bidmead is a lousy script editor, his style and tone suddenly makes a lot more sense with his own script. The first couple of episodes are pretty tightly woven with an interesting central idea of The Master’s TARDIS inside The Doctor’s TARDIS, creating a loop.

It was disappointing that Nyssa is just dropped into the story out of nowhere, I feel like that could have been bedded in a bit better. We could have had a pre-filmed slot of The Watcher collecting her from Traken. As it is you’re left wondering how this mute indicated to her that she needed to come to this brand new planet at this time. How did he transport her there?

The Logopolis based material feels a bit more detached and unrelatable than the Earth based material, which has a real buzz about it. Though I have to say, the companions do a great job of keeping the viewer invested.

I hope I’ll get used to Anthony Ainley’s Master, but so far he’s just a bit… crap. Sorry to say. The Master’s technobabble is particularly boring but the way he twists the knife with his final, utterly mad and cruel plan is deliciously evil and a great moment for the character.

As is possibly predictable with Bidmead, it’s all a bit over complicated. The plot falls off a cliff when The Master meekly looks at the entropy he has created and then, without any fanfare teams up with The Doctor, as if it was inevitable and everyone is just going through the motions. Huge plot points like these should make a lot more impact.

The excitement of the end, even if it wasn’t carried off perfectly did make for an exciting end to an uneven serial. Baker will be missed. I'm missing him already. But what a fiery performance to go out on.

It’s Christmas 1981, we’ve just lost the most well loved Doctor to date and the Doctor Who production team have another surprise in store for us - the show’s very first spin off (if you don’t count the 1960s movies). Sarah-Jane Smith is the ideal candidate for a spin off, as would be proved many years later, but is oddly sidelined in the title of this show for the shiny K-9 who exited the main show a couple of stories back. But this is K-9 mk III, not the one who stayed with Romana.

Despite nowadays being consigned to obscurity, remembered only by fandom, this story is actually more entertaining than you’d expect. The whole production is perhaps overshadowed by the ridiculous opening title sequence and theme tune which looks desperate (I can only imagine Elizabeth Sladen’s embarrassment). I wonder, is the theme tune Ian Levine’s first contribution towards Doctor Who?

Once you get into the story, it’s very reminiscent of early 1970s Doctor Who. The set ups of cults and folklore is spooky and intriguing, building an interesting village setting where mysterious goings on can occur. It reminds me a little of Children of the Stones or some of the cults you come across in Survivors. Unfortunately the way it wraps up is pedestrian and relies solely on the cliches and genre tropes it’s tapping into rather than it’s own unique story ideas. There is literally a Scooby Doo unmasking of the central villains at the end of the 50 minutes. K-9 also isn’t used quite right. He is best as a peice of light relief and worst when he becomes a moving ray gun.

All in all I’m delighted that this story exists and a little disappointed that it never got picked up for another episode. In some ways it makes sense, the balance of all the right ingredients for a spin off isn’t *quite* there. It will be quite some time before we deviate from the main show again. Bring on the 5th Doctor!

What a marvellous team Nyssa, Tegan, Adric and the Fifth Doctor make - suddenly these companions make total sense with this softer, younger Doctor. The show needs to reset every so often, it’s part of its strength, it is exciting to be entering a new era.

Davison’s initial turn as The Doctor is excellent - he has emotion and range, especially impressive when mimicking the first and second Doctors, an excellent piece of fan service from Bidmead. Surely the most explicit nods to the past since The Three Doctors. His take on Troughton is particularly strong.

I’m surprised, once again, that Adric gets such a hard time from fans. Honestly, I think Matthew Waterhouse is a more natural and confident actor than our other companions. Ainley’s Master continues to receive mixed opinions from me. I'm not sure about how he pitches his performance, but I think I’ll get used to it. It might help to have a bit of a break from his character. The Master’s disguise in Castrovalva genuinely fooled me - so that’s a definite plus.

The story is quite pedestrian but it gives a great platform for Davison to stretch his muscles. I like how the locals to Castrovalva are revealed to be an intellectual book reading race after a rather uncertain introduction, only to then be revealed as an entirely false projection by The Master. Very cool. The M.C. Escher-esque reveal of Castrovalva being altered to fold in on itself is also brilliant.

This story shows how three companions can be put to excellent use. The way in which Adric is so easily indoctrinated, while Tegan tries everything to escape adds to the drama and unpredictability of the story. It’s amazing seeing how little control The Fifth Doctor has over his TARDIS team and how he can lose his temper with them - interesting new facets to the character. The ambiguity of the menace and the fact they are not overtly aggressive towards our TARDIS team only adds to that drama.

Peter Davison feels like The Doctor in this story. He has arrived and I am loving his performance.

This story has an amazing concept. Humans from throughout time, from many cultures end up on a spaceship run by seemingly non-hostile aliens who seem to want to get along. But The Doctor has an uneasy feeling. The green aliens create humanoid versions of themselves based off of Tegan’s drawings as part of a plan to head to Earth to resettle, and the human population with androids.

Watching the doctor and Tegan “enjoy” the on board cultural entertainment whilst worrying where Adric and Nyssa are is hilarious. This story is packed for of sparky details like that. This story looks and feels more exciting than any we’ve had in ages. The show feels invigorated.

This is the craziest story to date. Unhinged but believable performances from Tegan and two of our wonderfully drawn colonialist characters Hinden and Saunders. Who look like they’re on drugs as they get taken over by the Kinda - it adds to the trippy, offbeat quality of the production. The sergeant character fits nicely within this alien “savage” community, a community that has more mental agility and powers (telekinetic) than their aggressors initially estimated… and it's pushing our characters to their mental limit.

The Doctor and his companions continue to impress. Davison’s Doctor is a great mediator with the skeptical colonialist. He doesn’t show his hand too early and is entirely practical in his approach. The trippy scenes with Tegan in a ghostly dimension are spooky and affecting. You get whiplash cutting between the scenes in the colonialist’s base and Tegan’s mental world. It's not clear initially how the two settings are connected.

It’s a bit of a cop out, shelving Nyssa for the whole story (apparent sickness) then her turning up again at the end. Having said this, the focus on a smaller number of main characters does work for the story.

In the end the scenes set on the colonialist’s base are a lot more interesting than those amongst the tribe - in many ways thanks to Hindle’s excellent and insane performance. The ending with a giant puppet snake also leaves something to be desired, even if it all ties up nicely.

Overall this story screams potential and is memorable for a lot of compelling reasons, but it’s cons mean it doesn’t live up to that potential.

The plot for this story is modern and dynamic. The idea of an alien invasion in the time of plague, carried out in a covert way is very different from anything the show has done before. It’s exciting. I wish the alien menace wasn’t a harlequin, clown thing. But the idea is very strong indeed. Makes for good plotting and pacing. There is violence as well, which adds drama and stakes. The show is changing for the better.

It is surprising to see them focus on the emotions of our TARDIS crew and the lasting impact on them from the previous story. This is the strongest example in the history of Doctor Who so far that it has treated their companions as real people who are taking part in a continuing drama that, for them, is not split up into little stories. Having said that, it’s crudely done. They have yet to refine their communication to anything other than broad beats and callbacks. It’s promising though.

The characters (especially the Doctor and his companions) and broad plot are the selling points of The Visitation. I like that the alien cannot be returned to its home, because it’s a criminal who will go to prison. This is an alien which is not shown as representative of its race. But the pacing of the plot eeks out at an exceptionally slow speed which makes it difficult to stay excited. This could easily have been a two partner without losing any of the alien’s treacherous plans.

I’m also not sure having The Doctor being responsible for not stopping the great fire of London. Oh dear. Now that’s a mistake!

They got me. I’m a sucker for a murder mystery. I have an awful lot of time for it. The guest actors in this story are superb and inhabit the 1920s stately home world perfectly. As does The Doctor and his companions of course who’s acting suddenly feels a lot more naturalistic once they’ve stepped out of the TARDIS.

The hidden passages and lurking, disguised murderer makes for very enticing drama. The Doppelgänger trope has been done a million times in Doctor Who, but it fits very nicely here too

For the first time The Doctor’s cricket outfit makes sense. The pacing is good enough that I wasn’t bothered in the slightest bit by them taking a good 4 minutes out of the action to play a game of cricket - of course he’s a master!

I wish the mystery had been a little stronger and had been less contrived. I don’t see the need to have had a Native American wandering around the house, or a disturbed family member. I think it would have been more fun to have one of the guests in and around the party turn out to be the murderer.

All the same it was wonderful to have a strong genre story, proving once again that Doctor Who can go anywhere and do anything. It being a two parter also means it does not outstay its welcome! I am glad they have more of these going forward.

We haven’t had a story this grim since Graham Williams heralded in his child friendly era. Whilst the show benefits from a range of darker and lighter tones, I have to say it’s exciting seeing it dip back into this darker, action adventure style of storytelling that was so successful in the better Terry Nation scripts… though Nation only delivered Doctor Who stories as interesting as this on a handful of occasions.

There is a great sense of mystery and a foreboding atmosphere. This is partly because you have absolutely no idea what is going to happen but also because the initially unnamed robots stalking the depths of future Earth have an intimidating level of force that destroys their targets in a terrifying way - leaving them as no more than gooey remnants - an affecting visual. The dark and shadow throughout the story only ramp up this forbidding feeling.

The lights flicking out on the scanner as people die in the caves gives this story a high death tally. It feels very modern, very new for the show.

The cliffhanger at the end of part one works superbly. Nothing about the first 20 minutes makes you feel like this would be the first appearance of The Cybermen in 7 years. The sheer surprise alone makes it worth the wait. After a series of new threats it is a treat to see Davison finally come up against an iconic beast of the series. The cybermen are a little more human-like and a little less cyber than ideal, most notably in their voices but none of their overall effect is lost during the reveal and battle scenes. This design looks magnificent, especially as they march out of containers together.

Part one, in my opinion, is the first time Adric has actually been annoying in his whole run in the TARDIS. I’m glad he makes up with The Doctor in part two but as this is one of his more popular stories I think it cements this unfair idea on fandom that he is an annoying companion - when he has been a marvellous and distinct character. He, of course, gets a hero's death at the end of the story and it is hugely affecting. He dies saving Earth and his fellow time travellers, but it’s the bleakest the show has ever been. It’s an odd, numbing feeling seeing a show that is usually a comfort blanket, deliver such a brutal blow. One of the most iconic and memorable moments of the show so far. Tegan’s reaction in particular is tragic. A wonderful performance.

The most impressive thing I suppose is that the ending ties so neatly into the overall story and impacts the entire history of modern Earth (and the destruction of the dinosaurs!) This is the best story the show has delivered in a couple of seasons, and Davison’s peak so far.

Time-flight has the rare accolade of being a Doctor Who story which very gradually gets worse and worse the further it gets into its running time. Two episodes in I was rather enjoying myself, The Master’s reveal at the end of part two was particularly welcome and surprising. But after that it’s like they just give up.

Things kick off nicely with the team honouring Adric, rather than skating over his death like I thought they would - the show has grown up and matured. There is then some hi-jinks at Heathrow airport which gives us some nice shots of contemporary 1980s London - this is appreciated after a long time away from the modern day. It’s a nice way of grounding the show in our reality.

I love the timeslip idea, planes passing through a portal from one time to the next, this too is a modern concept. Something the show would not have tried 10 years earlier, a rare story about time travel. How The Master’s plan fits into this is pretty neat. Its entertaining watching a pilot, one of The Master’s victims, almost succumb to the same hypnosis as the majority of the flight passengers - but *just* about resisting it. Adric’s ghostly cameo was a nice touch.

Annoyingly things get a bit silly during part three with lots of high concepts coming out from nowhere. You’re expected to all of a sudden invest in a slew of random concepts. Technical gobbledygook spoken over images that would not be self-explanatory on its own.

There’s some really cheesy dialogue. Exactly the kind of thing you don’t want people to associate with Doctor Who. The ending limp and threat free. The Doctor literally swapping TARDIS spares with The Master is mundane and comes across like a time wasting exercise, like they’re just trying to use up the running time. It doesn’t help that Ainley is an embarrassing actor. Easily the worst Master. Whoever hired him did the series a great disservice.

The Master not being able to land his TARDIS due to The Doctor using the same coordinates is an extremely weak way to wrap up the story. He could have just landed next to The Doctor. He is meant to be a genius!

I know Tegan is in future stories, but I suppose her seemingly being left behind at the end of the story makes for a shock ending for the season… does anyone think season 19 should have ended with Earthshock?

This wasn't as bad as Time-Flight, but it wasn't much better either. A terrible waste of a trip to Amsterdam - a setting that was absolutely wasted here and just looked drab.

I enjoyed how long this story proceeds with two seemingly unrelated storylines, one set in modern day Amsterdam, the other on Gallifrey. It builds up the mystery of the slowly revealing plot - until the plot runs out that is. Omega does not make a huge impact in part one, but it’s exciting seeing the Time Lords (including Colin Baker!) become the threat for The Doctor, who will take him down in order to foil Omega’s plot.

The Netherlands storyline is more interesting than that of Gallifrey, which is to be expected as it’s more relatable. I like how they threaded Tegan back into the story. Side note - it’s great to see her in such a fun outfit after being stuck in the hostess uniform all last season! The scallop detail on the top is very cute. I wish her part, which is initially quite interesting, didn’t result in her just being held hostage for final half of the story.

I do wish the Time Lords came across as a little more reasonable, they don’t seem to have a strong enough motivation for wanting to kill The Doctor. Outside of The Deadly Assassin Gallifrey has never come across as that worth seeing. It would be such an incredible asset to the show if it was a more intriguing place to be. But its so stiff and formal and lifeless.

There’s always the issue with elaborate alien costumes that cover the face when there is no way for an actor to emote other than pointing or waving their arms about. The scene when Omega is talking to a Time Lord hidden in the shadow (bar from their gesticulating hands) has zero dramatic value. This is director Ron Jones' failure as much as it is the actor's.

The whole story culminates in a bland run-around with unexciting revelations and exposition overloads. Meh. I'm not enjoying this era as much as most of what came before it unfortunately.

What a relief! This one is good. Very good.

Even though the title heavily indicates “SNAKES” I didn’t expect Snakedance to be a sequel to Kinda. Setting the new story thousands of years after the original is a master stroke which allows the Mara to have fallen into legend and provides a blank slate on which a renaissance society has developed out of their less developed ancestors.

Tegan does a good job in her various forms of possession, repeating the right cues from Kinda but elevating the performance further in certain particularly crazed scenes. The snake POV vision they deploy helps drive this state home to the audience, it’s affecting. The idea that she’s been carrying remnants of the Mara with her since last season is creepy!

Martin Clunes is a rare, highly familiar face and he plays the young, overprivileged, spoilt leader well. His lack of respect for ordinary people and sneering disregard for pretty much anything is a bold and interesting trait that stands out against the (for example) the bland Prince the Third Doctor met in Peladon.

The psychedelic elements of Snakedance echo those of Kinda but are channelled into a more useful force for the plot. It's great to see that Twin Peaks energy put to such expert use. It not only surprises but moves the story forward. I love the lore and world building. A mythology oddly made convincing through the scientific rigour it is dismissed with. I like that when people are taken over by the Mara they still inhabit different personalities, again, this makes the ridiculous premise feel more realistic.

This is the first story in a long while that both starts well AND wraps up in a satisfying way. The ceremony at the end of part four is a clever and mad idea, reflecting the farce of tradition and the events of Kinda in a warped and funny way. Martin Clunes’ outfit is very, very funny. The snakes in this story look tonnes better than the ones in Kinda too…! All of this is outshone by the brilliant, emotional character moment we get with Tegan, someone who has been plagued by the Mara for a full season by this point and finally gets respite after a full story of being frenzied.

Wonderful to see the Brigadier again for the first time in many years. Re-joining forces with The Doctor feels like a rite of passage for Davison’s Doctor. I don’t think Lethbridge-Stewart is particularly well served in the initial school environment we meet him. His newtered, difficult to pin down role in an unrelatable private school is kind of meh. The unrelenting poshness of it gave me K-9 and Company vibes and I think a different setting could have better served the plot.

Once we get out of there though he drives, in younger and older forms, an interesting runaround for our TARDIS crew, including a new, darker, duplicitous companion. Turlough is an interesting character. Clearly a rotten, compromised person who nearly killed himself and a friend through his own recklessness - then lied about it! He is then given a second chance at life by the Black Guardian and forced into doing his dirty work (trying to kill The Doctor). I look forward to seeing how he develops. His school friend however, who looks about 10 years too old for the role, is a horrific actor. I’m glad we won’t see him again!

I’m surprised they brought the Blavk Guardian back as I only vaguely remembered him from The Armageddon factor, though I appreciate that he had been mentioned other times before and after that story. I think the production team believes him to be a more prominent character than he is.

The story was an entertaining one and improved as it went along, but it was ultimately a rompy runaround which focused on characters - nothing wrong with that!

I didn't find this one the easiest to follow. Which is strange given that its directed very nicely and the plot, when you boil it down, is not too complicated. Turlough is still trying to kill The Doctor on The Black Guardian's behest, he makes the TARDIS malfunction and appear on a plague ship that has gone wrong and is holding everyone prisoner, including its guards who require a drug to stay alive and will only receive that drug if they subjugate the infected.

The interplay between the companions and The Doctor continues to be really interesting. I particularly enjoyed seeing Tegan chastise Turlough for being weird - talking about death and asking what it would take for her to kill someone. It was rewarding seeing Nyssa get passionate about wanting to turn the fate of Terminus around, though its a shame that they could only do this as a way of telegraphing that she was shortly to leave The Doctor. It would have been nice to see more of this passion from her in other stories. This is often a relatively passive group of time travellers. The kiss on the cheek from The Doctor at the end was very sweet though (the first time The Doctor has kissed a companion?)

There are so many satisfying, quintessentially Doctor Who moments in this story. The actual, real life space “ships”; the various twists and turns with the eternal beings that are weird in a way you can never put your finger on and the sheer drama that comes with Mark Strickson’s beautifully layered and at time tortured performance.

Turlough’s character when from intriguing to essential viewing in this story. Hats off to JNT and the production team for taking such bold risks with this character - truly setting him apart from all other companions. It shows that even though this show is 20 years old there are still countless ways in which it can be refreshed, so many brand new stories to tell. The moment when he jumps ship in a bid to save The Doctor from his actions is surprisingly dark for a show which, across these four episodes at least, is quite theatrical. It’s affecting and effective.

The direction, lighting, outfits and settings were all on point in this story. Who says 80s Doctor Who is over lit? Some of the shots captured by Fiona Cumming are truly cinematic. Amazing that she captured these given the set up she was working with. Tegan in her elaborate dress and hairstyle is a sight to behold!!

Barbara Clegg’s beautiful script was slightly hampered by needing the involvement of the black and white guardians at the end to tie up the three story arc. I wish their closing scenes could have been left until the next story, as it meant the ending with the Eternals felt rather rushed.

These Master reveals are getting more and more obvious! It does nothing to spice up what is an exceptionally bland story up until that point. This iteration of The Master continues to add nothing. In fact, this two parter remains wholly unexceptional until the King is revealed to be a humanoid robot called Kamelion. Then you find yourself with a handful of crazy, dead in the eyes Kamelion scenes. I like when he temporarily turns into Tegan and Janet Fielding gets to do her best dead in the eyes impression. It’s so strange. Obviously I’d heard of Kamelion, but he’d largely managed to pass me by as a fan of 16 years. Such a strange element of the show. I hate the uncanny way his chin moves. And how he has to be propped up against a chair.

I’m making the story sound worse than it is. It’s mostly a bit dull, then the sci-fi element of our new robot friend adds a little bit of fun into the mix.

The Five Doctors is marvellous. Not just a true season finale in every sense of the word, but a wonderful celebration of the first 20 years in the TARDIS. The clear attraction of this story is the huge number of returning faces, particularly Sarah Jane, the Second and Third Doctors and of course, The Brigadier.

The blistering hot first 15 minutes is particularly good, before it becomes clear that the money for this 90 minute special was spent on those lovely faces, and not the sets. But despite clear areas of the production that could do with some improvement, your mind still boggles with the wonderful combination of guest stars fizzing with energy. The Second Doctor in a big coat fighting the Yeti! The Third Doctor whizzing around in Bessy. The Doctor’s bloody granddaughter!! It’s a small shame that the only original cast member onset is underused, some kickass moments for Susan would have been awesome, but just seeing her on set is pretty spectacular. I also would have given anything to see more from Liz, Zoe and Jamie.

The Raston Warrior Robot is an incredible original monster amongst the deluge of returning foes, despite being a very economical creation. I’m surprised it has never made a return as it looks great on screen, a cheap but highly effective villain. Seeing it destroy an underwhelming gang of Cybermen is hilarious. Especially the brutal beheading!

The only part I seriously disliked was with Tegan and the First Doctor crossing the chequered bird with The Master. Firstly, because these puzzles are always incredibly boring to watch in Doctor Who and rely on gibberish solutions which should have stayed in the early 1960s where we first encountered them. But secondly, because none of the actors are paying any heed to where on the board they are stepping. They don’t try and sell it so it comes across as nonsense.

Terrance Dicks was always an amazing script editor and is a decent writer, he does a fair job here but it is clear the main selling feature of the story is seeing the returning faces. This is a valiant way for him to bow out of the televised show. The ending is bittersweet as you realise that it’s the final moment for so many characters that you care about. 13 minutes of a charity special not included, we will never get to see The Third Doctor in action again. But my God I appreciated seeing him in action here.

Bring on the next 20 years…!

Warriors of the Deep successfully goes full on action adventure across its first two parts. Guns! Violence! Underwater sequences! It’s best attributes come from these sparky James Bond-esque encounters that we’ve not seen from the show since the Third Doctor’s time - and these sequences feel significantly more modern.

There are a lot of focal points. Three malicious forces including nefarious, scheming crewmates who want to sabotage this secret underwater mission. Despite some unconvincing guest actors taking up the parts of these spies, their scheme still flows nicely. The story is significantly more hampered by the poorly realised Silurian and Sea Devil costumes which look hopelessly out of date for the 1980s. You have to feel sorry for the actors trying to get a story across in a costume when they can’t move their mouth. Any alien that has lips should be able to move them - they should not instead have lamps on their head that light up when they're talking. They look like they have a permanent, cute little smile on their face which diminishes any drama they try and create.

This is all before you get to the lumbering Myrka which looks frankly like a huge and ridiculous party costume. At the beginning of part three it very slowly makes its way towards The Doctor whilst he tries to free Tegan from underneath the world’s heaviest Styrofoam door. Later we see the Silurian’s “manipulator” stuffed full of cotton wool and colourful plastic straws. If only they’d had a budget to realise some of this stuff!!

It’s a real shame when the key thing holding a story back is it’s production values, something Doctor Who was historically able to handle quite well. Warriors of the Deep, if you strip away all of the visual failure is a very interesting story with a neat, if over ambitious script.

What a shame Eric Pringle never wrote another story! This is a very neat two parter (the best two part story there has been so far!). It builds up a lot of strange mysteries, then manages to pay them off!

The Doctor and his companions land in a modern day setting (1984) where most people they come across are mysteriously taking on olden day personas, pretending it's the 17th century. This is a novel and very entertaining premise. You are left baffled by what this entire town’s motivation would be to isolate themselves from the rest of the world and play war games, deliberately ignoring all the elements of their town that reveal their in the 1980s, such as the town telephone box. Some of the townsfolk seem more taken in by the roleplay than others, but all of them are playing along - even if they know it's a bit strange.

This strange twist on reality in a subverted domestic environment reminds me of Terry Nation’s Survivors. There is a spooky uncanniness to the world they enter that feels convincing.

The cliffhanger is one of the best from the series that I’ve seen in recent memory. The wall of an ancient church falling away to reveal a giant stone face with glowing eyes - it's a visual treat (much needed after our run in with the Myrka last week). I like the Malice as a one off enemy. A big static statue that controls people through psychic projections and by taking over their minds, explaining the strange behaviour of the townsfolk.

This is a short but sweet one - a great antidote to duller, more overlong tales. I’m surprised more people don’t talk about this underrated gem!

This is the second story in a row that evokes Terry Nation’s Survivors, though even more keenly than what went before. Christopher H. Bidmead is in surprisingly good form covering the adventures of this last band of humans on the edge of the universe. This civilization is under attack for years by an enemy they have been unable to see. The leadership are unduly suspicious of The Doctor despite his offers to help their ailing people. Perhaps it’s unsurprising that some are deeply cynical in this harsh environment.

You work out fairly quickly who is really running the show and trying to stop this group of survivors from being able to find out the truth. It’s great seeing Davison have some substantial dialogue to deal with. He rarely gets lines this good. Turlough has far more than usual to deal with too, manically overwhelmed, entranced with ancestral memories of what the Tractators did to his people (nice that he isn’t basically treated like a human character for once!)

The big drawback, and one that gets more important the further you get through, is that the Tractators don’t look that great, but in fairness they blend into the surroundings well and their looks fit well with the story. Their motivation and gravitational powers are well thought out.

The punchiness of the script does lose some of its way in the final act but I enjoy how the conclusion comes together. The Gravis’ is tricked into using its powers to restore the wrecked TARDIS. The repurposed and changed TARDIS set looks amazing - iconic!

Incidentally it’s funny how Bidmead decides that 21 years into this show The Doctor and his companions should finally start worrying about what the Time Lord’s would do if they found out they were messing with events…! I’ll let it go though after what was easily his best script. A fitting final engagement with the show. (Lets ignore The Hollows of Time).

It’s amazing what the production team are capable of producing with their limited time and budget sometimes. Having never seen this incredible adventure before I wasn’t prepared for quite how good it would be - one of the pure joys of doing a marathon of the show, hoovering up any bits of content I might have missed. It’s shocking that a show that looks this epic with big gliding sets, huge action sequences and dramatic interplay between several groups of well drawn characters you can invest in - sits in the same season as Warriors of the Deep.

If the last few stories have been like Survivors, then perhaps this one is a little more in the mould of Blake’s 7. It’s a genius move having the mercenaries trying to break Davros out of the prison in episode one. Finally this amazing character gets the action packed sequel he deserves (lets ignore Destiny of the Daleks). It is far less cerebral than Genesis of the Daleks, but it’s hard to care when you get to see, what is often quite a mild adventure show, turn it up to 11 like this, with The Doctor in constant swirling action as doomed characters are one by one built up before being dispensed with. You wouldn’t want the show to be like this every week, but here it is perfect.

The one off two parts, 46 minute episodes format comes as a revelation. Something tells me it would have originally been intended to be a 4 parter, but these more movie length episodes do a wonderful job of building up the tension and delivering a more exciting eventual cliffhanger. It’s a superb way of refreshing the show and reminding you that the show can be presented in any way at all.

The relationship between Lytton, Davros and the Daleks is so finely balanced. They all have their own interests and motives which slot together into the story beautifully. I love the way Eric Saward writes, even though it is as bleak as hell. He wants to jolt the teatime audience out of their seats and make sure the show does not fall into a lull. It’s not just the main villains, companions and The Doctor that get incredible character moments in this, but also all the side characters, to the point where you are involved in everyone - despite having no idea who within the diverse cast will make it to the next scene.

It’s a shame to have Tegan leave the TARDIS in shock and not on perfect terms, but simultaneously she is treated to the most wonderfully dramatic exit. It’s amongst the most potent and memorable exits we’ve had on the show.

Following three high quality stories it feels as if the series is in a bit of a renaissance period. Things are suddenly looking and feeling much better. It’s a relief as I hadn’t enjoyed Davison’s first two seasons as much as I’d hoped - despite their many good qualities. I now get what all the fuss is about with The 5th Doctor, there is some cracking stuff here. And of course I’ve seen his finale so know he sticks the landing!!

The first part of Planet of Fire could not look more distinct than typical Doctor Who. It is great to see them go further afield when shooting this one and provide some visual treats due to the Lanzerotti setting. Whilst I’m not sure we needed to be introduced to a new companion through scenes where she almost drowns in a bikini, there is no doubt the sea, sand and villas used across episode one majorly level up the production. It's a small shame that they were not able to capture anything for episodes 2-4 whilst they were out there, I especially liked the villa setting which lifted the scenes with the superstitious locals - everywhere else they inhabit looks more like a cave!

Peri is a daring new companion - quite different from anyone who has gone before. She is charming but has a bit more bite to her than most. Less interesting is her uncle Howard who I’m delighted will not be joining The Doctor full time (he is quickly relegated to in the story to some aspect of Kamelion). Turlough is straight back to being the mistrusted companion again, sneaking behind The Doctor’s back - has there ever been a time with more unique companions?

If there is a unique recurring character that I was not looking forward to it would have to be Kamelion who is just as embarrassing a lump of metal here as he was in The King’s Demons. Thankfully he spends most of the running time transformed into Howard and The Master, who want to take over and steal the TARDIS. Kamelion seemingly turning evil was a wonderful surprise and a great use of this character.

The “planet of fire” plot is not quite as interesting as the character development that sits around it with our regulars. Early on, the way the ancient priests and unbelieving citizens interact and hold a power struggle isn’t a million miles away from the cave man exchanges from An Unearthly Child, though I’ll accept the dialogue and performances are a million times more polished and they do improve considerably over parts 3 and 4.

It's great seeing how Turlough’s planet and father link up with what is happening on Sarn. The genius move Grimwade makes with his character is expertly explaining how he, an alien, ended up at English public school with naturalistic and exciting dialogue. You feel for Turlough and his family of punished prisoners, and get a strong understanding of why he is the way he is. Peri, who has also unwittingly been transported to Sarn is an absolute treasure - a fizzing and engaging new part of the show. Whilst this iteration of the Master is never going to be my flavour, I am at least used to him by now and enjoy his performance being decked out with a cool tissue compression eliminator and amazing black clad TARDIS (reflecting The Doctor’s TARDIS neatly).

Davison is on blistering form here. He is so much more confident and exciting in season 21. It’s a shame it all has to end so soon!

Across Doctor Who’s first 21 years the show has simply never been this dramatic. The Doctor has never had an opportunity to be more of a classic hero figure. And no Doctor has had an opportunity to bow out on such a wonderfully perfect story. The best story in many years. The best since Talons which was also written by the master of writing Doctor Who: Robert Holmes. The quality is his only defining feature here with the story, appropriately for this era, being extremely dark.

So many twist and turns and betrayals give The Doctor, awesome new companion Peri and the rest of the cast (including two prominent stand out baddies) an opportunity to truly shine. Every member of the cast pulls their weight though and makes for a flawless production.

Part one kicks off with some incredible matte paintings which are seamlessly blended with the quarry. Even by today’s standards I can’t tell where the seams are. It looks genuinely alien, otherworldly and beautiful.

It’s weird that so many of the fan’s favourite adventures are those that are as deeply dark as this - but it has to be said that there is particular depth to this story. Much has been writing about Graham Harper’s direction but it can’t be underlined enough - he absolutely nailed this. It looks phenomenal. The fact that a quarry could look so alien and that big embarrassing monsters could look so menacing is a triumph.

It’s the end of an era. And a relief in some ways because I’m leaving The Fifth Doctor’s time wanting more after having been fairly lukewarm on it to begin with. Season 21 has been head and shoulders above Davison’s first two seasons. Of course, the season is not quite over yet…!

This was a high water mark for Doctor Who.

“I am The Doctor whether you like it or not”. What a bizarre statement of intent for a new era. Why would you want an audience to root against its lead character? After the titles closed on part four, if there had been anyone in the room with me whilst I watched the credits roll, they would have thought I was mad. I just kept on saying “why?”

The first two parts to this story are in many senses brave and uncompromising. Camp in parts but also darker than ever. Regeneration gone wrong pushed to an extreme. The opposite of generic Doctor Who - to a fault, but this approach is not without merit. You have to feel sorry for Peri though, after what she has been put through. Has any companion had a tougher first three adventures? The Doctor changes form in front of Peri only to strangle her shortly after. It feels especially harsh on a companion who is particularly adorable, thoughtful and kind. She charmingly leaps into the console room to show off her new outfit, then gets treated to a manic fit of rage.

My key to enjoying The Doctor’s performance across the first half of Colin Baker’s first adventure was by explaining away his bizarre new characterisation with the fact that he was enduring a crisis. A mental break. He was totally gone. And not in the cute loopy way of other post-regenerations. In a genuinely scary way. From that perspective it was in some senses quite inspired. I saw it as an unwise but compelling move from writer Anthony Steven. I was less complimentary of the fact that at the same time, the writing facilitated a move back to pretentious, overly complex style of dialogue from The Doctor. I was hoping this would be left behind when Christopher H. Bidmead moved on as script editor.

All of these factors made for a gripping but conflicted watching experience. Colin Baker’s performance is a very strong flavour but it’s a hell of an interesting one. I actually enjoy much of his stagey, weird and eccentric traits as an actor. I can’t take my eyes off of him and marvel at the choices he makes. Across the first half of the story I like the performances all round. Fan wisdom would tell me the twins are unbearable to watch but I genuinely think it stands up.

It’s part three where things start to fall down for me as it hits argumental overdrive with every character, especially The Doctor, feeling the need to constantly needle disagreements and contentions. The plot starts to wear thin a little too - which should not happen across a swift four parter.

The aliens, which become more prominent at around the halfway mark of the story, are also on the annoying side. This is fine when we’re building up our main characters, but not so great when the focus pivots to the enemy and we get into Warriors of the Deep/ children’s TV territory. Trying to care about humanoid aliens whose mouths don’t move is a real challenge. And it is a weird contrast to the darker, more argumental sides to the story. Tonally, it’s a nightmare. The closest thing we’ve had to these slug/humanoid aliens in the show before are the Sensorites. Personality free, boring, overly formal aliens who show no sense of believability or personal motivation.

Once the plotting turns south you lose your patience with the aggressive quirks of Baker’s performance. The “fits” and arguments become too much. Too repetitive. All the shouting drives the show into overwrought melodrama. Is Baker good at being The Doctor? When he is over performing as long as everything around him clicks he is actually charming, theatrical and a joy to watch. He makes me laugh out loud. Bizarrely, when he has to get subtle and act with a lighter touch, I just stop believing his performance. What starts out in this story as a pretty confident performance in parts one and two ends as a man who just looks out of his depth leading a show - he has been given nothing to work with and is not equipped to deal with the absence of direction.

The end of the story relies on excruciating dialogue laying out the exposition. All telling, no showing. Characters talking in the most annoying way passing the plot between them. Things got embarrassing enough that I ended up watching the story through my fingers.

It’s extraordinary that this is the same production team who put together Davison’s final adventure. The last time I disliked a story this much was 1966’s ‘The Celestial Toymaker’, but that story at least felt inconsequential - not the start of a whole new era. JNT has made some weird decisions here - I hope it plays out okay. At least they still have Peri.

It feels like the show has been broken down into lowest common denominators: sex appeal, violence, arguments, status games and all with a garish, camp lens. It’s tonally such an odd and nauseous combination.

Travelling with The Doctor at this point in his history is a brutal and unforgiving experience. How the wonderful Peri has the energy to keep up her cheer in the face of adversity I will never know. Everything about how Colin Baker has been written and then portrayed is totally misjudged. Peri’s overtly presented “sex appeal” for the dads is effective but also tarnishes the show a little. What are we supposed to be getting out of this? Shouldn’t a family show have a non-sexualised female lead for us to idolise? Nicola Bryant smashes the role though.

The story around him is initially rather good. A bank job with the returning ruthless Lytton and his cronies at the centre of it. Any other Doctor would easily seal the deal here but Colin Baker chews his way through every scene. I had plenty to defend him with in his debut story, and there is no doubt the role hasn’t been made easy for him given the production choices made around him, but my god the guy loves over acting. He is simply not suitable for the role. It’s so strange to be in a position where you want the camera to stay off of your main character so you can enjoy the rest of the story. The first half of this story in the hands of any of the first five doctors would be much, much better.

Having said that, some of the excesses of the era are unignorable. Does every character have to argue their way through the story? Why do we have to see a Cyberman shot point blank in the face with a regular gun?

The Cybermen don’t act like Cybermen in this. They seem emotional and have more human voices than I am used to, the modulation, rather than making them sound robotic, makes them at times unintelligible. The show seems to care more about lore than characterisation, which annoyingly makes them a generic monster.

The second half of the story suffers from being by the numbers plot wise, then the Cryons give off major Sensorite energy. Not a good thing. This is a big step down from what we’re used to.

It’s a shocking and thoroughly modern concept for an episode. The public voting from their segregated pods on whether people on their screens live or die - all in the name of entertainment, entertainment that gets exported to exploit its full value. This is plugged into a dying “former” prison planet where prospects look bleak for all and even the leadership struggle to avoid a grizzly fate.

Colin Baker performs better in this story, helped by the fact the script is not actively hampering him with a dislikable character. The story also fares better due to featuring remarkably little of the 6th Doctor, meaning we get to focus our attention on the intriguing story around our main character. When he does pop up he has some good one liners and gets to be the hero - it’s a great story for him.

Phillip Martin’s script easily stands out among the output of the new crop of writers on the show. He builds a world that feels real, predicting reality TV, voting in shows and scenes which were later plucked by RTD for his first finale. Sil and his associates who spray him and look after his welfare also remind me of Cassandra from RTD’s time - so it would seem Russell is a fan of this story.

Peri continues to be put through the wringer here. I stand by my belief that she has been given a much harder time than any companion before her (this week almost being turned into a bird) she deals with it marvellously.

Sometimes it can be overly camp, but the darkness works well here. This story proves that Colin Baker’s era is not devoid of any quality and gives me hope for the rest of season 22 and 23. The 45 minute episode format is working for me too.

Part one of The Mark of the Rani is a real gem. Pip & Jane Baker introduce a great setting for a story and a tonne of different, interesting ideas such as enlightenment leaders vs possessed luddites, a new Time Lords enemy and the Doctor’s TARDIS being thrown down a pit. Unfortunately none of this comes to anything in part two, where they introduce embryo dinosaurs and landmines that turn people into trees. The Master and The Rani lack of any kind of coordinated plan, they kind of want to control all these great Enlightenment minds - but we don’t see any significant or dramatic moves towards reaching those aims. You finish the story scratching your head, wondering what they main thrust of the whole thing was meant to be.

Ainley is thankfully on good form and Kate O’Mara’s Rani is very fun! Both completely bombastic but a good reflection of the incumbent Doctor, who also has settled into the part well by this point. It was nice having a baddie for The Master to sort of collaborate with - it was about time a major new Time Lord character was introduced.

Unfortunately the second part starts to feel a bit slow and has no pay off. It is educational in parts but does not have much story to go round. The Rani’s TARDIS however is a true delight. I wish The Doctor had gotten something as spaceship-like as this!

Obviously this 9 minute adventure is now somewhat overshadowed by the deeply unsavoury revelations regarding Jimmy Savile (side note - look how creepy he is with Janet Fielding, kissing her hand - yuck!) but a completest is a completest so I will be giving my thoughts on this piece of children's TV from the mid-1980s with no regard for taste or decency.

This is a sweet, generous but insubstantial story for lucky fan Gareth Jenkins which features the brief return of a very different looking Tegan Jovanka who has seemingly gotten her job back at her old airline. It was nice to see her one last time, this time with Colin Baker who sits alongside her well and is extremely kind to the young boy who idolises him.

Random characters pop up in the TARDIS one by one whilst The Doctor and Gareth spout off some technical gibberish. This ends with some extremely tall Sontarans showing up, a preview for the next adventure, which was airing concurrently with this one. I fear in the next story these Sontarans will be very un-Sontaran like, which is tiresome after seeing the same thing happen to the Cybermen earlier in the season.

It all finishes off with that self-congratulatory creep popping up on the screen and fittingly being described as a monster.

If I could pick any Doctor to guest star for a story it would be Patrick Troughton’s. His original run is one I know very well at this point, despite many of the missing visuals, so to get a brand new, unfamiliar second Doctor story should be a treat. In part one, the returning Robert Holmes sensibly keeps the two Doctors apart so you can appreciate their performances separately before the big coming together. Part one is handled pretty well, but the further the story goes on, the less Troughton is treated like a returning hero. His character is ultimately misused.

I don’t see the point of getting a beloved doctor back just to have them lying down half the time and - even worse - being turned into a bad guy with irritating makeup. Troughton spends a sizable chunk of part three acting as a different character, taking Shockeye to dinner. Seeing our second doctor, in a different form, brushing off the death of an innocent bystander is particularly unfortunate, it doesn’t sit right. The story devolves into a gruesome, slapstick run around, which is unusually bland and bad taste for Holmes. I do wonder how much these are characteristics of the era from the script editor and producer rather than Holmes’ pen itself. The waiter being stabbed and killed in a comedy way is shockingly misjudged.

Jamie too is at points reduced to an insensible vegetable on the floor, which is not that fun. I would have liked him to be communicating with the 6th Doctor and Peri on better form.

It’s a shame as in the first third of the story Troughton’s Doctor and Jamie are written well. The dialogue does not play it safe and reveals something new about both characters. The Second Doctor is a little spikier here and talking no holds barred about his race, the Time Lords - so we feel on unfamiliar territory. Baker’s Doctor and Peri funnily enough have a similar dynamic.

The Sontarans are grating in this story and serve no purpose, other than to give the story a monster. They don’t talk like Sontarans - their straightforward, stoic attitude has been removed. “It is not easy being commander, the loneliness of responsibility”. Seeing them tower over the characters they talk to of course does not help - these two seem to be members of the clone race who come from an unusually tall batch.

There is a difficult to understand uneasy alliance between these sontarans, Dastari and Chesseme. Dastari is trying to steal the second doctor's time travel powers and give it to Chessene, who he is building up. The sontarans also hope to leverage these powers and need their allies in order to be able to obtain it. Unfortunately this does not give the sontarans much to do and means they just stand around being uncharacteristically placid. They are about as wasted as the overseas setting which adds little to the production.

Season 22, with the exception of Vengeance on Varos seems to be home to stories that start well but then go south somewhere in the middle of the run time.

Why are The Doctor and Peri still arguing? It comes across as if they hate being wanderers and companions in time and space. Isn’t this supposed to be fun? Where is the spirit of adventure? Is actual screaming from The Doctor and flinching from Peri necessary? The activity on the fascistic planet may lack drama when it comes to the Timelash machine but has some good character moments in the quieter darker corners. Our leads however have no such charm. Peri complaining to The Doctor that the complex they find themselves in is too “matte”, preferring a lively “glossy” finish pretty much sums up the problems with this season.

Why would they have poisonous plants just sitting around in the place? Seems like an accident waiting to happen. Totally illogical.

All my good will for Colin Baker in visual form is gone. I am very much looking forward to seeing the back of his ham fisted hack acting. Thank God he was able to redeem himself with Big Finish, because he is rubbish here. The excruciating scenes with H.G. Wells are a good case in point. So much gesticulating and shouting. I imagined Christopher Eccleston playing the same scene with a low key delivery and dismissive tone - he would transform those lines into gold.

It’s an ambitious script but the production does not manage to realise any of the drama. The Doctor enters the Timelash and despite the production team’s best efforts looks incredibly cheap and unthreatening.

The Doctor shames Borad (baddie of the week) for having a facial deformity, which is lame. I could see the idea of the Borad trying to steal Peri as his bride working if the acting was able to sell the dialogue. Unfortunately I care very little about any of the characters presented.

When in his chair, Borad could kill anyone at any time he wants but doesn’t - again, totally illogical.

Has there ever been a more predictable revelation in Doctor Who as Herbert being revealed as H.G. Wells? Yawn.

Orcini and Bostock are two of the best side characters the show has ever had. Bostock - the smelly, instinctual genius. Orcini - the grizzled, old and honorable mercenary, hired to kill Davros. Their fate at the end of part two hits home because of how invested Eric Saward makes us in them, in his final script. Saward may be a lousy script editor,but he has always been an amazing writer - one of the 1980’s few true stars. This is matched by impeccable direction from legend Graeme Harper who makes every scene interesting, with a turn of the camera or an unexpected, dynamic shot.

It is the second fantastic story Davros has had in a row, with Terry Malloy selling the performance beautifully. The Daley menaces are handled well here too, though I think the details around the competing factors could have been drawn out a bit more. What we lose in that detail though we gain in skin infected zombies - which are pretty intimidating!

You can’t forget the engaging, doomed relationship between Jobel and Tasambeker, Clive Swift gives an excellent performance here and a total monster, Jenny Tomasin plays the screwed up abuse victim with shocking believability. My God Doctor Who is dark in this era. Even this strong story is negatively impacted by the fact that every character feels the need to argue with each other, a weird trait of this era equating vicious dialogue with drama. Everyone is nasty and hates each other. Ah well.

Similarly to Vengeance on Varos, if this was a 5th Doctor story it would be considered one of the all time greats. I suppose that sums up the issue with season 22, easily the worst season to date, no one had a clue what they were doing with The Doctor - including Colin Baker himself. Still - thank God there were two stories that didn’t impact too much!

Part 1 of The Trial of a Time Lord is a brilliant kick off for season 23. Easily the nicest model / CGI shot the show has ever seen. The courtroom drama framing device is exciting and gives the show the kick up the bum that it needed last season. All together it’s feeling fresh and new. As are The Doctor and Peri who are not just playing nice but seem to be getting on famously as we watch their pre-recorded adventures in the courtroom matrix.

Part 1 sees Holmes’ writing on form with his signature double acts, believable characters and intricate plotting. It leaves you with high hopes that season 23 will be leagues ahead of 22.

Parts 2 to 4 of The Trial of a Time Lord don’t quite hit home as effortlessly, but the courtroom scenes continue to entertain. It gets bogged down with unexciting giant robots - something the show has wanted to do several time but has never quite pulled off. The human characters who make up the future tribe (another Doctor Who trope) are more interesting but do eventually come across a little one note.

Rather than a satisfactory beginning, middle and end you end up with a dramatic soup. Characters running around from one place to another, getting captured, then escaping. It’s pretty standard Doctor Who.

Thankfully the framing device and mysteries surrounding the censorship of what we are viewing is exciting. The Valleyard is a promising adversary who bounces off Colin Baker's Doctor nicely. He still may be my least favourite Doctor - but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

The best way to enjoy Mindwarp is to imagine that it’s a pantomime - this way you are more likely to appreciate the hammy acting, including the bombastic, larger than life turn from BRIAN BLESSED.

It’s nice to see Sil’s return and get a better idea of what his home planet is. Predictably for this era of the show it is all dark, gory and camp - a queasy mix.

It moves from below average but entertaining to something less palatable once they start blurring the lines over whether The Doctor is a megalomaniacal villain or not and whether he has harmed Peri. Peri has been consistently mistreated by this Doctor, a Doctor it is not easy to warm to, so when you see this you can’t help but feel that it’s yet more negative, poisonous screen time for Colin Baker. This storyline could work, if done rightfor another Doctor and companion, but it does not work here.

After seeing Peri chained to a rock (which made me feel particularly sad) she ends up being dispensed in a brutal way. Head shaved, mind controlled and then shot. She didn’t even die as herself. Poor Peri. She was an excellent companion, consistently put through hell since day one.

The awkward dynamic the show has had for me during Colin Baker’s time in the TARDIS is that even when I’m enjoying the story, when The Doctor appears on screen I instantly start having slightly less of a good time. The saving grace was always Peri, who is wonderful. Now she has been dispensed with. Without introduction we have Mel, played by Bonnie Langford, appear and she is equally as bad as Baker. The two of them are given unbearable dialogue to work with.

The story reminds me of Robots of Death and has a fair few points of interest, mostly derived from murder mystery tropes that we all enjoy. They don’t quite nail the aesthetic of “murder on a spaceship” as much as the aforementioned story. It does make me think
maybe it would be better suited to a historical setting. This charming feature is lost as the story moves towards its climax and introduces the Vervoids, once the murder mystery focus is swaped for a killer monsters on a spaceship focus the whole story falls flat. Not helped by the almost explicit looking design of the Vervoids!

There is something quite Bidmead-y about Pip & Jane Baker’s writing, though maybe less adult. You feel as if they are more interested in teaching the kids something than actually entertaining. They also have a tendency to introduce and resolve points of dramatic tension within moments of each other - rendering them without drama. Their other issue is over explaining plot points in needlessly complex dialogue rather than letting them be revealed on stage.

The initially entertaining courtroom framing device is wearing pretty thin too. The stop/ start nature has gone on too long at this point, taking a dramatic tension out of the show.

You can’t compare this production to the show’s heights in the 1970s - or even Davison’s outstanding final story! I am ready for this era to end.

As momentous as this being Colin Baker’s final outing is, an equal amount of attention must fall on this being the very last of 18 Robert Holmes scripts that stretch way back to the 1960s. At this point in the show’s history he is the undisputed heavyweight champion of writing Doctor Who, some would still consider him to be so. It’s a shame then that (the uncredited) Pip & Jane Baker share scripting duties - there are points when their inimitable style becomes apparent. They really ram home whatever was in the initial script about bureaucracy. The Shakespeare quotes are also quite pretentious and unjustified.

The Matrix being a physical place The Doctor and Sabalom can visit is an excellent idea and very Doctor Who. The show gets a rush of energy as the action enters the present and The Doctor leaves the confines of the courtroom. Sabalom Glitz and The Master returning make The Ultimate Foe feel more like a finale. It works and I’d love to see either of them return.

There are various twists and turns, the fake courtroom scene being the one that packs the biggest punch. It is rewarding to see this story finally concluded, giving answers to questions that have built up over the 12 episodes. Unfortunately some of those answers are delivered in the most perfunctory way possible. (Peri’s misreported death comes to mind.) The resolution is a bunch of technobabble and The Doctor tinkering with a machine which makes things blow up and wraps up the plot. The ending is rushed which is especially annoying here as a 12 part story needed a more solid, drawn out conclusion. Still, The Ultimate Foe is one of the better segments of this season, it does not out stay its welcome.

Out of any season of Doctor Who so far this was perhaps the worst one to introduce a new companion from nowhere halfway through. Having Mel come from the future and Peri disappear into the ether gives The Trial of a Time Lord a lack of cohesion.

As The Doctor and Mel left Gallifrey I took no pleasure in feeling relieved that their short time together was over. This was undoubtedly the worst era of the show so far - and probably will be for some time to come. Much like Davison before him, Colin was not always given the greatest scripts but his choices as an actor did not help him and in fact tainted a couple of potential classics he had during his run.

Bring on the new Doctor. RIP Holmes. (Oh - and bye bye Eric Saward!!)

I’m excited for what this era has in store. Sylvester McCoy’s performance fizzes and sparkles and ups the game of every actor around him. Bonnie Langford is a changed woman, partly, to be fair, because she’s actually properly introduced to The Doctor in this story, rather than being an unexplained companion from the future. In this story she also earns her stripes as the ultimate screamer.

The show looks amazing too. For the standards of the era it is visually impressive with wonderful and entertaining CGI. The monster and set designs are truly gorgeous too - the production team are working their socks off.

The bits I’ve seen of McCoys’ era have always given me a huge rush of instant nostalgia, perhaps because I was born in 1992 and it reminds me of the children’s TV I grew up with. It’s the ultimate feel good comfort blanket for me. A lot of that also has to do with the warm and likeable performance from the lead actor.

So… why is this not a beloved story then? The responsibility for that sits with (you guessed it) Pip & Jane Baker whose meandering plot bubbles away for three episodes before completely failing to conclude in part 4. An explosion does not constitute an ending. There are other problems too - the Tetraps, whilst looking good, are given absolutely nothing to do. They are a mild scare because all they do is run up to characters and roar. The local species are another in a long line of passive, oppressed people who you may recognise from pretty much any Terry Nation script. Locals with no agency never increase the sense of drama or threat felt in a story.

So is this bad? Yes. Is this overhated? Most certainly. This is not one of the worst Doctor Who stories of all time and there are several elements that get me excited about the next three years of Doctor Who.

My love for the style, tone and production of this era gives my opinion of any story a little boost. My love for the lead actor is stronger than any since Tom Baker. Patrick, Tom and Sylvester are my Doctor Who heroes up to this point - they are what make the show essential viewing.

The robots and main architect villain are the primary elements holding this story back from its full potential. Given how imaginative the world building is elsewhere in the story, with the Kangs, residents and Pecks it would have been exciting if they’d managed to work out a villain that felt like it belonged in the same universe.

Some of the concepts work particularly well. The idea behind the towers themselves, an idyllic home which has been turned on its head, that the baddies work their way up, floor by floor killing anyone in their wake, is a very good one. The killer grannies are good value too. The monster hiding in the swimming pool is far less effective.

There never feels like there's quite enough plot to go round across the four episodes, I wonder if this should have been one of the three part stories in season 24. Or maybe they could have used the space in the story to build out Mel’s character a bit. Bonnie is doing a decent job with what she’s given but it’s a shame she’s never gotten a proper introduction.

Delta and the Bannermen has such a different and strange tone for the show - light, frivolous and fast - focusing little on details. I initially found it tricky to get into because of the huge cast of characters but once I locked into the relatively simple story I fell in love with the settings, characters and weird change of pace in part one. The Doctor at a Welsh holiday camp filled with shape shifting space visitors in 1959 must be the most Doctor Who-ish concept ever.

Part two and three are much looser limbed and aimless. As with much of this show nowadays a promising premise gets lost in a lot of running around. This is compounded by the sheer number of characters clouding what should be a pretty straightforward story. The two American comic relief characters for example should have been cut - this would have allowed time for the plot to be explained in a less perfunctory way.

The Bannermen never really posed any kind of threat, just chase scenes. I was a fan of the Welsh girl though. Sylvester’s Doctor continues to impress - how he smashes what he’s given is mad. Imagine how good season 22 would have been - better scripts and a much more powerful lead actor. We can dream.

The final story of season 24 marks by far the best of the season and the 7th Doctor’s run so far. We get a fantastic and relatable companion introduction that leaves you wanting to know much more about 26 year old newbie Ace who is going to be a wonderful lead opposite McCoy’s Doctor.

This is the best of the Sabalom Glitz trilogy too, with him caught up in debts on this colony spaceship at the beginning of the tale and forming a uneasy but ultimately good natured alliance with The Doctor. You can see that Glitz is a bastard who can’t be trusted, but he has such charisma that you want to route for him anyway. Great character.

Mel looks a little out of place in all this, we never got to understand her character or what really makes her tick. It makes sense then that apropos of nothing she decides she wants to shoot off with Glitz - they make a very odd team.

I didn’t mind though - because the spark between Ace and The Doctor is palpable and delivers a hit the show has been severely lacking since The 5th Doctor said goodbye to Peri - a perfect Doctor/ companion pairing allowing for inspiring, fizzing dialogue.

Other than the oddly set up, literal cliffhanger I enjoyed all of this story. I wasn’t quite sure why The Doctor had put himself in that situation on the cliff until the next episode when Mel and Ace went to traverse the same journey. You can tell RTD took queues from both the light shield and robotic spaceship tannoy voice when putting together The End of the World. The concept of cryogenically freezing anyone who cannot pay off their debts also gets revisited by Moffat in A Christmas Carol. So all in all it’s an influential story which seems to me to mark the start of a classic new era.

If I was watching this show at the same rate it was being released, it would have been 4 and a half years since I’d seen a Doctor Who story that I had enjoyed to this degree. Remembrance is a triumph in almost every way. Sylvester and Aldred steal the show with their impressive, naturally charming and sparky chemistry. It’s the little jokes and details, such as them quickly switching places in the van, that hit home as hard as the big set pieces, like the iconic Dalek/ baseball bat scene.

The supporting cast is on top form too, with memorable, touching roles from even those cast as one off bar staff. The pseudo-UNIT team clicked together naturally. Davros is only in the show for a few frames but it hardly matters with all the Dalek factions and (gasp!) a gorgeous special weapons Dalek. Some wobbly Daleks aside, the show is looking better than ever with brilliant model shots and props.

The First Doctor has an enjoyably understated presence in this story to mark the show’s quarter of a century year with it turning out that he has tricked the various Dalek factions in his previous incarnation. It’s not fan service for the sake of it though, this all fits together into a satisfying narrative that makes the show feel mammoth and fresh.

I’m in awe of such a quantum shift in quality the start of season 25 has had compared to season 24. It makes sense that this could happen though, all the ingredients were already in place. This shift makes me confident that the classic series will end with a well earned bang.

A brilliant premise for a story - a world where people are forced to be happy or else they are punished with death. Whilst the full potential of this premise is not explored within the ample runtime, the lead villain sells it well and is treated to an excellent face off with McCoy part three in which he tells her passionately the errors of her ways.

Similarly to Delta and the Bannermen there are a few to many guest characters. It would have been better if they’d just focused on the best ones - perhaps fleshing out the role of the candyman and the guy playing the blues - both of whom scream potential but come off a bit one dimensional. There is a lot of running around.

Whilst most of this would have looked more appropriate shot on location (it feels quite constrained given their portraying a whole world) I have to tip my hat to the team who put together the candyman and his lair which look phenomenal.

There’s a hell of a lot going on in this one. Much like Remembrance of the Daleks you have several different enemies vying for screen time but in far less effective fashion. The 17th century magic folk, the macguffins, the cybermen, the neo-nazis - none of this stuff hangs together. Everyone seems poised for violence and destruction of others at the drop of a hat.

It’s a weak 25th anniversary treat, working in the anniversary date in a pretty inconsequential way. One of many threads that could have been more effectively expanded upon. I can’t say I’m devastated that this is Kevin Clarke’s first and last story.

I did enjoy the moments between McCoy and Aldred. The show is so lucky to have them holding everything up. This would have been a painful watch with the previous TARDIS team.

Part 1 showed lots of promise. A deluge of different characters who all had purpose and demanded the viewers attention. Parts 2 and 3 floundered about not really knowing what they wanted to be - equal parts tedious and confusing. Then part 4 pleasingly introduced the big bad and we discovered the point of the story again. Out of all the stories in season 25, this is the one that would have most suited being a three parter as it didn’t have anywhere to go in the middle.

Shout out to the character who is a play on a stereotypical Doctor Who fan - that was genius. And well done McCoy for treating us to some genuinely surprising stage magic skills. It’s great to see the extremely rare sight (in classic Who) of one of the key supporting parts going to a black actor - who does a marvelous job. Though I did grow tired of that same, repeating rap flow by the final episode.

Whilst the campiness of season 24 is behind us, they haven’t quite nailed this more mature version of the show. Sylvester and Sophie are, as actors, far and away better than the scripts deserve.

Season 26: the final season, until it wasn’t. Much like the previous season Battlefield is not afraid to keep things challenging to follow, serious concentration is required. Thankfully though, this one is a lot of fun - and not just because of Bessie and a long overdue outing for the Brigadier, who gets some well earned hero moments. He will be sincerely missed, I only wish he’d had more stories with McCoy and Alfred - they’re an iconic team.

It’s a runaround, but an enjoyable romp with The Doctor and friends caught in between ancient Arthurian forces who are fighting it out. The dialogue from these otherworldly guest actors is probably the least enjoyable part of the serial - though top marks to The Destroyer’s prosthetic masks which looks straight out of a much more high budget (and more recent) production of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The diversity of this era continues on a strong footing - long gone are the days of all actors onscreen being middle aged white guys and a lone young girl (for the dads).

This is one I remember watching in 2009 with my little brother. I'm not sure we knew 100% what was going on with the notoriously complex plot back then so this time I had the subtitles on and was in full concentration mode. I watched the originally transmitted version, not the newly expanded ones that Marc Platt recommends (I would be interested to see these).

At its heart Ghost Light is two plots which have been smooshed together. 1) Haunted house from Ace's childhood gets a backstory (great!). 2) An alien surveyor from eons ago wakes up after a long sleep, pissed off to find that his survey is out of date (mmm... okay!) The first of these two elements works like a charm and is sufficiently affecting that the huge amount of intricate detail you have to take on board with the surveyor elements gets a pass. This would have the potential of being McCoy's best story if it had just been simplified. The Victorian setting is always perfect for Doctor Who, this plays well with the increasingly mysterious nature of The Doctor and Ace's growing backstory. Ace feels like a real character.

Josiah Smith is a good main villain, though I'm not sure why he was "evolving" into a Victorian gentleman or taking over the house. I enjoyed The Doctor trying to teach Light of the futility of opposing evolution though - that felt very "Doctor-ish".

As we enter the final days of the classic series we are presented with yet another overly complex story. It's convoluted plot almost doesn't matter though as it is ultimately a brilliant piece of television, despite being difficult to keep up with.

The 7th Doctor and Ace stay in the past in The Curse of Fenric, which is where they thrive. This time The Second World War, another perfectly Doctor Who-ish period in history. I love the central mystery - what tripped up both the Vikings and the Russians on the shores of this small village?

Whereas most stories they are given can barely live up to McCoy and Aldred’s simmering potential, here our leads are giving plenty to work with. Thrilling interactions with the priest, translating ruins, with the decoding expert, showing off their logic skills, with the decoding “girls”, local teenagers and “the old bag”. Once you throw the army officer and Russians in you’d think it would be overstuffed but it’s amazing how well paced everything is. Each character is given a substantial, natural feeling introduction that delivers them as fully formed people in the story. There is a real sense of place to this village. A much better use of budgets than alien worlds.

The sense of journey is the key that makes this story sing. You get a sense of how this moment in time fits into Ace's life as a whole, helped by call-backs to that haunted house from the last story - she feels like a real person, which is a step forward for the show. At the same time you get a sense of the importance Ace has in The Doctor's life whilst it is revealed how he has challenged and beaten Fenric before - many, many years in his past. This story makes the narrative of the wider show richer and more interesting follow and for that - it is one of McCoy's best.

I thought I was about to watch the final story of the classic series, but honestly, this feels more like more of a bridge to the modern series. Kitchen sink drama, relatable use of modern day suburbia, delving into a companions’ backstory in a more meaningful and impactful way than ever before... It’s crazy that this is the last piece of Doctor Who we get for 6 years. Whilst this is definitely not a roadmap for the show that Russell T Davies will go on to great success with in the 21st Century, it’d be hard to argue that cues were not taken from Survival in the making of Rose, Aliens of London, or Paul Cornell’s Father’s Day.

The Doctor in the corner shop carrying way too much in his arms, oblivious of how he looks to humans is about as funny as the show gets - it's iconic. A similar laugh is delivered when he hides in a local’s front garden and is surprised when she gets shirty. I like that Ace’s friend, mentioned in a previous story, shows up here; it reveals a properly orchestrated effort from Andrew Cartmel to build her world. The army man training the kids to fight in the gym who later “helps” them traverse the desolate planet they find themselves on with his “survival” skills is hilarious too. Rona Munro shows a natural flare for humour.

It must be said that the story does not benefit from the predictable quarry setting as much as it’s surprising suburban setting. It becomes a little reminiscent of The Sontaran Experiment, where they don’t have any sets and the crew are left wandering around a single outdoor location trying to make it as visually appealing as possible. The scenes with cheater people chasing our cast around get a tad repetitive but the quality doesn’t drop off too far thanks to the strong dialogue. When they return back to Earth the story loses the plot a little, which is a small shame, but the character moments stay strong.

Perhaps the most surprising turn of all is that of Anthony Ainley, who returns for this final story. Either his acting has mellowed with age or somewhere along the line with the director and a new cast, a better performance is demanded from him. Either way, this is easily his best go at being The Master which is gratifying at this late stage. He got there eventually.

I feel emotionally charged after watching that final, tagged on speech from Sylvester. It’s a good way of marking the end of an era. After a season of twisty, turny, blink and you miss something plots, Survival is dead easy to understand and is a decent way to end the show. It leaves you wanting more and imagining what could have been had the show continued into the 1990s. I was born in 1992, so for me, this is the closest I can get to seeing what the classic show would have looked like had it continued on into my childhood.

Cartmel and his team of writers should be incredibly proud that they managed to put together the best season of Doctor Who since Season 14 which aired 12 years before. Bookended by two decent stories with two excellent stories in between they did the end of the classic series justice.

This is why you don't put multi-doctor appearances and character returns above all else. As many returns as possible is what some fans think they want until they actually see it. I'd have preferred to have just a couple of characters back but see them explored properly in an actual mini-story but instead JNT puts some absolute guff together. This is the last opportunity to see the 3rd Doctor, Susan Foreman, Mike Yates and Nyssa in character (in a visual medium) which makes it feel like an especially missed opportunity.

I can't imagine many fans or any non-fans enjoying this confusing rush of characters walking on set to suddenly be replaced with other characters. I really wish there was more to it then that. It is a shame that nothing else was put together for the 30th anniversary special. The fact this was the first thing to air after 3 years must have been salt in the wound. Thank God I was too young to be able to take it all in.

Oh, and what was the whole EastEnders thing about? Was that explained?

The upsides? Well, it is charming and reminds the viewer how many amazing, capable actors had been in the series over the years. It was nice to see some of the old faces - even if it was whilst peeking through my fingers.

This could have been a disaster. The show had been away for six years after reaching a particularly low ebb in UK public consciousness. It was being brought back via a BBC/ Fox co-production that had to chop the classic show into some kind of acceptable shape for a mostly uninitiated American audience. Doctor Who had to change but it wasn’t clear what should stay and what should go. Was this a show that even made sense in the 1990s?

If this 85 minute show was split into four episodes, part one would be rock solid. Perfect for anyone with some awareness of Doctor Who and regeneration. Some fans have said having two versions of the same main character in this production is confusing for newcomers - but honestly, I disagree. McCoy didn’t *need* to be in the story but the plot surrounding his death, and how it introduces The Doctor to his new friends is terrifically handled (and for fans, it ties the eras together). I understand though that it gives us only an hour with the newly introduced 8th Doctor, with every second being precious they don’t use all of Paul McGann’s time wisely.

As is often the way with the mid tier episodes of Doctor Who, it devolves into a runaround with a rushed conclusion - but the characters and the journey make this all worth it. McGann is a strong Doctor, even if he is hampered with the cliched pompous old boy look and dialogue - his performance shines through this. The violent gangs, opera visiting Doctors (love Grace’s dress SO MUCH) and enthusiastic morgue staff make you feel like the Doctor’s world is significantly bigger than before this story.

I've always been very hard on Eric Roberts' portrayal as The Master as it varies wildly in tone throughout the story. He can't decide whether he wants to be brooding and sinister or bubbly and camp. He seems to forget what he is doing as he goes through the shoot and the acting consistently leaves something to be desired. This time through though I did not mind the portrayal as much. To be honest, he is probably better than Ainsley.

The TV Movie is also a nice oddity right? Totally different from any other era of the show. What would Doctor Who be like had it been made in the 1990s in Toronto with a schlocky US focus? Well now we know!

Thank God the team at Big Finish did such a good job of doing this Doctor justice in the years to follow, making him into a fully fleshed out, nuanced Doctor.

This final piece of 20th Century Doctor Who sums up why these elusive, rare and half official stories from the 1990s are so exciting. It gives a glimpse of 'what might have been', whilst mixing sensibilities from the clearly defined new and old eras.

The Curse of the Fatal Death is pleasingly filmed in studio on multi-cam, giving it a proper "Classic Who" feel, but it is treated to updated CGI which makes it an uncanny watch for dedicated fans. It is of course written by the most prolific Doctor Who writer of the 21st Century (and to be honest, all time) Steven Moffat, marking his first contribution to thousands of hours of television. It marks lots of firsts and lasts and comes from a time when it looked like a new, non-comedic version of the show was completely out of reach. We would have to wait a further 4 years before RTDs first era was announced.

The most pleasing thing about this charity special is that it is properly, properly funny. With Moffat's trademark humour throughout. For the most part the jokes are well judged - even the fart gags. The Master falling down the same trap door three times is an absolute treat. Its also very timey wimey. Before timey wimey Doctor Who even existed.

It makes for a far more substantial effort than most charity specials. You can't even compare this to the abysmal and embarrassing Dimensions in Time. This story makes it obvious that the old team behind the Classic show needed to pass the batten on to new blood. This story was also (thankfully) given the budget it deserved and has an incredibly star studded cast - with no EastEnders' crossover at all.

If I had one minor criticism, it would be that a lot of the gags rely on a factually incorrect memory of the show. It is home to comedic, knowing clichés that were never really clichés. "I'll explain that later." But who cares? Its Rowan Atkinson and Julia Sawala being hilarious. In our show! When our show was incredibly unfashionable and shunned by society. Its Hugh Grant. The biggest star in the world. In our unpopular, unfashionable show. Proving that the formula, even when being played for cheap laughs - works fantastically.

Alternative universe Doctor Who? An interesting concept, although in 2002 Dan Freeman may attempting to end the series with The Doctor's death, continuing with his own Ministry of Chance series, which did eventually come to fruition (and based on this I would like to check out).

The main thing you'll have to overcome with Death Comes to Time is the unconventionally cheap and limited "animation" which is not really animation in the true sense, though is oddly narratively relied on at some points so has to be considered as slightly more than just still artwork. It looks dreadful but any fan who has sat through all the telesnap reconstructions will probably still get a kick out of it. I'd liken the story to being more like a Big Finish full cast audio drama, but with dash of poorly realised visuals.

The story is massive, giving us both intimate moments between characters (Stephen Fry's Minister of Chance is a particular delight) and huge space battles. It expands and changes the role of the Time Lords in a pleasing way and feels a lot more modern in terms of story telling than the classic series. It changes the show in a positive, propulsive way.

If I was going to kill The Doctor though, ending on Sylvester rather than the incumbent Doctor seems like a rogue move... I'd also have given Sylvester more to do in his "final story". Seen as alt-universe Doctor Who though I probably feel less precious and more excited by the whole thing.

Watching all these wilderness years productions its hilarious how many variations of Ace's post-season 26 character arc there are. I much prefer this to the mercenary storyline we've previously been presented with!

I am a big Stewart Lee and Richard Herring fan. Real Time is the only time their worlds collide with Doctor Who - it also marks one of their very last (if not their last) professional engagement as an ongoing double act. On his website Stewart Lee describes a picture of him standing next to a Cyberman as a career low (he may have been joking) and Herring did not speak highly of this either on his RHLSTP podcast. I don’t think it’s quite as bad as they describe.

The main issue with this story is how thin the plot it. It could be stretched across 45 minutes but not 70. Various parties spend most of the run time trying to get through a couple of doors. Big Finish have done much better in audio, so it’s a shame that it’s this one that got the animation treatment. While the animation is much improved compared to Death Comes to Time, it is still ultra low budget.

The cast are quite good - Herring’s initially dodgy accent aside. It’s always good to see the 6th Doctor and Evelyn in Big Finish, not that Evelyn is given all that much to do.

The story has a slow paced charm of its own.

The irony that the most "missing" Doctor Who story is also the most accounted for is not lost on fans. This earlier version of the production gives Paul McGann another shot at the role in a (vaguely) visual medium. The animation has slightly improved again since Real Time though it is still essentially a radio play with accompanying images.

Shada suits McGann, it is fun hearing him star alongside an older president Romana and trusty old K-9. Garry Russell's adaptation makes some slight improvements to the script but on the most part it suffers from the issues I raise above. This should have been a 4 part story, there is not enough plot to go round.

I never thought Richard E Grant’s alternate universe 9th Doctor would be this good. He delivers the funny lines with a lightness of touch but has a complex weight to the darker side of his performance. It’s a difficult balance to get right but he nails it.

I hadn’t contemplated how exciting it is that a lesser known slice of Paul Cornell TV Doctor Who exists. Much like the Virgin novelisations and RTD’s take on the show, it is more routed in our reality and has a greater focus on personal relationships than the classic series. It feels throughly modern.

We can’t ignore the leaps and bounds that have been made in the animation - now by the talents at Cosgrove Hall who I knew from the Invasion animation. My word I wish the last three animations had been rendered in this fashion - Death Comes to Time could have been delivered on a whole different level.

The story keeps you fully engaged for the first two thirds, then does start to slip slightly, which I blame on the Shalka themselves. A menace that mostly just screams works well for a build up and reveal, but is less interesting when it comes to the meat or the battle and finale.

My favourite moment is when The Doctor manages to avoid being sucked into the void by using only his wits. Cornell is a natural at adjusting his writing to this epic scale that is not seen in his 2005 and 2007 stories. My least favourite moments are also when monsters just get sucked into voids with little emotional payoff.

Out of all of the material from the wilderness (/theme park) years, this is the most exciting prospect and the only story I could see being the starting point for a new continuing drama. I’m looking forward to finding out more about the behind the scenes and whether anything further was planned before RTD’s return made the enterprise an impossibility.

This is the 44 minutes of television that changed my life. Or more specifically, the moment Rose walked in, around, then back into the TARDIS is the moment that changed my life. It lodged in my brain and grew into an obsession which led me to the first 156 Doctor Who stories, then back to this one. It’s a game changer which everlastingly upped the stakes for our favourite show. It didn’t just bring new fans, but it solidified its place in history for more than just the likes of fans like Russell T Davies.

Christopher Eccleston is the perfect Doctor Who. Serious and silly and unknowable. Absent minded and alien but kind. He is backed up by robust writing and an exciting and incredibly unlikely series of events. What were the chances that a serious writer on a career high would want to touch this show, which was tainted in the eyes of the public. Then on top of that - that a serious, talented actor like Christopher Eccleston would have been excited by the prospect of taking it on and adding his weight to the production. Then on top of THAT - that teenage pop star Billie Piper would be earmarked as an appropriate talent for the show… then really would turn out to be the sensation that Russell and Andy Prior knew she would be. So much had to go right to end up with Rose.

It’s all about characters isn’t it? That’s the big change. It’s not about the Autons, or plastic Mickey or a burping bin. It’s about a girl who works in a shop, with a useless boyfriend and a funny, lonely mother who’s a chancer. And then, of course, a man who enters her life and is more interesting than anyone else she has ever met. Someone who is able to unlock opportunities and a new life that she never dreamed would be possible. With superb characters in place this show is now poised to go anywhere and do anything. Everything is possible.

In terms of excitement, emotions and characters this is another watertight reinvention of Doctor Who. It’s so far in the future, and so widescreen, with so many monsters - but still a connection back to humanity, watching our Earth’s dying days and the “last human”. You get an interdimensional phone call home and Rose quite rightly challenges The Doctor for letting the TARDIS get inside her head - a completely new spin on the Doctor/ companion dynamic. You continue to see the universe afresh through Rose’s eyes.

This second episode looks a lot stronger than Keith Boak’s opening one as well, it looks less rushed, more confident, more expensive. The effects sequences are also (for 2005) state of the art.

Some of the internal logic of the story is what stops it from being a classic. For example, a single button on the controller’s desk that lowers the sun filter, that when pressed the controller seemingly doesn’t know how to reverse. Also, there are deadly fans running across a platform that you need to pass in order to access important controls. Untidy plot points like these make the high stakes drama feel a bit forced in places. But this doesn’t matter because the main takeaway is the human drama.

The growing relationship between Rose and The Doctor is incredibly successful. They are funny together. She is so relatable and he is so alien. They are already an iconic duo.

Episode 3 of the new series looks like it came from a completely different universe from episodes 1 and 2 which is exactly what you want from this beautiful, ever changing show. Everything should be possible, anything goes!

The first piece of 21st Century Doctor Who proper written by someone other than RTD and it’s by a smidge the best so far. Mark Gatiss creates a spooky and distinctly classic Who story. It’s a show that has always done the Victorian era justice. It channels Talons of Weng Chiang marvellously. Gatiss proves that back in time episodes are absolutely essential to the show’s formula. It is not the boring cousin of the alien world filled adventures.

The Gelth are a wonderful creation. A way to have ghosts (a Victorian era appropriate villain) whilst giving them an envelope pushing sci-fi twist. Eve Myles is a wonderful guest actor playing an innocent Victorian lower middle class character with a huge amount of star power. Her and Rose bounce off each other charmingly whilst talking about boys. Even better is Charles Dickens who is simply iconic. He saves the day without it feeling hokey or unrealistic. It feels true to a public consciousness version of Dickens. And The Doctor is still so bloody alien. He makes decisions that only someone steeped in alien culture would ever make and it’s so confusing for Rose. Eccleston is an incredible actor working with incredible material - it’s so exciting.

If anyone was unsure, now they know - Doctor Who is back!!

This represents the first major stumbling block for the new series. Tonally it is a bit all over the place - it’s the burping bin in Rose, but for a much larger chunk of the run time. However, because of RTD’s natural ability to create enticing, likeable characters, as a whole package this story still works out okay. Thanks to Jackie (“The Slikeen!”), Mickey (/Ricky), Harriet Jones (and her cottage hospital plan) Rose and The Doctor have plenty to bounce off of.

Rose being reported as a missing person during her time away from early 21st century earth is yet another realistic detail Russell brings into the series. This story shines a light on what happens to those who are left behind - and foregrounds those characters, building a strong and rich world around our companion. RTD nailed this.

Farting aliens and the inexplicable transformation of Mickey into a computer expert who can subvert national security surveillance does not quite have the same level of rigour… but it doesn’t really matter. The emotional beats are there, and all audiences care about are character journeys and emotion.

I wake up in the middle of the night after drinking a little too much in a Paris cocktail bar. I’m on holiday. Dehydrated and unable to sleep for a little bit I stuck on Dalek, unaware that it was the 17th anniversary of this very story.

I was blown away by how subversive a way to bring back the Daleks it was. Dr Who gets to be the baddie and the (individual) Dalek gets to be the goodie, reflecting a shared trauma. As a result you get genuine character development and insight for both. The Time War has changed The Doctor.

It wasn’t just good on this level. I watched it go out live in 2005 with a group of school friends on a trip - we were 11/12. We thought it was the coolest thing we’d ever seen. Even a skeptical parent was won over “bloody hell, it never used to be this good!”

So many people were watching to see what the Daleks would be like in the 21st century and possibly would have been satisfied with a runaround. They were given so much more than that, an era defining story with a convincing portrayal of a damaged man meeting his old torturer.

Whilst RTD gives this story an interesting setting, engaging characters and a strong premise, it comes off quite slow and slight. Not as well paced as the rest of the series and feels incidental when looked at in its own context. It might even take less risks than most of the series around it.

Part of the issue is that the main villain is a big blob on the ceiling (not to be confused with the big blob on the floor in Rose). Simon Pegg does a marvelous job selling the importance of his monster boss with a long name (again, lifted from Aliens of London) but it is unable to be intimidating or do just about anything. The dialogue sells the situation well, it’s just the plot that is lacking.

Eventually the room blows up around the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe in the same way it blew up around the Nestine Consciousness. And the Gelth. And the group of Slitheen. Similar to how Cassandra blew up. And we saw a Slitheen blow up due to being hit by vinegar. And the Dalek from last week blew itself up.

The difference is that all of the above stories had a USP. The Long Game’s USP could have been using the news to spread disinformation, an idea that it dangles but never really goes for the jugular with.

What it does succeed in is showing Adam as a failed companion and what a time traveler should *not* be like. It’s realistic that some ambitious people when given a TARDIS would try and use it for their own ends, so The Doctor ends his journey short. There’s a nice bit of tension between Rose, The Doctor and her “new boyfriend” which ultimately plays out as Rose treating it like a failed date.

The characters carry the whole story.

Bloody hell. What an emotional gut punch this one is. A cautionary tale of the dangers of time travel when you start to meddle in your family’s own history. The fact that The Doctor would even take Rose to the scene of her father’s death shows how alien and envelope pushing Eccleston’s Doctor is. He will drive the show forward in freaky and spooky ways.

As well as this episode seeing the impacts of time travel going wrong pushed further than at most points in the show’s history, it’s a new kind of sci-fi for Doctor Who. It’s more in the mold of The Twilight Zone, where the writer works with a clever concept and then looks at its emotional consequences for our cast.

Rose is given a rich mythology, a sad past with her father which bonds us to her. She gets an uncomfortable insight into her parent’s less than perfect marriage and has to square the past she thought she knew with the past as it really was. Incidentally one of the treats for this story is seeing Jackie Tyler as an equally mouthy and confrontational younger self initially laying into modern day Rose.

And The Doctor dies! He actually dies! In the 1980s! How mad is that? Before Pete Tyler realises what has happened and makes the ultimate sacrifice. Pete is given the chance to save the day and be the hero. There is so much beauty and heart in that.

In direct opposition to the classic series, the historical stories from 2005 are firm fan favourites. Not boring and stuffy but an opportunity to tell us universal truths about humanity, to give us hefty emotional stories that make us consider the cultural differences between now and then. It makes sense as the BBC have always been good at period pieces, they look and feel more grounded and impactful. Plus it is Moffat, so there are a bunch of sex jokes. They're good sex jokes though.

The gas mask zombies push body horror further than show has ever experienced before, right up to the line, to scare children witless. There is great pathos as well, because you identify with the mother posing as a sister, the orphans and Dr Constantine. The horrific transformation of characters into insensible child-like beings, before having gas masks pushed out of their faces is an iconic visual seared into the imaginations of my generation.

Moffat is a very clever writer. The most amazing thing about this first script (discounting Curse of the Fatal Death) is that although there is a highly technical explanation to why this plague has spread, it all adds up and explains the events in a natural sounding way. It never jumps the shark as the explanation is seeded so successfully. You are given everything you need to know to work out the solution in part 1, yet it still comes as a satisfying surprise in part 2.

The nanogenes are a great creation. You get your monster of the week in the empty child, but then the driving force of the menace are miniature robots that have been designed to cure acting as a virus. Its a complete accident - there are no baddies.

The lack of bad guys leaves space for the charming and morally ambiguous Captain Jack to take centre stage with our leads. He is so appealing and bounces off/ gets in the way of The Doctor and Rose in a fascinating way. He couldn't be more different from both of them, but slots in beautifully.

Because its such a well known classic I think its easy to forget just how ground breaking and seminal this story is. It sets a high water mark for the rest of the new series to live up to - many series will go by without a story at this level.

This feels like a coda. The only low key moment of pause across series 1. A chance to catch our breath. Having lived in Cardiff for 7 years, it’s quite strange seeing it captured so faithfully on screen. Although, Mickey arrives at Cardiff Central only to immediately then find himself in a very different area of town.

This is our one chance to see The Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack and Mickey in a regular adventure together. And it’s fine. RTD leans into the love triangle (/love square?) very hard, it would have been nice if they’d been given some more action to do together, to make them more of a team.

Bon Fel Fotch is played beautifully by Annette Badland and plays off our leads nicely, with a lot of quippy dialogue, but it all feels a bit slight, like the show is buffering in advance of next week. An alien returning (a first for the new series) and Cardiff’s rift from Gatiss’ script ties it in to the rest of the series nicely.

The most beautiful moments are when you see the flickers of humanity from the monster of the week. The worst moments are when the humor doesn’t land. Overall I’d say my biggest complaint of Boom Town is it’s uneven tone.

This is a classic for Russell T Davies, finishing off the first series, and the 9th Doctor's era as a whole in style. RTD's efforts typically go into shaping the series and the characters but here you can see what he is capable of when all of his energy goes into writing. Its magnificent. Various threads from throughout the series are used for maximum impact here - Bad Wolf, the Time War, Rose talking to Jackie about her father, the heart of the TARDIS, Satellite 5, Mickey's doomed relationship with Rose. It all comes together and feels like a satisfying whole. Hey - even the Face of Boe gets a mention as a quiz question.

RTD's genius is the way he mixes pop culture (Big Brother, What Not to Wear, The Weakest Link) with high drama (holocaust-like charnel houses) whilst making the whole story hang together in a natural way. Oddly the pop culture elements have aged very well, though you'd have to imagine they would be streaming on demand rather than watching scheduled TV by this point in the future.

The Doctor messed up in The Long Game and now the Daleks have taken hold of Satellite 5. And what a show they put on. The thousands of Daleks filling the screen is quite unlike anything the show has managed to produce up until this point. Its a huge payoff to Dalek earlier in the series - and genuinely chilling stuff. We're led to think Lynda is going to be the new companion - awkwardly trumping Rose's affections but no - Lynda dies in horrific fashion at the hands of the Daleks and Rose gets The Doctor's dying kiss.

Whilst a huge battle breaks out in and around the satellite, loyal Rose attempts to get back to the fight - and eventually saves the day, despite The Doctor trying to keep her out of action. The scenes with Jackie and Mickey back on Earth help keep the whole story grounded and relatable. Clever old Russell, keeping non-fans and fans alike enthralled. Though he must have had an eye on fans when the script appears to reference the 8th Doctor TV movie as the Daleks are revealed in this instance to be half human (the Daleks respond with "BLASPHEMY!").

Captain Jack, Rose and The 9th Doctor make such an incredible team. I always feel joyous when I get to the bit where Jack is brought back to life, but then so disappointed when he gets left behind. I wish we could have had more of that team.

Of course, I also wish we'd gotten more of Christopher Eccleston in the role too. After whetting our appetite he bows out following the best series of the show to date (in my opinion it is ever so slightly better than Tom Baker's season 12). He carries so much humour, emotion and pathos in this story - it is a triumph of acting. Thank you Chris, for everything.

Now... who's this new guy?

A little more could have been made of David and Billie’s first scene together. It relies too heavily on there being a new Doctor in town and providing a link between series one and two. It could have, without pushing the characters too far, given us slightly more insight at this pivotal moment of post-regeneration.

Rose’s reaction “can you change back?” Is understandable and provides the anchor for the scene. It’s another one of RTD’s great shifts from how companions reacted to things in the classic series versus the new series. It’s realistic that there would be a period of adjustment and discomfort.

I just watched Attack of the Graske for the first time in 16 and a half years - twice, the win version and the lose version. Bar from the Graske I remembered none of it. I loved it! It’s a rogue introduction for Tennent on Christmas Day with a cheeky warning not to change to ITV that evening (or the remote will explode).

The puzzles are endlessly inventive and make the most of a controller and video game set up that has pretty limited functionality. The multiple points of interaction, feedback and alternate endings would make any young viewer feel like the companion for 15 minutes.

I’m amazed at how full on the production is, they spent some proper money on something a maximum a million schoolchildren will have accessed over the course of a year. The Victorian and spaceship scenes especially looked expensive. I wonder if they managed to reuse the CGI and movement for the Slitheen, or whether there were elements of that specially made…?

The best bit for the adults is all the bits of the cheeky dialogue they stick in, talk of not putting the wrappers back in the sweet tin and Tiny Tim with broken ankles.

If The Parting of the Ways presents one end of RTD’s writing, perhaps The Christmas Invasion presents the other. The first of many Christmas specials is fueled off of strong characters, fun set pieces and seasonal cheer. But it’s fair to say it’s not the strongest story he has offered up - with good will having to make up for the holes. A satsuma being thrown at a button opens up a random bit of floor? Really? But then there is a school of thought that when you’re introducing a new character you don’t want the story to get in the way too much.

I’m here for Rose and The Doctor’s romance. I’m here for robot Santas and killer Christmas trees. I’m here for Jackie piling loads of food onto the TARDIS and talking about her various romantic pursuits. The plot though is paper thin, so watched outside of that memorable Christmas Day in 2005, my initial positive reaction (especially my dad laughing at “its a fighting hand!”) has slowly faded over the years.

Our second trip in the so called “New Earth trilogy” has a lot of fun campery going for it. Sexy Rose/Cassandra hybrid, violent cat nuns, our leads soaking wet (with medicine of course). It’s a romp and shines brightly whilst all the moving parts are whizzing about but as it starts to wrap up, the resolution reveals itself to be some of the flimsiest, ill conceived nonsense the series has ever offered up - it fails to stick the landing.

Nanogenes could pass on a cure to all the gas mask zombies because an actual explanation had been written and seeded throughout the script. That does not mean that someone newly cured of all the new world’s illnesses can pass a cure on instantaneously just through touch. And hang on… why were the patients in the hospital not being cured instantly, since they are being fed the same intravenous drips?

Okay. I’ve lost the plot. The point is that’s it’s a a load of fun and the Face of Boe is cool and mysterious. And has a future message for The Doctor that he won’t spill right now.

The 10th Doctor and Rose have amazing chemistry and the jokes land throughout. All in all it’s a lot of fun. Cassandra gets the most beautiful death scene too. That’s where the emotional heart of the story lies, the real conclusion.

And the award for most tenuous ending to a Doctor Who story goes to...! So Prince Albert got the Koh-i-Noor diamond specially cut so that it could be popped on the floor in front of a seemingly broken telescope that would harness the light of the moon on the presumption that a werewolf would attack Queen Victoria in that location at some point in years to come. It was a premeditated trap... Sorry Russell, I don't buy it!

Other than that this is a pretty solid story. The Matrix-esque monk very well and the CGI has held up nicely. Pauline Collins is fabulous as the Queen and its a delight hearing Tennant switch between his Scottish and English accents. The amazing Euros Lynn does a good job on this one, though the shaky cam werewolf perspective shots do now look a little dated. So far its not been an amazing start for the 10th Doctor's reign but the selling points are all down to the fantastic characters.

Oh. And have we just seeded in the second ever Doctor Who spin off...?

Now that's more like it! Its a tricky thing bringing back long forgotten elements from a show's past, the 2005 series stripped everything back to basics with minimal references to the past. Its surprising then that in 2006 Russell decided it was time to bring back one of the classic series most beloved (and my favourite) companion Sarah-Jane Smith. Not only did they bring her back but they brought her back in an interesting way that both old school fans and those only familiar with the new series could appreciate - she's The Doctor's ex. Its a concept that works really well and gives Sarah-Jane, The Doctor, Rose and even Mickey Smith some serious character development. The Doctor's companions can stay with him for the rest of their life, but he can't stay with them for the rest of their lives - and it impacts everyone around them.

Anthony Head turns what could be a fairly meat and potatoes part into a shimmering role. Even as a kid I appreciated having some cast crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Elisabeth Sladen though is clearly the star of the show. I miss her so dearly. She more than proves that the classic cast can hold their own in the new show.

Its a funny script - Kenny being celebrated by his classmates for blowing up the school and the scenes with the two "tin dogs" Mickey and K-9 stand out as particular highlights. Its no surprise that Toby Whithouse is brought in to write more scripts.

It is also the second story in a row setting up a new spin off, the series' third overall. We're firing on all cylinders now!

Steven Moffat knows how to write fairy tales, romance, sci-fi and comedy. He is such an all rounder. So when Russell's fully developed, living, breathing characters walk into Moffat's scripts they are an uncontainable force to be reckoned with. The star of this particular episode though is Madame de Pompadour who is written and acted with such passion and flare that she's guaranteed to have audiences crying at her untimely fate.

Moffat's regular exercise of making an ordinary relatable item scary in this episode turns to ticking clocks and monsters hiding under the bed. The imaginative results of clockwork droids are delightful and a huge step forward for Tennant's time as The Doctor.

The fairy tale-esque spin on time travel that passing through fireplaces and secret passageways on a spaceship into regency France is spectacular and allows for the rare visual combination of both spaceships and palaces, robots and frocks!

With his second script in a row Moffat has already cemented himself as one of the series all time best writers and given Rose and The Doctor their first much needed classic in what had up until that point been an uneven series.

What has the modern series’ debut Cybermen story got going for it? It’s a solid introduction to The Doctor’s foes with a good redesign and a strong, suspenseful build up - they *feel* important. The introduction of a parallel universe is also a success, allowing the show to kill off a new version of Rose’s mum and introduce a living version of Rose’s Dad - that is what sci-fi is for surely? I like that writer Tom MacRae decides to make this universe’s Jackie Tyler a complete nightmare.

Why is this not a classic then? It’s poorly directed, I know Graeme Harper is a legend in Doctor Who circles, but this isn’t his finest work. A serviceable script falls flat on many an occasion here. I don’t think they got the casting quite right either, none of the introduced supporting cast are quite right - with the sole exception of Lumic’s henchman. Noel Clarke also hams it up a bit too much with Mickey’s alter ego Ricky.

MacRae’s script starts to completely unravel in the closing 15 minutes where I found myself eye rolling on numerous occasions. The ending is full of random leaps of logic, maximum suspension of disbelief and pure gobbledygook. It doesn’t undo the fact that the general plot of this story/ several memorable moments and ideas come across very well.

The first half of this story is much better than my memory (or fan wisdom) would have had me believe. The Doctor and Rose as detectives making house calls is a treat - its the first time that I feel their chemistry is quite as good as reputation would have you believe. It feels like Billie and David have at this point had a chance to truly get to know each other and get comfortable with each other's performances after being thrown into portraying a loving relationship between characters who already know each other deeply.

The show's defence of the mother and child who are victims of a horrible husband / father is pure Doctor Who. It feels inspiring as they are exactly the kind of voiceless people The Doctor was invented to defend. I also love the setting and costumes for Rose and The Doctor. When I was a young boy I remember being quite taken with Rose's pink dress and matching headband...!

The visual of missing faces and the concept behind the villain work well. However, The Wire unfortunately becomes relentlessly one note once her “HUNGRY” dialogue begins, randomly switching away from her established eloquent way of speaking. Once she enters this mode the episode veers into a black hole of forgettable-ness.

Base under siege! In space! With spaghetti mouthed aliens!

Fans gravitate to stories like these. Weighty, grown up adventures which make us feel very serious and legitimate in obsessing over our favourite children's family TV show. After the comic campery of The Idiot's Lantern we are thrown into the depths of hell where our hero meets the literal Devil incarnate.

Not just our hero either - a whole cast of convincing, engaging characters who (with the exception of Danny) give a sense of realism to their environment. The feeling the convey is similar to that of Terry Nation's Survivors - these are a surviving cast of crew on a doomed mission, being picked off one by one by a malevolent, unknown force. The fact that Danny is so unconvincing I think speaks volumes about the quality of the acting going on around him.

The Doctor and Rose's chemistry finally hits home here. They feel like a perfect couple, destined to be together. Their natural believability took a bit of a hit for me when Eccleston changed to Tennent, but now its as glorious as ever.

The Ood are an excellent invention - brilliant writing paired with a perfect visual. The servant race who are not naturally menacing but susceptible to being taken over. This is without a doubt the most successful original creature introduced to Doctor Who in the 21st Century.

You can tell a lot about a Doctor Who fan by whether they hate, tolerate or love Love & Monsters. Hatred of this 45 minute of TV for me indicates a fan who takes the show a little too seriously and can't embrace the show switching up its format in a fun or inventive way. Loving this story too indicates a lack of interest in denouements that hold up to serious inspection. I'm someone who thinks this story has far too bad a reputation, but wish the green, blobby monster reveal had been carried off a bit more successfully.

Until Peter Kay disrobes, this story is an excellent chamber piece, introducing and dispatching with new characters at a quick rate. Every character moment matters though. And Elton, our hero of the week, is so damn lovable. The scenes with him and Jackie are pure dynamite - some of the best Doctor Who we've had all season. It has been said a 1000 times before but MAN Russell T Davies knows how to write characters.

The framing device of Elton talking to camera is a brilliant novelty and helps set this story apart from its peers. It may be a middling episode, but its one of the most memorable middling episodes. And ends with a hilarious blow job gag.

This is the only story of the new series so far that I would describe as a complete mess. Pacing wise it’s all over the place. The first half all has the rhythm and feel of the opening 5 minutes of a TV show - it never gets going. The second half feels like it’s in a constant state of concluding. It is overly simplistic and surface level with leaps of logic and coincidences throughout - stretching believability even for the under-10s.

For Fear Her to work it would need to be shot and edited to be scarier, to be more like a horror movie. Murray Gold’s kooky sitcom score makes no sense for this story and frames it in an unhelpful way - a rare fail for him. We’re being indicated as an audience that something funny is on screen, but there is nothing to laugh at.

The one saving grace of this outing is the chemistry between David Tennant and Billie Piper. The latter half of this series has really seen their bond as actors flourish. It somewhat takes the curse off of the poor performances from the rest of the cast - primarily the child actor behind Chloe Webber and the woman playing her mum.

The ending is among the shows worst, including the forced foreshadowing. It’s among the worst productions, but luckily avoids the title of “worst” by at least 3 other stories from the first 26 years of the show.

Thirteen-year-old me thought this was a definite high for the show. It impressed its intended audience. It penetrated the public consciousness as well and created memories that people still cherish today. But, whilst its still a good romp, I'm not sure it stands up quite to that level today.

The good elements were, as with all RTD stuff, the long running characters who we have built a close investment in. Rose, her boyfriend and her family have built up such a close bond onscreen that it feels like the end of an era saying goodbye to them all at once. Billie Piper especially, in the tragic final beach scenes totally nails the sense of drama - whilst I didn't cry this time, I've cried many times watching this. Both David Tennant and Billie also create a beautifully iconic sequence pressing up against their sides of the wall. Murry Gold's finest music score for the show accompanies this moment. Among all this, I'm not sure we needed Jake back - he didn't add a great deal.

The actual plot seems to take a back seat in this one. There's a lot of shouting. The Daleks vs. Cybermen plot is great fun, the best moment being the reveal itself which I could not get over on transmission. It remains a special memory.

The human moments are directed very well by Grahame Harper, but the more action packed, effects sequences feel a little more staged. The worst offender being Rose sucked into the void, before Pete randomly appears at the last moment to catch her. The direction and writing match up to a slightly dud moment there - when you should be caught up in the height of emotion.

The campy, quirky humour throughout, mixed with the shallow plot, big monsters and huge human emotions make this an iconic, if flawed finale. Its uneven in tone but gets more right than wrong. Which is probably how I'd describe this whole series to be honest. Maybe even the whole show!

I am in love with the magnificent and unfairly underrated Random Shoes, which is Love & Monsters but with a more satisfying narrative and conclusion, written by the actor / writer Jacquetta May who (presumably due to her splitting her time between two professions) has surprisingly few writing credits to her name. There was so much pathos and love in this story of a dead boy.

RTD does a marvelous job of introducing some iconic characters to accompany the fabulous Captain Jack. Seeing the world through Gwen's eyes and having the story slowly unfold in front of her has some very spooky, fairy-tale qualities. The whole concept of the Torchwood base and a Cardiff based alien prevention squad is genius. A perfect set up!

When I was younger I held up The Christmas Invasion as a particularly fine example of a Christmas special, and The Runaway Bride as an average one - but now it’s quite the opposite. This is a tightly plotted effort from RTD. It’s poignant when it needs to be then camp and spectacular when it needs to be.

Understanding the brilliance of this larger than life iteration of Donna (as opposed to the more refined version we meet later) is the key to enjoying this story. I used to think that her and the Racnoss pushed the theatricality a bit too far, but that was just me being a sour faced, overly serious fan. Fans often over praise the serious stories and underrate the crowd pleasers.

The set piece on the motorway is the best chase scene in all of Doctor Who. It’s both visually interesting and hilarious. Sylvia Noble is wonderfully cast, this is a stand out character, and one that I’m delighted returns.

Donna performs an important role in the arc of the new series. RTD is letting the new audience know that the companion role is one that gets refreshed regularly, paving the way for a new arrival. It also helps us process the loss of Rose and highlights how important a good companion is. In this story, Donna is put in the role of the imperfect companion, or someone who isn’t quite ready - this yields interesting results.

Tate and Tennent’s chemistry is phenomenal. Tate is an outstanding actor and brilliant comic talent. We’re lucky to have her.

This story is slightly separate from the first series of Elizabeth Sladen’s second(!) spin off. It informally acts as a pilot for what is to come, introducing several key players from the eventual series. Having not watched this since near transmission I was pleasantly surprised that this out and out children’s TV show from 15 years ago held sincere entertainment value.

My favourite thing about this story is Sarah-Jane’s characterisation. She’s pitched as a 9th Doctor style figure, you could put a lot of her words in Eccleston’s mouth. She’s wounded, she has history, but under her hard shell she is secretly compassionate. She’s closed off and secretive, hiding fascinating rarely understood truths in her attic - you can see why children fell in love with this.

Russell T Davies “gets” drama, show pitches and characters. Here, him and Gareth Roberts flex their muscles and gives the kids intelligent drama that the adults are allowed to watch too.

The side characters are wonderful, Maria’s divorced parents are so funny - the snatches of adult dialogue between them are designed to prick up the ears of all parents watching. I actually think the much maligned Kelsey is pretty well written too - perhaps a little *too* antisocial. Contrary to fan wisdom I think she plays the part okay - a shame the child actor was apparently a bit of a bit of a dick on set!

The story is in some senses a rehash of The Long Game. Replace Max with the Bane and frozen zombies with zombies holding pop. It’s not quite generic though, with the central alien subterfuge being just about intricate enough to keep interest.

I was a bit resigned about watching all of a children’s TV, but this opening story perked me up. It’s wonderful seeing more Sarah-Jane. After everything we’ve been through together (as character and Doctor Who obsessive).

A second underrated story in a row, and proof that even the era of the show I am most familiar with still holds surprises. Rhino headed aliens are a stroke of genius, you can see how deft RTD is at creating immediately accessible and relatable enemies for the general public. But crucially they are not the ultimate bad guys - they are heavy handed bureaucrats subjecting a hospital to mistreatment in the name of hunting down a lady who sucks blood through a straw. It’s light and frivolous, as we’ve come to expect with these opening stories - but it’s very much got a solid plot. It holds up significantly better than the series 2 opener.

Martha Jones is the real stars of this show though. Freema Agyemen is a gentle delight. Not going to thwack you round the face with her performance like Tate or even Piper, but plays a more introverted, quiet confidence. An open eyed and excited new look on the universe. I like that she has a serious profession and that she is intelligent and highly qualified. Her chemistry with The Doctor, especially when he takes his tie off at the beginning and end of the show is wonderful.

Shout out to the family arguments as well - why is Russell so good at writing those? The pathetic dad with his ridiculous girlfriend “this is me, putting my foot down!” It gives Martha a sense of reality around her.

Three years in and the celebrity historical is a non-negotiable for each new series of Doctor Who. Whilst William Shakespeare’s appearance doesn’t quite reach the heights of Dickens, it certainly trumps Queen Victoria, it being especially funny when The Doctor casually uses his full name.

The trio of witches are a good match for this era, Gareth Roberts would have had to work harder to bring them into a contemporary setting. They efficiently help him tap in and out of an understood threat within 45 minutes.

The sexual energy in this production is something else. Wiggins and Lilith, Lilith and the script inspector, Martha and Shakespeare, Shakespeare and the wench, Martha pining after The Doctor… I’m sure there’s more! It fuels the show with a cheeky energy.

It’s been often said but I think Russell pushed Martha’s pining too far. Two episodes into her run, you’d hope The Doctor would stop mentioning Rose by now, but it’s one of the series’s returning themes. I understand plot wise why he is doing it, after “falling in love”, to be true to the character he can’t just forget her, but I think The Runaway Bride / Smith and Jones covered this base sufficiently.

It’s a fun, stylish, well plotted story. The “power of words” ending would usually not be enough to go on but Roberts puts in decent groundwork with the Carrionites’ use of “words as magic” - they get away with it.

Queen Elizabeth chasing The Doctor in an outrage is a particularly fine way of signing things off - even without a payoff yet planned!

A neat idea. People locked on a motorway for 25 years. You could make analogies with refugees, or those in long term isolation. It makes for a visually interesting story too - mostly moving from one claustrophobic box to another.

Coming back to the same point in history a third time gives the show a pleasing anchor. There is a genuine sense of sadness when the Face of Boe dies, which is astonishing considering that he is a giant head. Russell can give any character humanity. Brannigan, played by Ardal O’Hanlon steals the show though, with literal kittens as children.

If the story was not dark enough you have kidnap and drugs and Macra… wait? Macra! The return surely no one could have anticipated, and probably the most bizarrely realised enemy return since the show’s inception. Very much appreciated by me.

Another almost wishy-washy ending with The Doctor opening up the motorway by initially “being good with computers”, before saying “oh no, it’s not going to work”, until the Face of Boe gives The Doctor his dying breath. It’s a bit tenuous but I’ll allow it as the overall episode is very well realised.

We have more pining and going on about Rose but this is forgiven due to the detailed mentions of The Doctor’s home planet and Tennant’s excellent portrayal of loss. We even get a hint that there are more Time Lords out there…!

My wife loved the first three episodes of Martha Jones’ time in the TARDIS and she’s also a huge Andrew Garfield fan but I suspected that she wasn’t going to get a great deal out of this two parter and I was right. Whilst it doesn’t reach the lows of Fear Her I’d describe it as the new series’ second ever flop.

The show is cast well and in the most part they do a decent job of summoning 1920s New York but you have to wonder why Lazlo and the showgirl are featured so heavily when they have an incidental relationship with the main Empire State Building storyline. The Hooverville scenes are somewhat interesting but home to too many “rousing speeches” none of which land particularly well.

The half-human Dalek Sec looks unsightly and weird, the wiggling worm fronds being particularly ridiculous. Sec is easily disposed of by his Dalek counterparts, so it doesn’t feel like his arc adds up to much, I’d like to have seen him do more with his hybrid powers. We end up in generic territory with The Doctor talking about what he loves about humans and hates about Daleks - and the Daleks talking about human weakness. It’s been done better.

Even with tweaks to the script, there is something off with the production generally. You get the sense that in 2007, realising this time and place in the middle of the series is stretching the budgets and expertise of the production team. I would love to see this world realised in 2022 - for a start they would actually film large chunks of the episodes in New York.

Andrew Garfield’s bit part is fun to see after the huge year he has just had with Tick Tick Boom, The Eyes of Tammy Faye and his Spiderman revival. This show doesn’t doesn’t exactly showcase his full ability though!

This is the first Stephen Greenhorn script and I can’t say I’m all that impressed. There’s some fun big ideas - involving Martha’s family and a prominent scientist defy the aging process, turning back his biological clock. Unfortunately these don’t get very far.

Firstly, Francine and Leo Jones are not given anything to do that is not incidental to the plot. I wish more was done to involve them and create more points of interaction between them.

Tish Jones is then given a rather unpleasant storyline. She finds Lazarus creepy and unattractive right up until the moment he turns into a young person, then, seemingly to get ahead in her career starts falling over herself for him. Part of the issue is that Mark Gatiss is playing Lazarus, as he is still too old for Tish and isn’t blessed with such overwhelmingly beautiful looks that would overcome a creepy, meanspirited first impression. It just doesn’t work.

This is a rare CGI mess up. The monster that Lazarus turns into doesn’t even have Mark Gatiss’ face stuck on it. It’s also been created in such a way where most talking must take place off screen.

In the most part, the performances are enjoyable. But some major elements just don’t click here.

This is the third thoroughly underwhelming story in a row delivered by a brand new writer to the show. This time it is Chris Chibnall’s turn to disappoint (he becomes important later…!)

My wife hated this story. She initially thought she’d already seen it due to the uncanny and frustratingly close resemblance to the excellent The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit. It smacks of the Doctor Who team saying “that worked - let’s try it again.” Whilst visually it is a copy / paste job, the paper thin levels of peril and personality free, motivation-less characters make it almost impossible to be able to invest in the story. It makes you really appreciate the craft Matt Jones and RTD put into these character’s fully fleshed out series two counterparts.

It’s a shame because the basic plot Chibnall is given to work with us rather good - a living sun which wants back something that has been taken from it - a similar idea to a classic Who story which escapes my mind at the moment (I’m sure someone can tell me). I also like the slowly lifting sun visors and the “burn with me!”

Their take on the real time TV show 24 doesn’t really do anything. If they had gone all in on the countdown concept it could have done - but the supposed timings never match up with what we’re experiencing onscreen to any degree - so there’s a massive disconnect in the pacing.

The pod sequence with Martha floating into space is well handled on an emotional level, they had a good idea, but the Doctor and Martha’s friend messing with the pod’s interface trying to resolve the situation is in practice, quite boring.

Freema and David knock out some excellent performances though. They save the day and save the episode, feeling liked they’d really clicked as actors, even if Martha hasn’t quite had enough to do at this point in the series.

The mid series slump has been horrendous which is frustrating as the first four episodes without Billie Piper had been so promising. There is definitely better to come!

My word. How do you follow up a mid-season lull? This will do nicely! It makes you wonder why they never did another book adaptation after such a barn storming success like this. Obviously we don’t know which bits were Paul Cornell and which bits were Russell T Davies, but it also seems a shame that this is Cornell’s final outing - given the obvious quality on display here.

It feels like a mixture of classic and modern Doctor Who. There is a patient, talkative, literary quality peppered with moments of high adrenaline, edge of your seat drama, romance and fantasy. The old fashioned educational setting and the invisible spaceship remind me of Shada - but done right. It just *feels* very deliberately Doctor Who-ish.

I remember being so excited by seeing John Smith’s diary onscreen back in 2007 - the first time we saw that level of continuity in the new series.

The Doctor enters a self-contained dream world which unintentionally catfishes poor Joan. A touching tale. The doomed romance makes this a story which lingers in the mind long after it has finished. Jessica Hynes perfectly plays the poorly treated Joan with dreams of a life with John Smith. It’s a stellar cast all round - but she stands out. The emotional stakes are more than matched by David Tennant playing John Smith in his human form. This is David’s best performance in Doctor Who. Joan’s final question to The Doctor, asking whether anyone would have died if he had not chosen her home place and time as a hiding place, is a brutal blow.

Blink is another high water mark for the series. A perfectly paced, beautifully acted piece of drama that proves that the show has no defined formula and can even survive without its lead actors! Carey Mulligan delivers one of the best (if not the best) guest cast performances of all time. She is perfect dream casting companion material. Finlay Robertson’s Larry is the perfect companion to her companion - a brilliant comic foil.

The Weeping Angels, in a single 45 minute story, solidify themselves as a top tier classic villain - and there are only three of those. One introduced in 1963, another in 1966, this one in 2007. Quite an achievement, further cementing “new” Doctor Who’s legitimacy - it is here to stay.

Even after watching this story at least 50 times since I was 14 I found myself engrossed. The line about The Doctor’s timey wimey machine cooking an egg at 30 paces genuinely made me laugh out loud. Don’t think I’ve ever properly appreciated that line before. All these years later, still new details to take in.

A trilogy of diminishing returns. And it really shouldn’t be given the excellent characters and concepts on display throughout. The real outlier of course is Utopia which is of incredibly high quality, the tension slowly ramps up throughout the story in this dystopian fantasy land. Captain Jack is back and suddenly at odds with the Doctor which is a dramatic treat. The tension between him and The Doctor really sparkles. Then we get one of the series’ all time best reveals - the amazing Derek Jacobi turns out to be an unwitting, secret iteration of The Master! My word. Following Blink and Human Nature I felt a bit spoiled.

The Sound of Drums begins well enough. The Master as Prime Minister is a dastardly treat. But it loses touch with reality shortly after and the pacing goes down the toilet. Aging The Doctor, then aging him even further in Last of the Time Lords does nothing to serve the plot. I’d say none of the amazing characters RTD had introduced over his time as showrunner really got much of anything interesting to do in the last two instalments of this story. Martha travelling the world talking to people about The Doctor… is that an interesting character motivation? And the embarrassment I still feel watching the Jesus like resurrection of The Doctor transforming from a shrivelled up old nubbin to a triumphant young Tennant whilst people shout “Doctor” in unison. My God. That is bad TV.

It feels wrong to rate these tangentially connected stories as a single whole - but some guy on Totally Doctor Who once said they were a single story so we’ll treat them as such!

Alan Barnes is a great writer so manages to overcome some of the basic limitations of this animated children’s adventure. It originally aired in 12 parts, split into sub-4 minute episodes - which is a weird pressure to put on a story and means that plot is destined to be surface level. The Doctor and Martha chase after a macguffin in order to prevent major destruction. Little do they know they are being coerced into their action. All in all it’s a charming Saturday teatime cheese fest.

A handful ideas particularly stand out - the skulls hidden behind darkened space helmets, which are then revealed by the light, pre-dates the same concept seen in Silence in the Library. I also generally love the scale of the storytelling, less limited conceptually by budgetary constraints.

I am actually fond of the animation style as well. For the budget it’s working with, this shaggy dog story is well realised, though it’s fair to say that the team face are more limitations with rendering human faces than anything else.

The regulars continue shine in this, including the incoming Clyde who acts as a nice counterbalance to the rest of the team. Maria’s mum continues to be the star of the show. The lead teachers / Slitheen actors are unbearably hammy when in human form though - someone told them to really tilt into the fact their in a children’s TV show which is out of keeping with the rest of the show. Slitheen work particularly well in alien form though - a natural fit for SJA.

I have a huge respect for Phil Ford’s willingness to explore adult themes in this story, especially Maria’s experience of her dysfunctional mother. There’s a real humanity to the performances from Maria and her dad that folds in nicely to the alien threat of the week. There’s a Jonathan Creek vibe to this one, especially in the old people’s home with the wily old woman who could unlock the entire mystery if it wasn’t for her alzheimer's - I’m glad her illness isn’t cured by the amulet, an important lesson for the kids. Ford shows us how to write in a way which treats the young audience with respect.

The Kudlak look amazing. Amazed they achieved that mask on SJA’s budget! This is a genuinely funny and inventive story with convincing villains. I like that they’ve made Sarah-Jane tough and distant in this series. A spooky, intriguing woman who gravitates towards danger. There’s some really funny writing in this one too - I love the one gag woman who introduces the laser tag tournament.

It makes sense that a Doctor Who spin off would eventually travel back in time but I didn’t expect it to happen in series one. Through a delicious sci-fi twist we see a 13-year-old Sarah-Jane’s friend become twisted by trauma and become a pitiful, yet abusive and powerful villain. The fact that Angela, at a glance, looks so similar to Sarah-Jane is spooky! The return of the Graske is unexpected and cute - but it’s the faceless Trickster that imprints itself on the mind's eye of a child.

Includes possibly the best cliffhanger of any Doctor Who related property (including the main show). Part 1 has so much drama packed into a 28 minute kids show: Maria’s dad wants to take her away; Luke’s “real” parents exist and desperately want him back; Sarah-Jane investigates seemingly unrelated telekinetic powers; Luke’s parents are aliens and his new brother is a telekinesis genius; shock - the new family is revealed as Slitheen!; bigger shock - Mr Smith is villainous and has been pulling the strings the whole time and kidnaps Clyde! WHAT?! And that’s just part 1. Despite all the various threads the show flows nicely from plot point to plot point. It’s exceptional writing. Oh. -and K-9 turns up at the end!!

Apparently written by children, but you have to think that Moffat almost certainly touched up the script himself. Its serviceable as mini episode, but its main purpose is to give the competition winners, and those cheering them on, something to feel warm about. This is absolutely the sort of thing the production team should be engaging with.

Music of the Spheres

I was lucky enough to be at the 2008, ‘10 and ‘13 Doctor Who Proms thanks to having parents who already regularly attended The Proms and were pretty ‘on it’ with this kind of thing. At the 2008 show we were in the unbelievably fortunate position of being in the box just under Russell T Davies, Peter Davison, Catherine Tate, Julie Gardiner, Phil Collinson. Towards the end of the show I shot up to their box with my little brother and got signatures from all of the above. I most clearly remember Catherine and the kind, generous Russell who had bounds of positive energy. I let my little brother approach as I thought at 15 I might be seen to be a bit too old - I wish I hadn’t now as I’m a WAY bigger fan then he is/ ever was. He told Russell that his favourite of his episodes was Journey’s End to which Russell agreed. Murray Gold’s music was astonishing throughout the evening - especially that spine tingling Gallifrey and Doomsday themes which were spectacularly put back to back. That is an incredibly special memory for me.

Music of the Spheres was, of course, a rather minor cutaway scene which they smartly folded into the action on the day featuring another appearance from a monster that Doctor Who of this era liked to whip out for “extra” content like this - the Graske. It’s a cute scene where Tennent eulogises about the importance of music, writes a (deliberately) terrible song for orchestra to play and then chases a Graske off screen… who heads into the Royal Albert Hall! It was hugely gratifying to see live but independently of the day itself probably doesn’t add up to much!

A cute but insubstantial slice of nostalgia-who - not that it’s lack of meatiness matters. This sketch is unashamedly and justifiably aimed squarely at the fans. Within its short run time it doesn’t have to go anywhere or do anything. It’s a wry few minutes comparing, for the first time, the worlds of classic and modern Doctor Who. Seeing Peter Davison’s 5th Doctor back alongside Tennant’s incumbent 10th is a mind bending sugary treat. Once you have that you don’t need much more than some little gags.

Kylie Minogue! Can you believe Doctor Who once had enough cultural capital to get Kylie in it? That’s mad! Perhaps we’re headed on a trajectory where we’ll see Ncuti face off against a Taylor Swift level star, but for most eras of the show, this level of star power would be considered a totally unrealistic, farcical ambition. It’s not just that it’s Kylie, but that Tennent and Kylie actually have chemistry. They play off of each other beautifully. You could imagine an alternate reality where Astrid continues beyond this 70 minute epic.

Voyage of the Damned is a big camp slice of Christmas cake Doctor Who. Some parts of it don’t hold up to close inspection (why is Mr Copper convinced he's going to prison again?) and other parts don’t come across in the way the production team must have initially envisioned (Astrid’s death scene is clunky, slow and for some, embarrassing). Overall though it’s got all the drama and pazazz you’d want from a Doctor Who special. In some ways it’s the quintessential Doctor Who special - it certainly ‘feels’ special.

The party scene and the betrayal of the captain at the beginning does suggest a slightly tighter story - a killer 60 minutes could have been carved out of it. But riffing on The Poseidon Adventure and seeing a group of bubbly, richly drawn characters get picked off one by one is a smart and exciting premise. Each character gets their moment to shine - particularly touching are the lively competition winners who end up dying during the lengthy bridge sequence.

Max Capricorn is a better villain that I remembered from original transmission. Looked at as a frothy spectacle for all the family (rather than the super serious sci-fi drama I probably wanted it to be) I sincerely enjoyed his performance this time round. Although the captain of the ship did give a more convincing, weighty turn before he died and sent Titanic 2 hurtling to Earth.

God bless Wilf who deserves a special mention. He knocks his small role out of the park. He helps build a sense of continuity between this and the series 4 that is to come. Slender threads.

RTD smashed this one. It’s not perfect, but with so many complex moving parts and a far broader than usual audience, this Titanic themed adventure could have easily been a disaster.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang makes 42 look like it was written by an entirely different person. The alien blowfish is perhaps the show’s first truly iconic alien design. The mysterious Captain John (played by James Masters) gets the balance right, delivering the right kind of camp, gritty, sexy nonsense the audience is looking for. He matches John Barrowman’s energy and enriches the lore around our main character.

Adam is another hit with the episode's titular character memorably infiltrating the Torchwood hub and editing himself into the regular cast’s past memories. It’s a sci-fi concept that I've seen explored elsewhere since this was aired in 2008 but it’s a superb one. It’s important that a “monster of the week” show like this can stretch its arms a bit and try something a little more sinister and probing from time to time.

A Day in the Death struck me. Owen deals probingly with his depression and “undead” status. It in turn leads him to save a life. It’s worth noting how good the ensemble cast are in this - including Martha. I’d have to do proper individual reviews to adequately explain what makes each character tick but it’s the thing that holds this show together.

Fragments is another strong story from Chibnall. Unsurprisingly whenever Doctor Who spin offs dabble with time travel things start to sparkle a little bit more. Captain Jack’s backstory is a yawning chasm of potential, so it’s a relief to be able to fill in some gaps between Parting of the Ways and the start of Torchwood Series One. Big Finish have made good use of Victorian Torchwood, I wish more of this had made it to screen. Again, the inherent sadness of a being who can’t die and watches the world pass around them is not unique to Torchwood, but it makes for good drama.

I appreciate Peter J Hammond might be an old school legend of British television but this entry suggests he was past it by this point in time - particularly stagey writing throughout.

This is easily the best revived series opener so far which is down to the unmatched chemistry between David Tennant and Catherine Tate, and an excellent script that delivers a stunning one off monster.

Russell lives and breathes characters. Watching him carve the new Donna out of the raw materials of the old Donna is a character development masterclass. He moulds her into a compelling continuing character, rather than an entertaining one off. And because she hasn’t had the typical companion journey it’s a much richer characterisation then you’d usually get at this point.

The broad comedy works because everyone plays it for real. Tate is an experienced comic so has a well honed instinct on how to play these scenes, knowing exactly what makes them funny.

Even the adult Adipose in this story are not proper villains. Their scheme, if delivered with consent, would be a win-win for all involved. Low stakes comedy Doctor Who is exactly what you want at this end of the series. The baby Adipose is a truly iconic, beautiful and well realised design. I hope they return in some form or another one day. How is this the same design team that brought us The Lazarus Experiment?

I can’t wait to see more of series 4!

You fall in love with Donna in Partners in Crime, then she breaks your heart in the second episode of the series. She approaches her adventures differently from a typical companion. She is wowed and amazed by the universe, but regularly challenges The Doctor if any explanation he gives is not satisfactory. Donna’s empathetic reaction to the deaths of Pompeii and the injustice of the decision The Doctor has to make is palpable. Catherine Tate more than proves her worth as a dramatic actor.

My understanding is that Russell had a strong hand in James Moran’s writing of this story. Having read Moran’s target novelisation earlier this year I feel I have an instinct for his writing style, so which moments belong to which writers. Either way, this is a strong addition. Together they take a typical monster of the week premise and turn it into something that you sense will impact The Doctor and Donna forever. It’s set up for the audience to expect an ordinary emotional ebb and flow, then delivers a seismic gut punch.

You are of course delighted when The Doctor decides to save the Roman family we’ve been introduced to, after Donna’s pleading “to save anyone”. A very satisfying ending.

Paul Temple’s sole contribution to the world of Doctor Who is a little triumph. Usually at this point in a series our characters would be playing with low stakes but Donna is pulled from one high intensity situation to another. Tate’s acting prowess massively contributes to the feeling that what is happening is going to stay with her forever. It’s amazing that this is the same character from The Runaway Bride.

The Ood are one of a small number of iconic monsters to come out of the show’s 21st century run so it makes sense to bring them back and flesh out their backstory. Planet of the Ood happily scratches that itch and provides us with a rich understanding that is rarely afforded to monsters in this show. They are, when meddled with, a lobotomised slave race. When allowed to run free they are a vulnerable but highly intelligent and highly emotive race. The fact that their planet is located near to the Sensorites’ Sense Sphere should tell Classic fans everything they need to know about the Ood’s natural temperament. Their abuse gives us allegories of factory farming and the space trade - we know humans can be this cruel.

The iconic scene where our villain of the week is transformed into an Ood by his tricksy servant is one of my favourite moments from the show - it’s ingrained in my subconscious from childhood. It’s a “punch the air” moment where you really feel the leader of this horrid empire is getting what he deserves. It’s also a reminder that Doctor Who does body horror very well (see: The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances).

So far series 4 is holding up as the best new Who offering for this point in the series. I truly hope this continues!!

This is big, silly, popcorn-Who. If you don't like manic, improbable, Earth shattering events followed by swift, improbable solutions then you might find it difficult to get on board with this. It is at this point, after having a big returning villain each year across new who, that they started to get into the B-list menaces (Macra notwithstanding). At the time of transmission, for the the average viewer over 30, Sontarans were one of those "you might remember these guys" threats. They are served adequately, fulfilling their own little niche in the show - the war mongers with a taste for honourable death.

There are pandering inclusions including mentions of the Rutans and the first of many ham-fisted nods to the Brigadier that the 21st century run offers up. At this point in time, it would have been a much more satisfying route just include Nicholas Courtney in the show. A missed opportunity now. But then you have Martha's return(!), Donna fighting aliens solo(!), Wilf being a sweetie(!), the fully fledged return of UNIT(!) All engaging sugary treats.

In retrospect, the most ahead of its time aspect that this two-parter serves up is a secondary human villain who is built in the mould of Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk. He is a t-shirt wearing, tech company owner who wields serious power which he puts to dubious use - something the show could do with revisiting.

This should be an epic given its deliberately provocative title, and its premise which was pitched as "a story which changes The Doctor". We should have been talking about this one for years to come. Yet it ended up being totally forgettable fluff in what has up until this point been a particularly good series.

The pacing is relentlessly poor. The last 20 minutes in particular. The story keeps feeling like it is about to end with one scene bolted onto the next, almost as an afterthought, or to extend the screen time. The paper thin plot lacks focus and intrigue, or at least I was never truly invested in anything I saw onscreen. It isn't helped by the fact that The Doctor initially seems completely nonplussed and a even bit disappointed in the fact his offspring exists. We are not invited to deeply care about them or believe they have much of a bond. She inexplicable has incredible gymnastic skills(??) and doesn't seem to reflect much of either The Doctor or any Time Lord qualities. She is then pointlessly killed, then miraculously brought back to life - leaving the viewer feeling like the whole thing was a waste of time.

The saving grace is that it is all a bit of fun. The Hath are a good creature design. The concept of generation after generation *feeling* like they have been fighting a war forever but in fact have only been fight for a week is hilarious... not sure it really holds up to scrutiny (wouldn't these clones be dropping like flies onscreen?)

Putting Martha for the whole episode with characters who can only communicate with gargles seems like a perfect way to waste her big return - making it all but impossible to have any meaningful character moments with Donna and The Doctor. Sums up this story well I suppose - a wasted opportunity!

We’re in a brief period of Doctor Who (series 1-5) that I have watched enough times as a child to have a very solid perceived notion of how much I’ll enjoy rewatching it. This story, whilst being enjoyable and a little bit different from standard Who, wasn’t quite as funny or interesting as I remembered it.

It relies on the fact that it’s stretching the formula to that of a murder mystery but then doesn’t push it far enough for my tastes. It would have been better if they’d focused energy on fleshing out the mystery element, making it meatier and more compelling. Instead it’s just set dressing for a genuinely fun, comedy caper.

The poison / parler scene is iconic though - every bit as enjoyable all these years later. Christopher Benjamin’s long awaited return to the show is also an absolute highlight. He absolutely nails these sympathetic / pathetic characters, giving them naturally engaging warmth and heart. I found the dialogue distracting at times. I don’t think it benefited from the constant “Easter eggs” (references to Agatha Christie’s work).

The Doctor and Donna steal the show. Catherine Tate is given space in what is only the second comedy of the series to show off her comic instincts which set her apart positively from a companion in the history of the show.

This one is better than I remembered!

Silence in the Library is stuffed with enough sci-fi concepts to nourish several other stories: a planet sized library; invisible monsters in the shadows; data ghosts; Donna's fictional children; Donna tragically not crossing paths with her real husband. But the two best concepts of all are The Doctor having a wife from the future who he hasn't crossed paths with, but knows him better than anyone in the world; and a there being child who is a computer in her own world watching the real world unfold on her TV.

Catherine Tate plays her part incredibly well here, from the two hander with David up top, to caring for the bullied member of the crew to her disorientating journey through the dream world. Alex Kingston also smashes her introduction as the infamous River Song - the concept of her story is so deep and broad that it feels impossible at this point that they would even manage to bring her back. Props should also go to Steve Pemberton who (as also seen in Happy Valley) can twist from malicious to sympathetic in an instance, giving his character an enjoyably multi-layered performance.

This is Moffat at the height of his powers, not serving up needlessly complicated plot in order to wow the audience, but instead carefully introducing thread after thread of different concepts, gently crafting them into a satisfying whole that totally adds up.

In one of Russell finest ever efforts we see him wring every ounce of potential out of a simple yet brilliant idea. Copycat teasing turned evil - something kids can copy in the playground. Donna takes a break in the spa whilst The Doctor is left to convince a group of increasingly disgruntled strangers not to kill him. Russell is brilliant at writing conflict, so it’s great to see him let loose and develop a bottle episode which focuses on people and negative social dynamics in high a pressure, claustrophobic environment.

Louise Sharp is magnificent in this as the possessed woman who turns the group against each other. I loved her alongside Alan Davies in RTD’s magnificent Bob & Rose. When she turns on the possession it is spine tingling! David Troughton is spookily like his father in tone and mannerisms in his well acted but small role - a special treat for fans.

A special shout out needs to go to Alice Troughton’s direction for managing to make what is in the most part a single set and a series of very long takes look so interesting over the course of a whole episode. She made magic out of a very small budget.

This story makes me wish RTD had more of a chance to focus on writing one off, disconnected stories rather than focusing on the beginning, ending and connective tissue of each series.

For a story that more or less resets by the end, taking place entirely in an alternate reality, this is truly affecting and harrowing in parts. In particular when a kind immigrant family is taken away by soldiers and Wilf reacts with “it’s happening again.” The show is extremely confident at this point, weaving in continuity galore without fear of alienating viewers - fully aware most people watching have done all the required viewing.

Billie Piper seems a bit alien in all this - from a totally different era. She’s brilliant but Catherine Tate continues to steal the show in this Doctor lite story, which sees her taking on the entire dramatic weight of the plot.

If I had any criticism is that it is a little too continuity heavy - relying on plot points gone by. But this is a nitpick as Doctor Who rarely enters this “what if?” territory, so it serves as an interesting flavour.

What a funny old story! Catnip for anyone who’s been marathoning the show alongside its spin offs. There is a mind bending quality to seeing members of the Torchwood base and 13 Bannerman Road sharing the same space - alongside every contemporary companion and extended recurring cast. This feels years ahead of its time, big team ups being more anticipated in the oversaturated age of the MCU - though I guess Doctor Who has been doing this since The Three Doctors. Big Finish has perhaps overdosed on this approach in recent years.

This show couldn’t be like this every week, but as a one off, the relentless raising of stakes acts as a culmination of his first four series and an epic way to (almost) round off the (first) Russell T Davies era. “The end of the UNIVERSE itself!!” There is enough craftsmanship in the writing that you forgive the million macguffins “Osterhagen key”, “reality bomb”, “warp star” and a special gun that the alt-10th Doctor pulls from nowhere at the last moment.

Whilst it’s not the perfect story by a long stretch, and much of my love from it comes from it successfully spending all of the cultural capital the show and its spin off had hard earnt over the previous four years, I do think it is a good yarn. In fact - I’ve underrated it until this watch through.

The only place it truly falters for me is when Donna (imbued with The Doctor’s Time Lord powers) starts messing around with the controls on the Dalek’s ship as a way of making the story end, and making the Daleks go from being world ending threats to playthings in a matter of seconds - not the most satisfying payoff after constantly raising the stakes. The emotional hit though when Donna loses all of her memories and reverts to the character we met in The Runaway Bride is RTD at his best.

I’m reading the contemporary issues of Doctor Who Magazine along with this marathon (one of my many self-imposed impediments slowing my way through the show). It was sad and interesting reading Elisabeth Sladen stating that she believed this would be her last ever episode of Doctor Who. Luckily she was wrong - getting one last appearance (besides her work on the wonderful Sarah-Jane Adventures) under her belt before sadly leaving us. What a magnificent performer.

A cute and successful little story hosting a surprisingly early exit for Maria - which you’d think was a once in a lifetime role for a young actor. The Sontaran is used well, its purpose being the same as seen in The Sontaran Experiment - except it’s a significantly more exciting story this time round. I will sincerely miss Maria and her hilarious family. Her mum gets to save the day in the end!

Stephen King’s IT is mashed up with the legend of the pied piper to form a derivative but fun 50 minutes. It’s carried by the excellent cast of characters, including the new Rani Chandra and her parents who reassure us that we won’t be missing Maria too much (if at all!) The headteacher / Chandra’s dad subplot is more compelling than the clown being “destroyed by laughter”. A twist on the well worn “power of love” endings that plague fiction (and so much Doctor Who!)

It was a genius idea revolving an alien menace around the ancient suspicions of astrology. Plenty of recognisable folklore for Gareth Roberts to tap into. The idea of a washed up astrology reader gaining real powers and taking over the world is delicious. Two stories in and this gang of Rani, Luke, Clyde and Sarah-Jane feel iconic. The show has reached its ultimate form. The only quibble I have with this story is that it's another mass-hypnosis number, but to be fair, it's carried off far better than The Christmas Invasion.

Nothing is diluted in this children’s show. The emotions in this story, where Clyde is reunited with his selfish, “useless” dad goes places more powerful, meaningful and impactful then most adult dramas - certainly more than most Torchwood! It reveals something about Clyde which gets under the surface of who he is as a character. The pain he has been through. And the space that Luke, Maria, Rani and Sarah-Jane fill in his life. They absolutely smash this “Sarah-lite” episode with a neat cameo from Maria and her Dad. The few scenes Sladen is in truly astonished me with the humanity and tenderness in her performance.

In many ways this is a blow for blow remake of Father’s Day. Despite Elizabeth Sladen’s outstanding central performance, it fails to pack the same emotional potency as the story which heavily inspired it. It gets particularly hokey and ploddy in part two. It is good fun though. The Trickster is a brilliant and memorable recurring baddie. This story also gives you a deeper, more emotionally developed view of the Graske!

Forget the returning Bane, Sontaran and Miss Wormwood - this story was all about the Brigadier for me. It was sad to realise that I’ve now covered every morsel of Nicholas Courtney’s Brigadier on this marathon thread. Whilst I was grateful for Downtime, Death Comes to Time and to a lesser extent Dimensions in Time, I have to admit it was a bigger thrill seeing him in a higher budget, more legitimate piece of Doctor Who. When he headed home in his Aston Martin I had a wistful moment to myself. I only wish he’d been used a little bit more. He should have been the key protagonist driving the plot forward, rather than just an influential old friend / sidekick. He was such an amazing actor to the end and would certainly have ended up in Moffat’s era had the universe allowed for it. RIP to this icon.

I’ve reached what is almost certainly my least watched David Tennent episode, and the only Doctor Who story which I’ve fallen asleep to on its original transmission. Perhaps I’d woken up too early, excited about presents.

The 10th Doctor himself continues to shine without any of his companions, but it has to be said that the production suffers from the lack of a second regular character. David Morrissey’s Jackson Lake and his companion Rosita do not have nearly enough sparkle or natural oozing confidence in their roles to make up for Donna’s absence, or Martha’s or Rose’s. After overdosing on companions in Journey’s End the difference feels especially stark.

There is a genius, emotive concept at the heart of this story. What happens when an ordinary father loses his memory and wakes up living the fantasy of being The Doctor. We learn that he has suffered the trauma of losing his wife and child. But where does Rosita fit in? She’s introduced as a pseudo-companion to Morrissey’s pseudo-Doctor but we never get a sense of their closeness or why she is working with him. What is it that they do together? It would have been exciting to start the story from the perspective of Morrissey’s Doctor, completing one of his adventures, confusing the audience through not *quite* being The Doctor. A rare opportunity for the show to parody itself before our real Doctor bundles into the story.

Miss Hartigan’s dress and brolly is fab but I don’t get a sense of her as a character either. Doctor Who seems to specialise in slightly arch, restrained, inexplicably sexually charged women. I don’t know what it was about that graveside that was getting her so excited.

The truth is that while there are some great story beats here, it feels like a 45 minute adventure stretched over an hour. And another in the long line of limp Cyberman stories - it’s surprisingly difficult to make them pop as monsters in the 21st century. The lumbering Cyber King is not the answer, but it did bring to mind scenes from Robot.

When everything wraps up and Jackson Lake is reunited with the least charismatic child actor in existence, things come to a clumsy, heartwarming end. This whole guest cast is a very rare (the only?) example of Andy Pryor not quite getting things right.

It’s clear from the Doctor Who Confidential that accompanied this episode that a huge amount of hard graft went into it - especially from director Andy Goddard. However, after listening to The Next Doctor BBC website commentary (which was used on the BBC3 red button service) with RTD and Julie Gardener I have to comment on how dissatisfied they seem with this story despite their positive, peppy personas. Although they were wowed by some elements, it has the most amount of nitpicking of any commentary I’ve ever heard (though they do acknowledge this and note that this commentary came after a very long day!)

They are still arguing the toss about which elements should be added in where and what the Doctor knows at each point. And, without being critical of anyone, they are dissatisfied with several of the visuals. Shot as the 15th story in the same run (which started with Voyage of the Damned). The production team were on their last legs when this was filmed.

The Next Doctor was an especially difficult shoot because of children’s filming hours, nightshoots, period dressing and over a thousand people watching exterior scenes in Gloucester, (which impacts health and safety, and police presence, and spoilers!)

In addition to this RTD says: “writing a mystery is not my natural state… by 30 minutes we're into a completely different story… if you were writing this properly you’d sustain the mystery until 50 minutes in. But I wouldn’t believe it. I couldn’t be bothered.”

Here’s a quote from RTD in DWM 404: “There's clearly some terrible history of abuse with Miss Hartigan. As a result of all that damage, she can't help but sexualise everything. It's how she sees the world, or how she's been forced to see it. 'Yet another man, come to assert himself against me in the night’, she says, which just brings with it an awful draught of darkened rooms and powerful men. She's a workhouse matron; her job would involve institutionalised violence, and she's been the recipient of that too. So it informs everything she says, whether she's conscious of that or not. "For example," he adds, "she's the only person who clearly and immediately recognises Rosita as a prostitute. She's even flirtatious at the graveside, just before she begins a massacre. Something's gone very wrong in her head. And that's why she needs forgiving, in the end - that's why the Doctor can't kill her, only set her free. So, yes, there was a lot to talk about there, just to bring out the subtext.”

Now. All respect to RTD but none of that subtext makes it on screen for me - and I’m not 100% I’d have wanted it to, or whether it would have made the character better.

A Sarah Jane Adventures skit with Ronnie Barker, K9, Slitheen and some good gentle humour - I loved the two Ranis gag! And then there are a whole lot of fart jokes. Its not great but then how much can you really fit into a 5 minute mini-SJA? Its a sign of how big a cultural force Doctor Who was at the time that its spin off show could command such a presence with a major celebrity at the head of the BBC's Red Nose Day celebration. And nice that the main show could defer to its spin off for one of these mini eps.

Whilst being an all round better story, this has a few similarities to The Next Doctor. It starts rather well and the general premise / set up is delightful. Unlike The Next Doctor though it has a solid one off companion with unique skills and motives, a completely alien environment provided by the deserts of Dubai and a brilliant cast helping The Doctor along on his adventure.

Whilst this one does not suffer from the "missing companion", again like The Next Doctor completely loses the plot once you meet the chirruping insect-like aliens. They die and then all proceedings completely devolve into a run-around. Malcolm is a good one off addition to UNIT. Simple honest fun. I do wonder why RTD shied away from a regular UNIT cast given the historical significance of the Brigadier.

The fun fluffy stories from Tennent's (first) era are all over now. We're into the end game.

With all the children of the world, or at least the most vulnerable among them, at stake, what will Torchwood do with no base and no influence?

This was a complete game changer for Torchwood. For the first time, in large part due to the increased focus from Russell T Davies, it was able to briefly outshine its parent show over 5 evenings with some of the best drama ever seen in the Doctor Who universe. All improvements between series 1 and 2 of Torchwood feel like a drop in the ocean compared to what was achieved here.

There are moments that in retrospect feel clumsier than they did in 2009 but no-one could deny the sheer power, raw emotion and dramatic brilliance of the final episode and a half of Children of Earth. Ianto’s tragic arc is rewarding - in part thanks to the excellent introduction of his wider family, bedding in his character before seeing him off. Jack’s daughter and grandson provide an even more chilling arc ending with the terrible but compellingly reasonable sacrifice that Jack Harkness must make. But most strikingly of all, Peter Capaldi’s civil servant character and his family provide the most awful and memorable blow in the show. These are all story beats which would be far, far too much for Doctor Who.

I know certain types of Doctor Who fans over-emphasise the positive qualities of the darker sides of the show, but this is a definite case where shocking themes are married up with brilliant writing. RTD has a knack for writing tragedy and the 456 as an non-relatable but believable menace, provides the perfect set up and payoff.

This is the point where my Doctor Who pilgrimage goes totally loopy. I know I’ve done straight to video fan productions from the mid-90s, but somehow Australia’s Network Ten / non-BBC approved K-9 spin off feels a step even further removed from the original source material.

In episode one of K-9 we meet some teenagers and an old professor from an alt-reality dystopian future version of London which, baring from stock footage of the city, looks nothing like the UK and is populated with entirely posh white “Londoners” with Australian tinged accents. These characters are all built on well known archetypes (dotty professor, Hermione Granger, streetwise boy, uncool “nice” boy) and very little is done to flesh them out. It makes me feel so blessed for the brilliant work done on The Sarah Jane Adventures with Clyde, Luke and Rani.

The episode’s structure is all over the place. It starts and ends in what feels like moments, with one shallow concept introduced after another and no significant feeling of importance, depth or jeopardy occurring at any point.

Our two teenage protagonists wander from the robot policed streets of future London into the professor’s house for no discernible reason. They then spoil the professor’s experiment at the critical moment he was about to bring his family back from the dead. Boring alien menaces arrive as a result of the spoiled experiment. Then K-9 suddenly appears from nowhere to save the day, blows up, then reappears with an, admittedly cute, new “cool” and “updated” look.

The writers simultaneously give themselves too much to do in this initial episode and fail to do anything at all within the running time. I’m bracing myself for viewing the rest of this series.

The upside is that series three The Sarah Jane Adventures from around the same time suddenly had K-9 again which suggests some deal was worked out between Bob Baker and the BBC. Lucky John Leeson!

Given Doctor Who’s long history and multiple rights owners for various characters and concepts, it’s a wonder that there are not more examples of unofficial spin offs like these. I’m surprised and relieved.

I may risk sounding overdramatic, but my most recent viewing The Waters of Mars shook me to my core. The first half hour has little shards of frothy fun poking through the mix but the last half hour absolutely crushed me as the inevitable fate of Adelaide Brooke's outpost team becomes clearer and clearer. It is their hope and their ever diminishing chances of saving themselves, that kills you. I don't know if Doctor Who has ever been darker. I don't know if you'd really want Doctor Who to ever be darker than this. For this piece of television though they get the balance right. It is right that in and amongst the run-arounds at Easter and Christmas that you get this cathartic, tragic, horrible, emotive episode.

The links back to The Fires of Pompeii are quite rightly called out in the episode itself but there is a key difference for the audience. We don't mourn the people of Pompeii with the same potency of the people of Bowie Base One. Not because they are not as human - they are in fact real historical figures who we should be able to empathise better with than entirely fictional characters - but because the people of Pompeii are set in the past, their deaths feel natural, inevitable and okay. The fact that The Doctor is able to save one Pompeiian family is cause of celebration. The fact that The Doctor is only able to save two members of Bowie Base One is a tragedy because Doctor Who usually makes the future a safe place where the right thing will always happen in the end. As one unlikely piece of hope is dangled after another you are left with your heart in your stomach - until the terrible conclusion finally arrives.

The only criticisms you could lay at the door of this story are the intrusive newspaper cutting flashbacks which seem unnecessary to me, especially more than one or two of them. It is a weird and unsatisfying visual to put onscreen that many times. Though, I sympathise for Phil Ford & Russell T Davies who do not have a companion for The Doctor to communicate some much needed "history" to regarding the events of 21 November 2059.

How refreshing though to have a story with no companion. I know they presented Lyndsey Duncan's Adelaide Brooke as a companion ahead of broadcast but what she actually is, is one of the best lead guest characters the show has ever seen. The lack of her being a "companion" is one of the key things that makes this story so gobsmacking. So unsafe. So uncertain. Anything could happen and it does.

Clearly the most shocking thing they did with her character was to have her kill herself at the end. It may have been with a zappy sci-fi gun, but its a suicide in a family TV show. She felt that she should have died on that base. She should have gone down with her crew. So The Doctor "mastering time" to keep her alive is not enough. She did not think the outcome was right, or would lead to a better future for humanity, so she righted it herself. Tea-time brutally for tots indeed. What makes this even more shocking is that the show was set in 2059 and someone of Adelaide's age would have been born in the same year as a 10-year-old watching the show in 2009. Ford and Davies are saying to the target audience: "THIS IS YOUR FUTURE". Never before has the show dared to stray into this territory and perhaps it will never do again. "Gadget gadget" is not going to soften that blow.

A by numbers plot which borders on looking like a fan production at points when you see the Judoon vs. alien menace scenes. You can’t fault the scale of the ambition though. Sladen does not look as at home in her temporary possessed villain role - like the old days ey?

Rani still facing an inferiority complex due to feeling like a Maria replacement could feel like retreading old ground but it actually works here in a way that similar themes felt drawn out with Martha / Rose. The fact that the character in question is a child and has had plenty of character moments of their own helps sell it. K-9 is back - which is a major boon. But that’s about it for the positives. This story had too many false endings and muddled character motivations. Too many things happened “just because”.

Considering what a monumental development Sarah Jane’s wedding is for the show it is a shame that this story suffers from a boiler-plate plot. While it’s not bad - it’s pretty damn predictable and the Trickster's motivation to stop Sarah Jane meddling with history seems pretty weak. I appreciate however seeing Sarah Jane being given a more romantic side to her, showing her as a three dimensional character. It is more than saved by the excellent cast which as a one off includes David Tennent in one of his very last regular appearances as the 10th Doctor. It is a stellar performance which was filmed AFTER he had finished filming on Doctor Who - what dedication.

I am impressed that the production team were happy to lean into the scares and creepy atmosphere on this story, to the extent that they did on this sci-fi ghost story. It’s amazing that SJA can honestly say it’s handled ghost stories better than Doctor Who. There is a dash of Scooby Doo about it which does soften the genuinely chilling soundtrack and convincing, terrified performances. Great to see the gang without Luke for one show only, this mix-up helps them re-balance the team nicely and gives characters a chance to build solo bonds with each other.

If you ignore the unfunny and totally misjudged characterisation of Mona Lisa herself (not the actors fault, they follow the instructions given to them) this is a fairly good story. The out there, comedy Yorkshirewoman gun wielding Mona Lisa seemed to come from nowhere and never managed to justify itself. Another good story for Clyde, showing a bit more of his vulnerability and appreciation of art.

There is a real “end of school term” vibe to this story. You feel like the team is letting their hair down and doing something a bit different. K9 is put to fantastic use, helping Clyde cheat on the school test, dobbing him in to Sarah-Jane, fighting with Mr Smith. He was made for this show. Part of me wished that the Slitheen-Blathereen had not turned out to be baddies, as I was enjoying the quirkiness of having good guys as the monsters of the week. However, their underhanded story arc serves the plot very nicely. There is a nod to Day of the Triffids with how the Rackweed spreads and starts to pick off humanity.

What an interesting curio. The small CBBC budget the team were working with means that this project had a hand tied behind its back before it had even begun. How beautiful would this have been with some Scooby Doo-style 2D animation? That would have been expensive though. Maybe they thought going 3D and building models which could be posed throughout the story would look “modern” within the limited means available to the team. Alas we end up with this awkward, surreal, emotionless animation.

If tying one hand was not enough - this then needed to be a story that could be split in multiple segments. A bad choice on behalf of CBBC in my opinion. A movie length single premier then repeated ad infinitum would have been more satisfying for children than this bitty mess. More premiers, less quality.

Because of these obvious limitations it is perhaps unfair to try and honestly assess the talented Phil Ford’s script. For the most part it’s interesting enough. He summons decent characters and a setting which was ambitious and interesting for 2000s Doctor Who.

I was disappointed with the ending which ran far, far closer to plot points from School Reunion and more recently Sarah Jane Adventures’ The Gift than I would have liked. Aliens who have an Achilles’ Heel like weakness to high pitched sound, so much so that they decide to flee the country with no opposition, after all their scheming and planning… it’s just an annoying resolution. They look like they’ll take over the world and then they put up no fight in the face of minimal opposition.

It’s a frustrating watch because it would be amazing if this and The Infinite Quest were the start of a strand of high quality additional Doctor Who adventures. In the end this is the worst of the two animated adventures, and we haven’t had anything quite like it in the 14 years since.

The end of an era! Or at least Russell T Davies’ first era. You have to marvel at everything that was achieved between 2003-2009 by that team. The resurrected a beast that, even now, looks so difficult to kill. In no small thanks to David Tennant who gives it his all here.

My marathon is going at a very leisurely pace nowadays as I make time for all the contemporary DWMs, commentaries, Confidentials, books, podcasts and more. I’m doing this marathon once and I’m doing it throughly!

The End of Time Part One leaves a nasty taste in the mouth unfortunately. It’s schlocky. A potion bringing back the master, who is now a magic Skeletor version of himself who can fly high into the air and shoot beams of destructive light from his palms?? That’s definitely worse than when The Master was a snake. John Simm is very good in the role, making more than the most with what he is given, but it doesn’t clear up the mess.

I was surprised that after several years of not watching Part One that it was… not that great? An epic finale devoid of sense and full of random chance. Unusually, the reliable Murray Gold has gone crazy as well; the whiplash between kooky and moody sections simply don’t work providing an annoying soundtrack track. The Master’s plan with the eternity gate changing everyone’s genetic template falls very closely to that of the nanogenes in The Doctor Dances, much worse effect of course.

Part Two however pulls this all back. After resolving the events of Part One successfully, it zones in on the emotional beats that RTD is so good at writing, making the most of the incredible cast through exploring the relationship between the Time Lords and The Master; The Master and The Doctor; then finally The Doctor and all of his companions. David Tennent’s death march is indulgent but beautiful and totally earned. You get the final appearance of characters we have come to love, all given their moment in the sun, and a beautiful sign off from a brilliant producer and Doctor. There is a fitting final appearance for Sarah-Jane in the main show.

It is Bernard Cribbins’ Wilf though, who steals the show, providing an emotional anchor through which we can appreciate the 10th Doctor’s passing. The one on one conversations between him and The Doctor, describing his time in the war and his willingness to sacrifice himself for people he loves is so tender, so pure.

All in all, Part Two manages to pull back The End of Time from a dire place and make it, in the end, utterly compelling, emotionally heightened viewing. I’m looking forward to seeing what this production team and Doctor do next!

The Eleventh Hour, Spearhead from Space and Power of the Daleks are the clear frontrunners for "best debut story" across the (currently) 13 Doctors. But as this is the story that caught me at the tender age of 17, this is the one I have the most powerful connection to. I teared up a couple of times on my most recent viewing - it had the biggest emotional impact of anything from the marathon so far. So much praise needs to be heaped on Adam Smith for his direction of this story. Bar from Skins, then a couple of Doctor Who credits, his CV is fairly minimal. How that could be based on the monumental introduction to Matt Smith's Doctor is beyond me.

Matt Smith, Karen Gillen and Arthur Darvill just work. Inspired casting. Steven Moffat's trick with the time jumps adds a sentimental longing to story which gives it an spooky fairy-tale vibe.* Amy, the girl who waited, twice. And now she's waited long enough. The scenes with child Amelia are so sweet, so perfectly acted, and a great introduction to the new Doctor. You can see the instant connection between the two characters, then the psychological impact that being left behind has on Amy . And how the impact of having to live up to the whirlwind presence of the Raggedy Doctor impacted Rory.

Plot wise proceedings are thin but it doesn't matter in the slightest. You have to introduce two new companions, a new Doctor and the re-energised tone of the show. The future of the show has never looked so bright, so hopeful.

The only thing I'd change in 2023 is the "kiss-o-gram" theme. I'd have had Amy in "fancy dress" when she is reintroduced to The Doctor. Having Karen Gillian in a short skirt is one thing, but then immediately sexualise her on arrival as an adult is a bit icky. The flaw in the Persian rug.

*I know Moffat said the whole "fairy-tale" tag was just nonsense branding, but I think he is wrong. Series 5 is a fairy-tale through and through. So there

A fantastic premise with a challenging ethical dilemma at the heart of it, dealt with in a child friendly way. There is a moment where Amy and The Doctor doubt each other before Amy makes the decision The Doctor wasn’t able to.

I loved the Winders and how they loomed over this future British society at every level, stopping people from questioning. I liked the aesthetic even though it was done on a budget, the ideas were strong enough that they carried through even though it looks a bit cheap.

I do think something went wrong in the production when trying to realize the geography of the space whale and the spaceship at large. It gets quite confusing with the small tentacles, brain and teeth on what is a dense, country-sized animal. The impact of this is that the story that’s being told isn’t quite the one you’re seeing, so you have to use your imagination a bit.

I also think they re-state the similarities between The Doctor and the star whale one too many times, I think they could have reigned that back a bit and we would have still gotten the point.

I get the sense that Moffat thought there was a little more drama to this then there actually was. The intrigue was good, but after a whole episode of building up the mystery, when you find out the resolution there are not actually that many layers to it.

I still feel though, that this is impressively separate from what came before. It is such an exciting and modern take on Doctor Who which has an incredible energy to it. It feels like they are pushing what they can do with the show, the tone of the show, what it can look like. It feels like it has moved on 5-6 years, not 1 year since 5 the last incarnation. It still feels new 13 years later.

This one starts SO WELL. Another compelling premise for a Doctor Who episode: what if Daleks tricked the Allied forces into helping them fight alongside them, in the Second World War, only to reveal themselves to be more like the Nazis once it was too late?

For me the story starts to fall apart at the point at which it turns out the Daleks were looking for The Doctor, rather than just doing a dastardly deed in a historic setting. It makes everything revolve around The Doctor in a predictable way.

Then it does the typical Doctor Who thing of devolving into a runaround, which is my least favourite thing about the show. You have Spitfires in space with threadbare, minimal explanation and justification. Then that moves into a ‘power of love’ ending with Professor Bracewell having to remember he is human, and it’s all a bit weak.

Which is such a shame because until the reveal it has so much promise. Ian McNeice’s Churchill is excellent and plays well off The Doctor and Amy.

Mark Gatiss is a very okay writer. The Unquiet Dead is seminal, then The Idiot’s Lantern is perfectly okay, then this continues to be very okay.

I would like to raise a spirited defense of the skittles Daleks though - I think they look neat! I wouldn’t want them to be the standard Dalek design, but the show is richer for their existence.

A sequel for the Weeping Angels has to have been high up on the shopping list for Steven Moffat’s first series. Given the simple, ingeniously limited nature of their first, seminal outing against The Doctor, it makes sense that in this 90 minute story they get to seriously up the ante. They are so well explored within their first story that the trick is to find new situations to put them in and discover new ways of looking at them as an enemy without overwriting or diminishing what came before. Moffat achieves this.

One episode leads into another but the complete change of setting keeps things moving - you don’t get a chance to get bored. You definitely could not tell that this is the first story Matt Smith and co had recorded together, given the confidence it’s pulled off with and beautifully directed it is. What a crying shame that Andrew Smith only ever directed 3 episodes.

It’s great to have River Song back even if I did not enjoy her character quite as much as I had in Silence in the Library. They initially upped the sexuality of her character a bit too much, making it a bit hammy. Luckily this settles down significantly in Flesh and Stone and she becomes a more realistic, natural well rounded character. It’s not that I want her to be sexless, because that’s a key part of her character, but there is a tiring element to Moffat’s writing to make everything she says a double entendre. Which is part of a broader flaw he has with writing women. That said, the concept of her character is SO CLEVER and actually touchingly sentimental. Two lovers meeting backwards in life.

River’s return is one of the neat links with the previous era, but there is also a clever explanation as to why people cannot remember the incredible, world ending events of that RTD built into his finales. The crack in time provides a natural way to refresh the universe.

In a family show it was a shame to see Amy Pond, our hero, trying to cheat on her fiancé at the end of the episode. It’s an uncomfortable scene. I found it funny in 2010, in 2023 I find it less funny. It’s a shame. It’s tacked on at the end, and while it does lead you into Vampires in Venice, it is a weird character moment. I can see the rationale for why Amy feels that way in this situation and I’m glad The Doctor doesn’t accept her advances… but it’s a weird thing to do in episode 5. It is at least an interesting character moment.

The Weeping Angels are a genius creation and this story only further confirms that. Moffat knocked out another incredible story which has solidified series 5 as being a force to be reckoned with. I don’t think this is a story that could have been properly realised in any previous era, it totally belongs to this new version of the show.

This is the closest to a meh or indistinct story we have had in the 11th Doctor's era so far. A few likable features pull it into the show's mid-table. I do generally feel Toby Whithouse stories (with the exception of his first, School Reunion) lack a "big pull".

Easily the best part of the story is Rory and Amy's romance. Over the first four stories The Doctor and Amy have built up a strong onscreen connection (perhaps too strong?) so it is sincerely funny and sweet seeing bumbling, fusty, funny Rory interrupt this settled dynamic. Seeing someone reduced to third wheeling with their fiancée and a polite, alien stranger is inherently hilarious! I am glad that the show put the inappropriate kiss from the episode before behind it - even if it was the starting point for this story. They style it out well.

My wife loves anything even tangentially connected to vampires (she's from Transylvania) so was a lot warmer on the baddie of the week than I was. I felt I had very little to grab onto. The fact they are almost but not quite vampires makes them a bit muddled in my view.

So the story has to rely on the characters... which luckily for Toby Whithouse make for compelling, charming company.

A gorgeous and funny episode with real emotional weight. Its a shame Simon Nye never returned because I think he proves himself as highly capable (assuming this didn't get a healthy Moffat script edit) at reflecting realistic relationship dynamics in dialog as well as realising pleasing, tight, sci-fi concepts.

90% of the jokes here hold up to modern day scrutiny, which is an impressive hit rate for an aging piece of comedy. The only drawback is that one of the worlds (Rory's world) is a lot more interesting than the other (The Doctor's world). There are also far more reasons to believe that The Doctor's world is the real one. I know they both turn out to be a dream but I think there would have been a more satisfying tension if both worlds were more equally unbelievable.

The idea of the Dream Lord being a malevolent aspect of The Doctor's psyche is genius. I hope we see this again one day. It suits The Toymaker vibe we've seen more recently - a tone which is rarely visited in Doctor Who.

I had very little memory of this story, which gave it an initial thrill, the first so far from the new series where I couldn’t tell you the last time I’d watched it, but could be confident it was over 10 years ago. There is a reason I haven’t rushed back for another helping of this story, it is the stinker of series 5. A dull melodrama, the emotions of which provide very little impact. Based off of this and the equally uninspiring 42, I think it would be fair to say that Chris Chibnall had yet to find his feet on writing for Doctor Who. Though I will give an honorable mention for his high quality episodes of Torchwood series 2, especially Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Fragments.

The Silurians look great. They get a bit of a raw deal though. They conceded nothing and had to concede pretty much everything. So much for the peace talks, which I feel are done much better with the Zygons later. I’m not sure why they were given those infrequently used attack tongues, or the ability to harness unplugged monitors on the surface of the Earth.

Rory’s sudden death, a second episode in a row was either a bad idea, or it was realised poorly. It was tacked on to the end of the episode, when with all the breaking into the crust of the Earth, could have been better baked into the plot. The idea of Amy forgetting Rory is good - high drama.

I guess, similar to 42, I didn’t care about any of the guest cast in the end. There were lots of characters, none of which were memorable, some of which had paper thin character motivations. Nothing about it needed to be a 2 parter either. I could easily imagine this being slimmed down to a much more satisfactory plot. I’d have nominated The Beast Below perhaps as one that could have been expanded out further.

Meh.

I had the biggest cry I've ever had to any episode of Doctor Who watching this yesterday. Seeing Vincent understand the true scale of his legacy, followed by the gentle report of his death from Bill Nighy might be the most profound thing the show has aired over its 60 years. Amy and The Doctor improved the end of Vincent Van Gough's life immensely - but his depression was not something that could be so easily fixed. Managing to deliver this message in a child appropriate way is no small achievement.

The overwhelming focus of this story is Vincent, Amy and The Doctor's conversations with each other an Vincent's personal emotional journey as they explore his demons. The misunderstood, mostly invisible alien "menace" of the week takes a back seat, and quite right too. It is very strange to have nearly everything wrap up 2 thirds of the way into a script, then get to dedicate all of that focus onto character moments. The continuing drama of the missing Rory is played very well here and subtly, not interrupting proceedings for anyone who missed last week.

I would love to see Richard Curtis come back and have a second go at this little show. He has had such a huge impact for a one off writer. Moffat was very good at getting celebrity writers involved in the show during his early seasons (also see: Simon Nye and Neil Gaiman). I'd like to see more of this.

A marvellous bottle episode, as many of the best Doctor Who stories are. There’s a genuine heart to the story. A normal man and woman who are clumsily failing to fall in love, then an extraordinary man, The Doctor, clumsily failing to act like a human. Mixed together this makes a sweet combination, and without any companions for most of the episode, Matt Smith is given an opportunity to truly shine.

I am one of those people who can’t stand James Corden, but I have always acknowledged what an excellent actor he is. I wish he did more acting and less… everything else. Matt and James make a good double act. You can see why they were tempted by a sequel!

Gareth Roberts (another man with an unpleasant offscreen presents) delivers what is by far his best script so far, and given he’ll almost certainly never be employed again, I suspect this will always stand out as his best contribution to the main show.

It’s funny and sweet, which after the weight of Vincent and the Doctor and before the gravitas of a two-part finale, is what the show needs.

The Big Bang is a perfect closing episode. Perhaps unrivaled by any other. Tightly plotted, satisfying to rewatch and timey-wimey without being tiring. It ties up all of series five perfectly, with young Amelia’s scenes being potent reminders of the beauty of The Eleventh Hour. It’s been a brilliant series. The best since Christopher Eccleston’s, it will be quite some time until something better comes along.

I was confident that this was a story I knew well, and while I recognised much of what was in The Pandorica Opens, it came largely as a surprise to me. My memory of The Big Bang overrode my memory of the full story, so the set up came pretty fresh.

The sense of scale and scope is exciting. I loved revisiting Vincent van Gough, not sure I needed Liz X and Winston Churchill, but they don’t outstay their welcome. The editing could be a little snappier in parts, some shots holding for a little longer than I would have liked.

The first part comes into its own when the realisation of how the Pandorica and the Romans are connected. How everything leads back to Amy. The drama of Rory the Auton killing his fiancé at the exact moment her memory of him is restored. It is high drama that outshines the whimsy of the rest of the episode.

For me, it’s the more intimate journey of part 2 where things really sing. The old house, the museum, the wedding. I’m a sentimental, nostalgic person, who loves the concept of hopping through time so it hits all the right notes for me.

If I had one quibble it would be that lovely Rory, who waits 2,000 years, is quite mistreated by an unappreciated Amy. Told to shut up, etc. How quickly she forgets.

I hope I don’t sound too down on the first episode, but in my head it was a flawless 10/10, so I was a bit taken aback that it wasn’t. But then again it’s setting the second half which is exactly as good as I remember it.

Like many of the mini-episodes, this is slight but fun. You get to see Amy and The Doctor at a very formative point in their relationship just before The Beast Below. You get some cheeky, very Steven Moffaty lines making fun of DW, specifically why the TARDIS, this incredibly powerful machine, chooses to look like a 1960s police box. These fan in jokes would probably feel a bit crow-barred in, in an actual episode sit nicely here in a short scene that’s made for the fans who have bought a box set. Inoffensive, non-essential, very fun.

Doctor Who is a time and space and genre and retelling of classic stories machine. The show has a proud history of adapting well known stories, and A Christmas Carol is a gem in terms of source material for Christmas Day. Add in a flying shark, time travel and a psychopathic loan shark, and you have the perfect mixture of the new and familiar, the tantalizing and the comforting.

Michael Gambon is marvelous as Kazan Sardic, an excellent piece of casting that brings an endearing mixture of cruelty and vulnerability to this stories’ Scrooge. Katherine Jenkins sings beautifully, and adds some extra star power to those freezer scenes, which could have been dull in someone else hands. Although on a large, crisp, modern TV the fringing of her wig was a lot more obvious than I had remembered.

Amy and Rory take a backseat, slipping into a comedy duo role. No complaints for, me as Matt Smith’s Doctor gets to rule Christmas Day, in what is most likely the best Xmas special ever.

A bit of ephemera that I would have missed if it wasn’t for tardis.guide. Promotional material for Big Finish in the form of a 10 minute animation, which to my eyes is quite an impressive production. It draws attention to how inspirational Bernice is to the character of River Song. It is reminiscent of a Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones epic and made me wish that they explored River Song’s role as an archaeologist more within the main show.

Sarah Jane Adventures is, as much as its parent show, a genre machine. It was always going to have a “nightmares” episode, and this one was done very well. You get a nice insight into what all the kids would think as their primary fears.

Great episode for Elizabeth Sladen. Sad seeing her portray a doddery old woman knowing that the actor herself never managed to get there. There is a brilliant scene between her and K9, with Sarah-Jane describing how K9 was once the only thing she had.

Julian Bleach is brilliant as the nightmare man. I think it’s his best performance in the Whoniverse so far. Certainly topping his disastrous Torchwood appearance. Is he the only actor to appear in all three shows? Get that man in Class and K9!

Luke is being temporarily written out of the show more effectively than Maria in my opinion. Giving him K9 and making him Luke’s uni pal is quite touching. Great use of K9 for one of his rare appearances, and better than him being stuck in a black hole.

Great start to the series!

Too many pop culture references crammed into this one for me. Felt a bit muddled. Men in Black meets The Matrix meets The Terminator. I also am sad that Rani’s mum’s mind gets wiped again after all that she’s been through. The Androvax’s characterisation was uneven too. Changed massively depending on who was playing them. None of the gang’s version of him matched up with the actual Androvax’s performance either. Enjoyed Ocean and Minty though - a double act with a fun presence.

The plot doesn’t add up to much but my word it’s made up for by the character moments. It’s the Tales of the TARDIS before it’s time. Jo Grant meets Sarah Jane. Clyde meets the 11th Doctor. As a fan it is mind boggling to see these four characters share scenes as they are meant to inhabit different hemispheres of your brain. Russell does a really lovely job.

The Shansheeth are a delightful creation. Perfect puppets! And this headbands - very classic. And the clips of the old show. It’s a feast of treats.

It feels like a bit of a last hurrah. They’d never get to operate at this level of fandom-ness ever again.

This story starts really strong with a spectacularly realised empty London, with Clyde and Rani wandering about empty streets. The two robots are beautiful creations and quite scary. The plot starts to thin and dull a little as it gets fleshed out though.

The thing that makes you feel a fuzzy feeling is the budding romance between Clyde and Rani - THEY ARE SO CUTE!!

Time travel episodes should be more fun than this. I suppose part of the issue is they’ve split the story into four, between the main protagonists and the custodian of time, which means instead of one proper story we get multiple separate ones that all feel a bit weak. Good performances though.

It’s a story that we’ve seen many times before, the possession of a protagonist while their life force is sapped away - think Midnight. But it’s done well, the villain is a good match for Sarah Jane and with Luke and K9 appearing there’s a strong “end of term” energy to it.

I’m watching these in UK broadcast order which should throw up some oddities. This doesn’t feel like it follows on directly from the pilot. The glaring issue with this story is that nothing much really happens. The Korven steals away The Professor, then the Aussie Brit kids steal him back. That’s basically it. Not even a subplot!

I’m starting to see a pattern in these stories. An alien menace turns up out of nowhere, then attempts to hunt down or kidnap a member of the team. At least this story had two sets of baddies to pass the plot between. It's a shame the Australian equivalent of Andy Pryer was not working on K9, because a really strong cast could somewhat lift this script. It doesn’t help that most of the actor’s energy is being put into cod British accents.

This one actually worked as an episode of television. There is a plot and a clear three act structure! I like the feminist message that is snuck in, opposing the hypnotic bracelets being used against young school girls, showing what a “boy’s ideal” of a girl is and then what girls are actually like. There is a sincere message on how ridiculous the patriarchy can be - and some hilarious flirting. The script was good enough to go some way in overcoming a mixture of bad and uncharismatic acting! As it stands writer Deborah Parsons is my favourite thing about K9 - I have two of her episodes left!

Classic Doctor Who often drew on well established tropes and did its own version of them. The problem with this is that it’s cliched without having any kind of independent personality of its own. It’s just so plain.

File this one under “meh”, albeit with a memorable premise. K9 is being framed with the use of a replica of himself. It doesn’t help that the henchman (who’s name I can never remember) is the key villain in this story and he is by far the worst actor in the show. Couldn’t tell you what the “Jaws of Orthrus” are after watching this.

This was a good episode of a children’s TV programme! It's the first piece of K9 that I’ve actively enjoyed watching - hopefully not just from Stockholm syndrome. Every science fiction show eventually has their own “nightmares” episode and this one holds up quite well. At points I even felt traces of jeopardy. Very excited to see that this is the first of four stories by Jim Noble. Hope he keeps this quality up.

The production values on this one, for the time in which it was made are about as woeful as it gets, but there is a brilliantly camp premise which is hilariously realised. Again, well observed children’s TV. When Egyptian gods sneak their way into K9 and the professor’s consciousness, it leaves the rest of the gang wondering why they are acting so differently. Cue more and more of the cast acting like Egyptian nobles until the whole thing is reset with the press of a button. Another courtesy of Jim Noble.

You’d think the gang would trust each other by now when they say something weird is going on.

I really love the alien force in this one being a master of music who uses music almost as an elemental force to communicate - this obviously gets out of control. There’s some genuine emotion and character development too in the form of a love triangle. Unheard of

I like that this is the third story in the row where the alien is a goodie, it’s a good default for a children’s show. There’s a nice sense of scale to this one.

TG for that. Thorne is in and Drake is out. The worst actor is gone from the show. Without him this episode would have scored quite highly. A swarm of particles that destroys rubbish, which gets out of control and starts to kill… not a bad idea!

The best one so far, K9 may never top it. It’s this spin offs obligatory time travel episode, a concept which ups the stakes and ties it closer to its parent show. I do wish they’d do this more often because it fits like a glove. There are also no terrible actors in this episode. A bit of a relief!

I’m shocked. This one is good! The guy who plays Thorne is the best actor in the show, genuinely menacing. He raises the game of the general cast. I have previously singled out Deborah Parsons as the best writer on this show, she returns in fine form. Because the cast is in much better form too at this point in the series, finally this script is able to sing to its full potential. The librarian alien in a cheap 1970s alien outfit is so camp and classic-Doctor Who like. I love it!

Another non-human protagonist who's a goodie, something this show does well. Not much to say other than it's an inoffensive, goofy episode of a children’s show, with a positive message about “people who are different” using the same cyborg analogy which we got from Voyage of the Damned.

Gently profound, if a little uneven in places. The moment Thorne temporarily loses control, before the alien menace lets go had the right amount of tension. The inclusion of VR headsets and Zuckerberg style middlemen makes the show quite on the pulse for 2010. This is a proper show.

Good writing in this one, helped in part by leaning on some effective “spooky Gothic” tropes, featuring the ghosts of children, who turn out to be the Professor’s, which gives the story an effective personal touch and actual character development (very rare in K9!)

I doubt K9 will top this. It is far more developed and more complex than the rest of the series, with a compelling guest character in the sympathetic out of time girl Taphony. The performance is sparkling and sits among the regular cast beautifully. Everyone has an understandable motivation and none of our regular characters are treated as stupid, all being a couple of steps ahead of their usual selves. The introduction of time travel / time bending also feels satisfying. Taphony’s character does seem to be drawn to a similar mold of Eleven from Stranger Things, well ahead of that show’s conception. Any Doctor Who spin off, or even the main show itself, would be proud of an episode of this quality. From the incidental music to the camerawork, it all just shines a little more here.

I feel a bit for the team on this one because the set up is solid and there is tonnes of effort put in to give the story a directorial flare. Unfortunately the pay off to the story is weak and predictable even for a kids show. Feels like a first draft.

The infamous Mind Snap, which I can only describe as audacious and unearned. Clip show episodes are generally contrived and unnecessary anyway, but in a series that has taken so long to find its feet, the idea of presenting the audience with disconnected “highlights” from the series so far is nuts!

Bob Baker returns! And I like that he leans into the show’s lore a bit more. I’d forgotten in the time that it’s taken me to get to this latter stage of the series that the professor was an agoraphobe. I thought they kept him on that standing set for budgetary reasons. It is a fairly standard plot done on an epic scale. The Korven does not deliver the terror the production team are hoping to muster on its second outing. Baker gets a bit caught up with the plot at the end, forgetting to show not tell.

It looks like the series peaked, this is the worst episode of anything Doctor Who related I’ve ever watched. Appalling performances from actors reaching well beyond their range.

It’s difficult to critique this one in ways that I haven’t already covered for previous episodes. Even my hero Thorne is on poor form here. The nature of the threat kept twisting and turning into ever more unlikely shapes.

I loved seeing the show get better as it went along, but unfortunately it then got worse again. I was aware whilst watching the budding romance between our teen leads and K9’s eventual regeneration, that I was meant to be feeling things, but the truth is that I felt nothing. I am ultimately glad this show exists as it's part of the Whoniverse’s rich tapestry, but it’s a pretty poor patchwork.

Given this minisode’s remit is purely to introduce the 2011 National Television Awards, it’s astonishing how many great gags Moffat slips in, and how magnificent Matt Smith’s performance is. It’s actually a bit of a gem, lucky old Dermot O’Leary. It almost certainly benefits from the viewer having an understanding of early-2010s UK television. Check that off as the third Eastenders crossover, third interaction with Graham Norton, and Ant + Dec finally bowing to Doctor Who’s brilliance after years of being trounced I’m the ratings by him. Another peice of ephemera brought to my attention by tardis.guide!

Great production for a charity minisode, very much in keeping with the series that came before it and has a tight plot which works for the limited run time. There is great chemistry between the three leads but unfortunately I have to say that Amy Pond is written as a sexual object by the entire TARDIS crew including (in a paradoxical kind of way) herself. I get the humour and I definitely appreciated it at the time, but as I get older it does feel a little ickier to me. It’s like if you cut *just* the bedroom scene from Flesh and Stone and made it into its own episode.

How lucky are we that series 6 came stacked with so many prequels? This certainly ups the standard of the TARDISODES from five years before. You get a neat little teaser of the Silence, an intro to Richard Nixon in the White House and a curious phone call he receives from a little girl. With only 2 minutes to work with, you can’t ask for more than that.

There are too many threads to this one, but it just about manages to hold onto its form, giving a satisfactory enough conclusion to justify the seemingly endless twists and turns. Who knew Doctor Who could be so complicated? All this intrigue is going to require a hell of a payoff!

I’m now finally into the period of modern Doctor Who which I do not know inside out and it’s delightful to not anticipate the finer details of the stories I am watching, which I have not seen for many years.

The Silence are incredible creations, one of the new series best. A brilliant premise well realised. And terrifying. The lack of control people have in their slow, creeping presence is very affecting.

The character of The Doctor has shifted away from whimsy to something more brooding, flirtatious and mysterious. I’m not sure I like this Doctor knowing how to flirt, as it was a distinguishing character for him, but I’m going with it. Maybe if they gave us move of an off-ramp between the two characterisations.

There’s a dramatic epic scale to this story which is impressive, global and far reaching in a way that hasn’t been realised in this way before. There is a lot of spectacle and wow moments in this one. Whether it all works is all down to how well they carry this out throughout the rest of the series - but they’re getting the benefit of the doubt for now.

Canton Delaware III is a marvellous character, works well in a double act with Nixon. I hope that isn’t the last we see of that character, though I seem to remember it is. Shame! The way he and The Doctor dispense with the Silence is tremendously satisfying.

I’m glad they affirmed Amy’s love for Rory, but I think I’ve had enough of them playing with that now… let’s leave that in series 5 shall we?