Monday, January 22, 2024

Let's Do the Time War Again

Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor ("Gallifrey Stands" scene)
Nick Hurran, 2013

Fan-servicing is occasionally considered a lazy practice by some critics, although it really shouldn't; after all, if you're not catering to your fans, where would any creative property be without them? 

Having binged an obscene amount of Doctor Who episodes over the last couple of months, a good example of fan servicing executed well is its 50th anniversary episode - The Day of the Doctor (2013).

Despite some convoluted subplots, like the shapeshifting alien Zygons storyline, there is a lot to like about The Day of the Doctor. It successfully bridges the past, present and future of the franchise, along with tackling the often hinted epic backstory of the Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks. A favourite example from this episode is seeing eleven incarnations of the Doctor, along with John Hurt cast as the War Doctor - an offshoot in between the eighth and ninth Doctors - all working together to save the planet Gallifrey from obliteration. That scene alone, represents the fifty years of the show to marvellous effect. There's also a brief glimpse of Peter Capaldi as the future twelfth Doctor well before officially beginning his tenure as the titular protagonist; a stroke of genius from its writer Steven Moffat.

Was inspired to revisit this particular episode after returning show runner Russell T. Davis's 60th anniversary fell flat in comparison to its spectacular predecessor.

It was also Tom Baker's 90th birthday a few days ago, so a Doctor Who blog post felt appropriate.

16 comments:

  1. Other than those Capaldi episodes, I’ve watched all the other ones listed over the last few weeks. 😀

    Definitely a recency bias going on, but they are genuinely good stories, regardless.

    I like the low budget charm of Remembrance of the Daleks. Two warring factions of Daleks fighting outside a school in west London.

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  2. I rewatched Blink and Human Nature/Family Of Blood meself recently. 2 classics for sure.

    Remembrance of the Daleks is top 5 dead or alive for me. "Unlimited rice pudding" is up there with "Chap with the wings - five rounds rapid" as far as DW quotables go.

    SMH @ no Pertwee or Eccelston making the top 10.

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  3. Hard to compile a top 10 Doctor Who stories lists when it consists of something like eight hundred episodes. I’d definitely have Genesis of the Daleks in there, though.

    How would you rank the Doctors?


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  4. Baker and Pertwee top, followed by Hartnell, McCoy and Eccelston.

    Love Troughton but so many of his stories are missing.

    Tenant and Smith were both great. Just a pity Tenant was so often saddled with John Barrowman.

    Davison earned his keep with Caves Of Androzani and Kinda.

    Colin Baker, Capaldi and Whittaker bottom. Gonna revisit a couple of Capaldi stories tho.

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  5. Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee and Sylvester McCoy are my top three.

    Torn between David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston for the next spot.

    Originally wrote off Matt Smith, but he’s legitimately great after seeing his episodes back to back. Not a fan of his companions, though; audibly cheered when Amy and Rory died.

    William Hartnell after that.

    Not seen enough Patrick Troughton, Peter Davison or Peter Capaldi episodes to decide.

    Colin Baker and Jodie Whittaker are bottom of the list.





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  6. I loved Amy Pond. Maybe that's because Karen Gillan is fit as fook or maybe not.

    Missy was my favourite of the new Masters. John Simm was too ordinary looking for my liking.

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  7. Didn't mind them at first, but Amy and Rory out stayed their welcome as the episodes went on. Same with River Song, too.

    John Simm was a complete lunatic as the Master. I watched the 1996 film for the first time over the weekend, and he's way better than Eric Roberts' version of him.

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  8. From a poll done in 1998.

    The Top 10

    Genesis of the Daleks
    The Talons of Weng-Chiang
    The Caves of Androzani
    Pyramids of Mars
    The Robots of Death
    Remembrance of the Daleks
    City of Death
    The Tomb of the Cybermen
    The Evil of the Daleks
    The Web of Fear

    https://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/analysing-the-top-doctor-who-stories-dwm-1998-63482.htm

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  9. Those fucking nerds voting Evil Of The Daleks when only 1 episode and the audio survived.

    The Daemons stays getting shafted in these polls. That's one of my all-timer stories.

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  10. The Daemons is the best Pertwee serial I’ve watched so far. Absolutely love its folk horror vibe; really compliments the wave of folk horror films from that time, like Blood on Satan’s Claw and The Wicker Man.

    The first season of Capaldi’s era has been well rough so far. Might have well named it Doctor Clara.

    https://youtu.be/yDjmUEplR1I?si=IjK95mv-ayJ4tsrp

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  11. FFS nu Who always wastes the Sontarans.

    Have you seen the first Sontaran story The Tine Warrior from Pertwee's era? That's a fave of mine with a great turn from David Daker as a bandit baddie from the middle ages. Also features June Brown as a lady of the realm.

    I might go as far as saying The Daemons is my G.O.A.T Who story.

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  12. Unfortunately not. I made a start on ‘The Green Death’, but was sidetracked with McCoy’s serials during the new year. ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ and ‘The Curse of Fenric’ being my faves.

    😂 @ Ken Dodd being shot in ‘Delta and the Bannermen’ and Richard Briers being a Hitler style supervisor in ‘Paradise Towers’.

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  13. I'm a big fan of Paradise Towers but it's a very divisive story 😄 Some people say Briers' over-acting ruined it, I say a Blakey/Hitler hybrid baddie was perfect for a McCoy era Who story.

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  14. 'Paradise Towers' was the type of future shock storyline I would enjoy reading in 2000AD during the same time, and so I'm definitely a fan of it. Don't mind Briers's over-acting, either; Doctor Who is just as much a show for kids as it is for adults.

    Have you seen that Leela/Season 15 trailer yet from a couple of weeks ago?

    https://youtu.be/HIBfUAF9otg?si=2SuwqxC4NEWK-Q2Q

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  15. Yeah, it was great even though she's in my head as an Emmerdale character nowadays.

    Crazy visionz, BOOM: Paige Sandhu should be the next Missy. Or Rani.

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  16. I’m used to Louise Jameson being Rosa Di Marco on Eastenders back in the day.

    Speaking of which, I’m guessing Anita Dobson might be playing either Missy or The Rani. Paige Sandhu would have been a better casting choice, though.

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