tv review

So You Want To Watch Classic Who?

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You’re locked down, quarantined, and self isolating. You like Doctor Who, but have yet to dip your toe in the vast ocean of the classic series. But there’s so much! Where to start?

Well, My housemate recently asked me to introduce them to the good old stuff, so I put together a little set of blocks to help ease them in. Rather than going from beginning to end, Unearthly Child to Survival, I decided to break it down into more manageable chunks.

I began by working backwards, starting with the TV Movie, and then the Seventh Doctor, Sixth, Fifth, and so on. This eases you through the change of pace, tone, and general direction. Series 26 has a lot that New Who would later go on to use and Ace is fantastic. But the TV movie is just fun and silliness and has excellent music.

 

Doctors bannerDoctors Intro:

The Doctors Introduction is a short and sweet introduction to each classic Doctor via a decent story.

– TV Movie 
– The Curse of Fenric
– Attack of the Cybermen
– The King’s Demons
– City of Death
– The Time Warrior
– The Mind Robber
– The War Machines

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The Master Intro

And after the Doctor, who better to follow up with than The Master? I tried to give a decent spread showcasing each incarnation in their best light.

– Terror of the Autons
– The Dæmons
– The Deadly Assassin
– Keeper of Traken
– Planet of Fire
– Mark of the Rani
– Survival

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Daleks 101

After The Master, who else but the Daleks? Again, a balance between eras while maintaining a sort of narrative.

– The Daleks
– The Dalek Invasion of Earth
– The Power of the Daleks
– Genesis of the Daleks
– Resurrection of the Daleks
– Revelation of the Daleks
– Remembrance of the Daleks

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Cybermen 101

Moving on to the Cybermen. Again, showing them in their best light while weaving a narrative.

– The Tenth Planet
– The Moonbase
– The Tomb of the Cybermen
– Revenge of the Cybermen
– Earthshock
– Silver Nemesis

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Multi-Doctor Stories

Just for fun, some Multi-Doctor stories, because they’re all classics.

– The Three Doctors
– The Five Doctors
– The Two Doctors

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Regeneration Stories

It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for… Allowing them to see how each Doctor ends, and begins. (Minus Tenth Planet as already covered under Cybermen, and Trial of a Time Lord as I’d rather that be viewed as it’s own thing)

– The War Games
– Spearhead from Space
– Planet of the Spiders
– Robot
– Logopolis
– Castrovalva
– Caves of Androzani
– The Twin Dilema
– Time and the Rani
– Night of the Doctor (IT COUNTS!)

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The Brigadir / UNIT

Now to introduce them properly to one of the Doctor’s best and oldest pals!

– Web of Fear
– The Invasion
– Inferno
– Claws of Axos
– Terror of the Zygons
– Battlefield

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Time Lord / Gallifrey Lore

For the Lore!! Get into that Gallifreyan History 101!

– The Time Meddler
– Invasion of Time
– The Brain of Morbius
– Shada (but which version?)
– State of Decay
– Arc of Infinity

Key to Time

Story Arcs

The epic serials! Classic Who’s attempt at story arcs. I have such a soft spot for these.

– The Key to Time
– The Trial of a Time Lord

Historicals

Historical

And to round it out, the Historical stories. Not many of them as the show goes on, but certainly a bit of Who legacy to delve into.

– The Aztecs
– The Romans
– Black Orchid
– The Visitation
– Mark of the Rani

And after that, you can just dip in here there and everywhere with random favourites. There’s so much good stuff in the mix and far more stories than are listed here. But this is, I feel, a nice and exhaustive introduction to how Doctor Who be!

Nice

The Lie of the Land – Doctor Who Review

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I want to start by saying I enjoyed this episode a lot. It was very well written, the dialogue, for the most part, was snappy, natural, and drew me in. The cinematography and direction really brought out the best in Capaldi and Mackie as they delivered some of the most emotional scenes this series.

Having said that, there is something that worries me tremendously. It’s a concern I had right from the moment I saw the trailer and read the synopsis.

It Never Happened

Cast your minds back to 2007 and the series 3 finale, Last of the Time Lords. The Master took over the world and the Doctor was locked in a cage for a year while Martha Jones walked the earth. But then, at the end, it was all erased. It never happened. Nobody but the Doctor and his friends could remember the events of the whole episode. And people got angry.

When you erase an entire episode’s meaning and importance for the world its set in, it feels a bit like a cheat. You set up high stakes and your characters must face the challenges not only of ending the horrors, but dealing with the aftermath. To take that away can often feel like a let down.

I was somewhat miffed at Last of the Time Lords, but it had a few saving graces. Firstly, I thought it was a very good episode on its own. But more than that, the lasting effects on a personal level for the Doctor, Martha and Martha’s family were felt long after the episode ended. The events may have been forgotten for most, but they stayed with the main characters. I was eventually okay with that

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Thin Ice – Doctor Who Review

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Thin Ice – Doctor Who Review

There’s a monster living under the Thames, and it’s eating people.

An ice covered river, street urchins, and the Doctor in a top hat – this episode has it all.

A definite improvement on last week, resolution-wise, but somewhat lacking in a grand climax. There are some wonderful moments, and once again the spark between the Doctor and Bill is the star of the show.

“Slavery is still a thing”

The episode opens with Bill addressing something that people have been talking about especially since The Shakespeare Code. The fact that the history of Britain is less than kind to non-white people. The Doctor takes a moment to acknowledge the horrors of slavery, a haunted look passing over his face, before moving on. It wasn’t much, but somewhat better than the 10th Doctors ‘Just walk like you own the place’ attitude.

A little later, Bill comments on the fact that Regency England is a lot more black than they show in the films. The Doctor’s “So was Jesus” response was pretty much perfect. The episode then introduces us to a group of street urchins of various skintones and despite some initial setbacks – namely the death of one of them – the Doctor and Bill soon forge a friendship with them.

When, somewhere towards the third act, the Doctor and Bill confront a racist aristocrat, it should come as no surprise that it does not end well. This is a good bit of build up and pay off from writer Sarah Dollard – having established more of a healthy relationship between the Doctor and diversity, when he is faced with a truly awful man, he reacts accordingly.

Punching racists is nothing new for the Doctor. Fans of the Third Doctor – Jon Pertwee – may remember his fondness for Venusian Akido. Though he would often seek a diplomatic solution, he wasn’t beyond dealing out the occasional chop to the neck.

In this instance, with the Doctor very much choosing to side with the marginalised against the upper crust, it is very much a case of the Doctor’s true qualities coming through. As the Seventh Doctor once said, ‘You can judge a man by the quality of his enemies’.

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