Image of the Fendahl

Image of the Fendahl
by Chris Boucher
Originally Broadcasted: October 29th-November 19th, 1977

The Doctor and Leela land in present day England, and come across Professor Fendelman, who is experimenting on an ancient skull which science says should not exist. Turns out this skull is actually an artifact of an ancient race called the Fendahl. They are awakening, and they're ready to kill...

At the time Image of the Fendahl was made, Doctor Who was trying to stray away from the gothic horror themes of the Phillip Hinchcliffe/Robert Holmes era. You started to get more comedic and lighthearted stories, like The Invasion of Time or City of Death. So Image of the Fendahl was sort of a last holdout from the gothic era. This is a wonderfully creepy story. The first episode features no background music and The Doctor and Leela wondering around in the deep of night in a forest, very uncommon in classic Who. I believed Professor Fendelman to be the real bad guy, but it turns out he was a pawn in the real bad guy's plans, Max Stael. The actual plot is a little hard to grasp, but somehow he turns the ancient skull of the Fendahl reawakens both the Fendahl creatures, and also somehow takes over a female scientists' mind and turns her into a Goldfinger-esque golden goddess. Kind of confusing, but it makes for a really creepy character. The way she smiles scares me more than a Dalek ever could. Now as with most classic Who stories, the small budget means the monster will quite often be a let-down, as is the case with the Fendahl monsters here. But the golden Fendahl more than makes up for that. With great leads and a great supporting cast, Image of the Fendahl is one of the better stories from the late Tom Baker era.

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Snowmen

The Snowmen
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: December 25th, 2012

After the departure of Amy and Rory, The Doctor has given up saving the universe, until a plucky young girl named Clara rekindles his interest. It's up to The Doctor and a gang of misfit aliens to stop a snow parasite swarm from taking over planet Earth, and save Clara herself...

I thought A Christmas Carol back in 2010 was pretty good, however I was pretty underwhelmed with last year's The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe. So my expectations weren't super high for The Snowmen, but boy was I surprised. This is by far the best Christmas special of the Matt Smith era. The story provides a wonderful (second) introduction for the new companion, Clara Oswin, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. She appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as a different character, Oswin Oswald, who is revealed to be sort of the same character. By the end of the story, The Doctor realizes who she is. Her full name is Clara Oswin Oswald. She dies and reappears in other points in time. Now of course in traditional Steven Moffat style, there is still much to be revealed, which makes me very excited to learn more in the upcoming eight episodes of Series 7. I really love Clara already though. What an awesome introduction to the character. She gives a completely different vibe from Amy, yet is still completely enjoyable and compatible with The Doctor. The big surprise of this episode was a rather subtle one, and that is the return of the Great Intelligence. The same Great Intelligence from the stories featuring the Yetis in the Patrick Troughton era! That's who was controlling the snow in this story. I always love it when things from classic Doctor Who return to the new series. There were some rather lovely moments in this beautiful story, mainly the scene showing Clara ascending the stairway to the TARDIS in the clouds. Murray Gold's score for this episode was one of his best yet. And the humor provided by the terrific Sontaran Strax was laugh-out-loud every time. New to the series in this episode is the new TARDIS console room, which has just enough of the classic design from old Who to be recognizable, but still strikingly new at the same time. It even has a rotating ceiling! The other new thing in this episode is the new title sequence and theme song. The new version of the theme is good, but I was really impressed with the visuals in the new title sequence. Seeing Matt Smith's face integrated made me immensely happy, as it's a return to the way the titles were done in classic Who. The new things are excellent, Clara is excellent, the episode is excellent.

Luke's Rating: 9/10

Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords

Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords
by Russell T Davies
Originally Broadcasted: June 16th-30th, 2007

The Doctor, Martha, and Captain Jack travel to the end of the universe where an old enemy, The Master is awakened. The Master steals The Doctor's TARDIS and returns to modern day England where he hatches a plan to become Prime Minister. But The Master is after much more than just England, he's after the whole planet. Seizing control and aging The Doctor beyond belief, it's up to Martha to save Earth and potentially the universe...

The first series of new Doctor Who brought us the inevitable return of the Daleks, the most famous Doctor Who enemy. Series 2 brought back the Cybermen, so then the obvious choice to bring in for Series 3 was The Doctor's greatest enemy, The Master. Every bit The Doctor's equal, The Master knows how to get to The Doctor and delights in seeing his pain. But when we first see The Master in Utopia, he doesn't actually know who he is, thanks to the chameleon watch device introduced earlier in Series 3. Thanks to some unfortunate prodding from Martha, Professor Yana (the human version of The Master) opens the fog watch and the evil inside is rekindled. Derek Jacobi's version of The Master then regenerates into John Simm, and that's where the mania really kicks in. Throughout The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords, The Master is portrayed as a raving lunatic, more so than he's ever been before in the history of Doctor Who. But the thing is, he's also extremely powerful. Right under The Doctor's nose, he becomes prime minster of Great Britain and The Doctor is virtually powerless against him, which is so unusual to see. The tables are completely flipped in this story. With some remarkable special effects and makeup, The Doctor is twice aged, so old that he can barely move. It's up to Martha to spread The Doctor's name around the world. It's such a clever way to defeat The Master. Just through the power of words. Two other clever things in this three-parter is Yana's name, which ends up being an acronym of what the Face of Boe said to The Doctor in Gridlock: "You Are Not Alone". And then the reveal that the Toclafane are actually the humans from the end of the universe is clever, yet really terrifying at the same time. The season finales during the Russell T Davies era were always really clever and epic, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it would be this one. The Master has always been my favorite Doctor Who villain, so getting to see his grand return to "new Who" was just amazing to me at the time. Here's hoping he'll make another return next year for the 50th anniversary!

Luke's Rating: 10/10

City of Death

City of Death
by David Agnew
Originally Broadcasted: September 29th-October 20th, 1979

The Doctor and Romana are on holiday in Paris, but things get back to normal as they experience a time distortion. They visit the Louvre and are trailed by a detective who gets them tangled up in the affairs of Count Scarlioni, who plans to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre to save his ancient race, the Jagaroth...

City of Death has a spirit all of its own. It has a bouquet. This story stands up high as one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time. Originally penned as The Gamble with Time by David Fisher, it was re-written as City of Death by the legendary Douglas Adams. The best elements of Fisher's script are kept, but interjected with Douglas Adams clever storytelling and witty one-liners. In fact the comedic element may be my favorite part of City of Death. The scene in Episode Two where The Doctor, Romana, and Duggan meet the Count and Countess Scarlioni is just pure comedic gold. "You're a very beautiful woman, probably." That sentence right there sums up The Doctor's views on romance, at least until Paul McGann came along... This story featured Doctor Who's first ever overseas shoot, and they picked an obvious, yet wonderful choice in Paris. The scenes of The Doctor and Romana just enjoying the sights of Paris in Episode One are fantastic. Add to that one of Dudley Simpson's best ever scores for the show and you get a rather lovely piece of television. The supporting cast has a lot to live up to with a leading actor as great as Tom Baker, yet City of Death's cast delivers. Julian Glover, who would later go on to portray the baddie in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, as well as the baddie in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, plays the villain in this story, Scarlioni, otherwise known as Scaroth, the last of the Jagaroth. His intentions are actually not that evil, he just wants to save his own race. Unfortunately, to do that would mean stopping the human race from ever developing. Even more awesome is Duggan, the Detective sent to investigate the art scene in Paris. This guy thinks with his fists, and while his chemistry with The Doctor and Romana was a little tense, they still got along. I think he would of made a great companion, but sadly The Doctor had to say "Bye bye Duggan!" Due to a strike that caused the only television rival at the time, ITV, to go offline, City of Death became the highest viewed Doctor Who story of all time, with Episode Four getting 16.1 million viewers! With its hilarious one liners, fantastic script, and excellent cast, City of Death stands as a prime example of a good Doctor Who!

Luke's Rating: 10/10 

Colony in Space

Colony in Space
by Malcolm Hulke
Originally Broadcasted: April 10th-May 15th, 1971

For the first time since his exile to Earth, the Time Lords call on The Doctor for a special mission to the planet Uxarieus. There he becomes entangled in a struggle for control of the planet between colonists and the Interplanetary Mining Corporation, and to make things worse is an old enemy waiting in the wings...

I saw Colony in Space for the first time a few years ago on a recorded DVD and I remember I wasn't too keen on it at the time. Now that I've bought the DVD and watched it again, I actually liked it a lot more. Perhaps it was the realization that this story was written by Malcolm Hulke, who is one of my all-time favorite writers for Doctor Who. He always comes up with very clever, and also very political stories that have a deep meaning to them. The plot of Colony in Space closely parallels the real-life occurrences of settlers coming to distant lands and paying no attention to the often primitive life already there (for example, the struggle of the Native Americans). This is actually shown to happen twice, first with the colonists and the "primitives" and then with IMC and the colonists. The struggle between the colonists and IMC is actually quite exhilarating and made me want to keep watching. And then when The Master got in the middle of things, it just got more interesting. At this point in the season, it was Roger Delgado's fourth consecutive appearance as The Master. His appearance was inevitable, but it was clever to have him not appear until mid-way through the story. Just when you thought he wouldn't appear in this story, there he is! Even though it was Jon Pertwee's 8th story as The Doctor, it was the first time he, and indeed Jo Grant, had gone to outer space. So it really added an extra dynamic to this great duo. It was cool that you could have both these kind of stories, as well as the equally wonderful UNIT stories. Oh, and as always, Jon Pertwee is awesome!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

A Good Man Goes to War

A Good Man Goes to War
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: June 4th, 2011

After discovering that the Amy in the TARDIS was in fact a Ganger, The Doctor proceeds to gather up all those who owe him a favor to retrieve the real Amy from Demon's Run. Good and bad will come, as a good man goes to war...

If there's one thing that Steven Moffat is good at, it's amazing cliffhangers and revelations. This is the story where we finally figure out who River Song is, and my god is it clever. Turns out she's the daughter of Amy and Rory, that they didn't even know they were having until this episode! Melody Pond=River Song. My mind was blown when I first realized that. The story simply ended with that, and we had to wait about 3 months to see the story continue (and then get my mind blown all over again!). Not only did this story have a great cliffhanger, but it also had a great pre-title sequence. Rory delivers a message from The Doctor and a question from himself to the Cybermen. He asks: "Where is my wife!?" and behind him appears the message from The Doctor: all the Cyberships blowing up. Rory then says "Should I repeat the question?" Roll title. Chills. Aside from those two fantastic moments, this actually is a pretty darn good episode. It's your typical season finale (or in this case, mid-season finale) extravaganza. The Doctor is on the top of his game here, but as River notes at the beginning of the episode, he rises as high as he's ever been, and then comes tumbling down. There's also some nice humor here between the Silurian Madame Vastra, Human Jenny, and Sontaran Strax. Moffat must have liked them, as he's bringing them back for The Snowmen! A wonderful story, but sadly, overshadowed by the brilliant episode that follows it in part two of Series 6...

Luke's Rating: 9/10

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People

The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People
by Matthew Graham
Originally Broadcasted: May 21st-28th, 2011

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory land outside a medieval monastery in the 22nd century and discover a run-of-the-mill factory that contains something not so run-of-the-mill: Gangers. Humans have developed a way to copy themselves and in this factory, their copies turn deadly...

I was really impressed with this two-parter by Matthew Graham (creator of Life on Mars) when it aired last year. To me it felt like a story out of the David Tennant era, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was a nice change from the confusing time travel filled stories of the current era. This story is a really clever one. When a storm hits the monastery, it causes both the Gangers and their human counterparts to be active at the same time. The Gangers, thinking themselves to be a real being, naturally lead their life. But a certain Ganger leads the others to become deadly, and the motto of "Us or Them" is continually muttered. Graham really goes into the morality of the creation of gangers. Disused gangers are left to rot in a liquid state, fully conscious. From The Doctor's point of view, they all deserve to life together in harmony. But neither the humans or the Gangers will have it. It's Us or Them. It takes a horrific mutation from one of the Gangers to make everyone else realize that this has to end. It's worth mentioning just how creepy the Gangers in their half-human state look. Sure Daleks and Cybermen are scary, but it's these almost but not quite human characters that really creep me out! I really love Rory in this episode. He shows true caring for Jennifer, and really wants to help the Gangers. A funny line is when Jennifer says to Rory "I thought I was going to die" and Rory replies with "Welcome to my world", a reference to just how many times Rory has died in the show. Only in Doctor Who. My favorite moment in the two episodes has to be right at the beginning of The Almost People... The Doctor's Ganger is struggling to come to terms with all of The Doctor's past incarnations, and in a moment of relapse he asks "Would you like a jelly baby?" in the voice of the Fourth Doctor. I love references to the history of Doctor Who, and this was one of the more obvious ones.

Luke's Rating: 8/10

State of Decay

State of Decay
by Terrance Dicks
Originally Broadcasted: November 22nd-December 13th, 1980

The Doctor and Romana land on an unnamed medieval planet in the barren depths of E-Space, where the townsfolk are terrified of the "Three Who Rule". Those three beings are in fact vampires who are trying to awake the Great One to return to N-Space and feed on all living beings...

State of Decay was originally written as The Vampire Mutation for the 1977 series of Doctor Who. However, due to a BBC production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the story was shelved. Rare for a shelved story, this one was dug up three years later and actually produced, with a few changes to include the E-Space story-line and the inclusion of Adric. Now The Doctor and Romana don't actually know Adric is there, for he stowed away on the TARDIS at the end of Full Circle. Adric is a pretty annoying character in mostly every story, but I think this has gotta be him at his worst. Some of the lines he comes out with and his reasoning is just awful. I think Terrance Dicks probably noticed the lack of character in this character and wrote him to be just plain annoying. It baffles me why The Doctor wouldn't just kick him out of the TARDIS a la Adam in The Long Game for the stupid things he says. But enough about Adric... State of Decay is actually a fantastic story. It has such a wonderfully creepy mood to it that is brilliantly enhanced by Paddy Kingsland's score. Terrance Dicks knew how to write for Doctor Who. He's right up there with Robert Holmes and Malcolm Hulke as one of the best writers in the shows history. A seasoned Doctor Who writer was something that became uncommon in the JNT era, and this was actually the second-to-last story Terrance Dicks wrote for the series. The performances of the three vampires are a little overacted, but I think that actually enhances the kind of role they're playing. State of Decay is blood curdling, good-old fashioned Doctor Who fun!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Daemons

The Daemons
by Guy Leopold
Originally Broadcasted: May 22nd-June 19th, 1971

An archaeological dig is being excavated at the mysterious Devil's End, little do the perpetrators know that conducting the dig could lead to the awakening of the great Azal. The Master, under the disguise of Mr. Magister attempts to awaken Azal to gain supreme power. Of course, it's up to The Doctor to stop him...

The Daemons ranks highly as one of the most popular Doctor Who stories of all time. It has all the archetypes that make the Jon Pertwee era so perfect. An Earth-bound UNIT story, The Master, and good old Jon Pertwee himself. There's a weird vibe to The Daemons that isn't achieved in many other Doctor Whos. I think it may be down to the way the show was shot and edited. But the weird vibe does  really help the story. I love a Master story, but to those watching in 1971, this was the fifth consecutive story he appeared in. While he's great in the story, I'm sure his surprise reveal was no surprise by this point. So it's better to watch it from a stand-alone perspective. It's also wonderful to see him actually captured at the end of the story. I think that's the only time in Doctor Who history that The Doctor manages to capture him. And of course, The Master's capture plays directly into the events of The Sea Devils in the following season. The realization of Azal is actually really good for 1971! The makeup is fantastic, and he's actually a pretty chilling, scary character. I've never seen someone shout so much... Stephen Thorne, the actor who played Azal, would go on to play two more great Doctor Who villains: Omega in The Three Doctors and Eldrad in The Hand of Fear. An unimportant to the story, but interesting fact was the use of BBC Three during the television broadcast. Doctor Who in the 70s was always supposed to be a little in the future, they just happened to predict something that would happen way later (in this case, 2003). All in all, a great example of Third Doctor era. Perhaps not my favorite, but still fantastic!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Doctor's Daughter

The Doctor's Daughter
by Stephen Greenhorn
Originally Broadcasted: May 10th, 2008

The TARDIS is out of control and after some severe turbulence, finally lands on a mysterious planet, where a war is raging. Within minutes of touching down, The Doctor gains a daughter! Will The Doctor and his companions be able to stop a war that is not all it seems...

If there was ever a character I wish we saw more of, it's Jenny. The Doctor's Daughter, masterfully played by Georgia Moffett (daughter of Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison and future wife of Tenth Doctor, David Tennant). Jenny is such a fun character, not to mention extremely pretty! Her lust for life and adventure is just like her dad's, and that would be so much fun to explore in future episodes. I hope someday they decide to bring her back, maybe even as a companion. I would have taken her over Donna any day... Now seeing the title of this episode really made me wonder just how The Doctor suddenly has a daughter. Was it going to go into some sort of backstory from years ago? I was really surprised at just how quickly this was explained. She was born before the opening titles scrolled, and immediately after The Doctor explained the process. I thought it interesting that The Doctor pretty much disowned her for a good deal of the episode. He thought of her as just another soldier. Not the accepting Doctor we know and love. She really had to prove to him that she could be more. And she did, enough to sacrifice her life for him. And that proceeded into a classic David Tennant crying scene. Which then proceeded into a pretty hair-raising moment, where The Doctor actually held a gun up to General Cobb out of anger for him shooting Jenny. The idea to build the society on the basis of a man who never would was pretty powerful to me, and sent shivers down my spine. These were the kind of scenes that David Tennant really excelled in, and is some of what makes me love Doctor Who.

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Awakening

The Awakening
by Eric Pringle
Originally Broadcasted: January 19th-20th, 1984

The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough arrive in the quaint English village of Little Hodcombe with the intention of visiting Tegan's grandfather. But strange things are afoot in Little Hodcombe. The town's leader Sir George has enacted a reenactment of the English Civil War to gain the power of the Malus...

It's been a few years since I've seen a new-to-me Peter Davison story. In fact, before seeing this story, there are only two I haven't seen: This, and Frontios. So going into this I was pumped to see where it will fall in. The Awakening is a rare two-part Doctor Who serial, meaning things have to be rushed quite a bit. In fact, this story was originally written as a four-parter, so in this case it was even more rushed. I agree with the opinion of most of the cast and crew shared on the making of special on the DVD: The first part is pretty good, while the second is still good, but feels really rushed to conclude things at the end. It's really unclear on just how the Malus is defeated, why has he been behind the church wall the whole time, and a lot of other important plot points. The character Will Chandler seems to only be introduced into the story in case John Nathan Turner decided he was to become a companion like was rumored. One plus to this story is Peter Davison. His performance is (as pretty much always) phenomenal. He gets some fantastic one liners that really sum up why I like his Doctor so much. And aside from the plot holes, the Malus is actually a pretty unique and cool villain for Doctor Who. The well done design helps its appeal as well. Overall a relatively strong story by the standards of the 1980s, but it still could have been better. A four-parter would have been too much, a two-parter was too little, so why not a three-parter?

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Doctor's Wife

The Doctor's Wife
by Neil Gaiman
Originally Broadcasted: May 14th, 2011

A distress call finds its way to the TARDIS and The Doctor follows it to outside the known universe. There the TARDIS gang find some put-together people, an asteroid with delusions of grandeur, and a familiar object inside a beautiful woman...

The Doctor's Wife was the episode everyone liked from Series 6 of Doctor Who. I liked it, but I don't think it was the season's best episode (for me, that distinction goes to Let's Kill Hitler). But nonetheless, it was a pretty good episode. Written by Neil Gaiman, the man behind Coraline (which coincidentally I despise), the story very uniquely tries to bring a human element to the TARDIS, by having the life force of the TARDIS physically shoved into a human named Idris. This is one of those new Doctor Who stories that is very fast paced, and a bit hard to follow. It will take a couple of viewings to completely understand what's going on. Once you do though, you'll realize it's some pretty clever writing. There's actually one moment in the story that is actually pretty darn scary. The House (the asteroid with delusions of grandeur) takes over the TARDIS and plays some pretty nasty mind tricks on Amy and Rory. They get shut off from one and other, and Amy comes upon Rory as an old man. He's supposedly waited 2,000 years for her, and now hates her completely. He wants her dead, and he goes absolutely bonkers. It was all just an illusion, but still, it's pretty freaky stuff. An emotional moment is at the end of the story, when the TARDIS must leave Idris and return to the blue box. She and The Doctor have a pretty emotional farewell. She just wants to say one thing: "Hello"

Luke's Rating: 7/10

Attack of the Cybermen

Attack of the Cybermen
by Paula Moore
Originally Broadcasted: January 5th-12th, 1985

Lytton from Resurrection of the Daleks is back and is supposedly planning a diamond heist in the heart of London. Little do his cohorts know that his true plan is to be captured by the Cybermen living in the sewer of London, so he can get to the planet Telos. The Doctor picks up Lytton's distress signal and get drawn into the fight for freedom of both Lytton and the Cyrons...

Attack of the Cybermen was a controversial story when it was first released, mainly for the high level of violence on display in the story. Many main characters are killed off, and The Doctor even wields a gun and kills a few Cybermen himself. A particularly violent scene was when Lytton's hands were crushed until the blood gushed out by the Cybermen (as seen in the photo above). Personally, I think the violence just adds to the believability of the story. It's tragic, and that makes for good drama. This story was the first of Colin Baker's first full season as The Doctor, and so it had to make an impact, as well as try to calm his character down and make him a bit more likable after how erratic he was in The Twin Dilemma, the Sixth Doctor's first story. It was also the first story to utilize the 45 minute episode format, which would only be used for this season, and wouldn't be seen again until Doctor Who returned in 2005. Attack of the Cybermen, and the other stories of Season 22 really benefit from the different format. It sets a much better pace for the episodes, and everything is allowed to unravel more naturally. After a relatively bland roll in Resurrection of the Daleks, Lytton is given a much better roll in this story. You really don't know what his motives are, and when it's revealed that he's actually trying to help the Cyrons (the aboriginal species of the Cybermen's new planet Telos), most in the audience will be very surprised. I know I was the first time I saw it. The Doctor doesn't trust Lytton until its too late, and that's something that very obviously effects him.

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Green Death

The Green Death
by Robert Sloman
Originally Broadcasted: May 19th-June 23rd, 1973

While The Doctor is planning to visit the exotic planet Metebelis III, Jo Grant has something more down to Earth on her mind. Global Chemicals is pumping heavily polluted waste into the mines of Llanfairfach and the miners are suffering deaths of a green nature. Things are further complicated when giant maggots are discovered, along with the rather musical and maniacal BOSS of Global Chemicals...

The Green Death is yet another fantastic Jon Pertwee serial. I said in my review of The Mutants that I think Jon Pertwee's era is the closest the show ever got to consistent perfection, and The Green Death is another fine example of this. This story is Katy Manning's last as Jo Grant, and her departure is shown in a way that isn't often shown in the classic series, in that The Doctor is visibly upset by Jo's increased distancing throughout the serial. First she doesn't want to go with him to Metebelis III, and then she rather quickly falls in love with Professor Jones and leaves The Doctor forever. The realization of the giant maggots was actually done rather well for 1970s Doctor Who. Now they're obviously hand-puppets, but they somehow look real and menacing. The idea of using a oil industry as the big bad guy was an interesting one, and really showed how far ahead of its time Doctor Who was. Talks of global warming 20 years before Al Gore. The BOSS and his human pet Stevens make for interesting villains. The way they process their staff is really creepy, and a lot of their lines still give me shivers even though I've seen this story countless times. Stevens' realization of how wrong what there doing is at the end of Episode Six is rather poignant, and you actually feel for him when he's shown crying right before blowing up. The scene right at the very end of the story with The Doctor driving off in Bessie after leaving Jo forever (well at least until his Eleventh incarnation) is a piece of pure Doctor Who magic.

Luke's Rating: 9/10

Logopolis

Logopolis
by Christopher H. Bidmead
Originally Broadcasted: February 28th-March 21st, 1981

The Doctor finally decides to fix the chameleon circuit (the function that allows any normal TARDIS to change shape) on his TARDIS. To do this, he materializes around an ordinary Police Box to get the measurements to take to the mathematical planet Logopolis. Unbeknownst to The Doctor, someone else has materialized around the same Police Box, leading to a TARDIS within a TARDIS within a TARDIS. New friends join and an old enemy faces The Doctor for his final struggle in this incarnation...

Logopolis is a thrilling, yet really sad story of Doctor Who. On its own, it stands as a fantastic example of the classic series. No rinky dink special effects or monsters, just good storytelling and characters. The sadness is added with the ever-increasing realization that its the end for the Fourth Doctor. After seven long years, it's the end for Tom Baker. But the moment has been prepared for, in the form of The Watcher, whose supposed to be a future version of The Doctor, coming back to help his fourth self regenerate. This is a fact we don't know right until the regeneration at the end of the story, so for most of the story, The Watcher is a creepy figure and we don't know a thing about him. Tom Baker was lucky to have a wonderful write out as The Doctor. He dies trying to save the universe and his new friends from utter annihilation. A heroic moment indeed. There's something about the first two episodes of Logopolis that seemed really new and different to the way Doctor Who had been before. It's a very different kind of story, yet still a fantastic one. Of course, this story is famous for the proper introduction of Anthony Ainley as The Master. He had appeared in the previous story, The Keeper of Traken, as Tremas (an anagram of Master), a good character who gets his body stolen by a decrepit Master at the end of the story. Ainley is at the top of his game as The Master here. Some of his later stories had awful storylines (Time-Flight) or used him to a lesser point (The Mark of The Rani). But here he is shown as pure evil, even after agreeing to an alliance with The Doctor to save the universe. The regeneration from the Fourth Doctor into the Fifth is one of my favorites. More effort was put into the actual regeneration shot than with Jon Pertwee's regeneration into Tom Baker. And the music is so hauntingly beautiful, it always makes me feel emotional, which is exactly how you should feel when an amazing Doctor leaves and an equally amazing Doctor is introduced!

Luke's Rating: 9/10

The Angels Take Manhattan

The Angels Take Manhattan
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: September 29th, 2012

The Doctor takes Amy and Rory for a relaxing vacation to New York City, and while casually reading a book, he realizes it may not be all it seems. Suddenly the book becomes the plot of the episode, as Rory disappears, and River Song and the Weeping Angels return...

The Angels Take Manhattan starts off as a regular Doctor Who adventure, although by the end of the story, it's clear that it is anything but. I thought the idea of having The Doctor read the Melody Malone book and have it be the plot of the episode was incredibly clever. A bit less clever though are the Weeping Angels. First let me say I loved Blink. It was (as everyone says it is) one of the best Doctor Who stories of all time. But I think Steven Moffat has used the Weeping Angels too many times since. I don't think they're a monster that can be stretched for too many different plots. So by now, I'm pretty sick of them. But that didn't subtract from my enjoyment of this story. This is another of Steven Moffat's complex time plots which he does so well. Amy and Rory are really in peril, and eventually leave The Doctor for good at the end of the episode. Their departure was similar in tone and just as sad as Rose's departure in Doomsday. Rory is accidentally caught by the Weeping Angels, and Amy just can't bear to live without him, so she takes a chance and gets caught herself. It turns out they end up back in the same time together, and they live a happy life. It's real sadness immediately made happier because you know they lived a good life. I'm really going to miss the Ponds. Their love for one and other is one of the most touching ever seen, and that is wonderfully put on display through many scenes in this episode. I wonder if one day they'll make a return just like Rose did. It's clear that Amy means just as much to the Eleventh Doctor as Rose did to the Tenth, albeit in a non-romantic way. I think we'll see a lot of sadness from #11 in the second part of the season, which I can't say I'm all too thrilled about. Although the departure of one companion is saddening, it does leave me excited for Jenna Louise Coleman's (second) debut in the Christmas special!

Luke's Rating: 9/10

Mawdryn Undead

Mawdryn Undead
by Peter Grimwade
Originally Broadcasted: February 1st-9th, 1983

The Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa almost collide with a spaceship due to a warp ellipse and are forced to materialize onboard. There they discover a transmat to Earth where new and old friends, along with a man Nyssa and Tegan believe to be The Doctor...

The Peter Davison era was a hit or miss era for me. The stories were either really good (The Caves of Androzani) or really bad (Warriors of the Deep). Yet most of Davison's stories are very watchable, mainly due to his superb performance as The Doctor. Mawdryn Undead narrowly enters the good category for me. The thing I love the most about this story is the return of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who at this point hadn't appeared since 1975's Terror of the Zygons. The Brig is always a fun character to watch. He's the perfect foil and aid to The Doctor, and he works well against every single one of them. Introduced in this story is the tricky sly Turlough, who after a car crash is contacted by the Black Guardian (another returning character. See a theme? So did John Nathan-Turner) and forced into an agreement to kill The Doctor. That sets up the basis for this story and the two following stories (Terminus and Enlightenment) of Turlough trying to kill The Doctor, and never really getting very far with it. That's really just a side story though. Main attention is drawn to Mawdryn's struggles with eternal life and just how to solve that, as well as getting the Brig's memory back. The one thing that really bugs me about this story though is how in the world Tegan and Nyssa can think that Mawdryn is The Doctor. Sure he's all shriveled up at first, but you'd think they'd look at some facial features and realize that's not the Fifth Doctor we know and love. Fortunately the Brig is there to set them straight. Overall an enjoyable Doctor Who romp, mainly due to the involvement of Lethbridge-Stewart.

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Power of Three

The Power of Three
by Chris Chibnall
Originally Broadcasted: September 22nd, 2012

Overnight, millions of tiny little cubes fall to the Earth, and they're absolutely everywhere. Almost a year passes and nothing happens. But all of a sudden, they become deadly. It's up to The Doctor to figure out who is behind this and how to stop it...

After the rather grand feeling of the first three episodes of series 7, The Power of Three sort of brings things back down to Earth. But that certainly doesn't mean this isn't a good story. The whole episode actually takes place over the course of about a year. These cubes have appeared on Earth, and The Doctor is determined to find out what they are. He keeps popping up here and there, taking Amy and Rory on some rather random, throwaway trips. A rather funny scene shows The Doctor, who is determined to stare at these cubes until they do something, break down out of boredom, having to do something. So The Doctor then proceeds to mow the Pond's garden, paint their fence, and other chores in just one hour. He's quick! This episode also brings back Rory's dad, Brian, and my love for this character grew and grew over the course of the episode. He has a very similar (yet different) persona to Donna's granddad Wilf, one of my all-time favorite characters in Doctor Who. Introduced in this episode is Kate Stewart, the new head of UNIT, who just so happens to be the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. When The Doctor realized this by mentioning her dad, I knew right away who she was supposed to be. I love these kind of connections to the shows past. Even though Nicholas Courtney is no longer with us, it's nice to have him live on through his fictional daughter. The Power of Three ended up being a funny and heartwarming episode. Now bring on the finale!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Mutants

The Mutants
by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
Originally Broadcasted: April 8th-May 13th, 1972

While at UNIT headquarters, The Doctor and Jo Grant receive a mysterious round object and are sent to the planet Solos to deliver it to its owner. There's just one problem, they don't know who its for. While in search of the owner, they become entangled in a fight for independence and discover some hideous mutations...

This is my first review of a Third Doctor serial, so I want to mention how much I love this era of Doctor Who. I think it's the most perfect era in the show's history. There are only a few stories that aren't all that good, the rest are all amazing. When I first saw The Mutants a few years ago, I put it in the "not very good" category, but my opinion has changed with this second viewing. I think it might be because I'm older now. I'm able to understand the political underlinings to the story. Bob Baker and Dave Martin threw in some very obvious underlinings to the idea of imperialism and racism. Segregation is very obvious on Skybase One. The main villain of the story, The Marshall is one of the more disgusting villains the show has ever seen. He's a human trying to make the world better for himself, but doesn't care about who he harms along the way. It's a down to Earth character that I think is more relevant to the real world, which makes him just that much more evil. This story has some great supporting characters too. I particularly like Professor Sondergaard for his enthusiasm and completely pure intentions. Guards Stubbs and Cotton are also very enjoyable to watch and have great chemistry. It's also very cool that Cotton is played by a black man, which goes along with the anti-racist theme of the episode. So it's not one of my top Third Doctor stories, but it's definitely a good one!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

A Town Called Mercy

A Town Called Mercy
by Toby Whithouse
Originally Broadcasted: September 15th, 2012

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory land the TARDIS on the outskirts of a town called Mercy, a typical old west town. Upon arriving in town, the Doctor is almost immediately dragged by the townspeople to be executed by a cyborg known as the Gunslinger, but is this the Doctor he's after?

Recently, Doctor Who has done many historical stories with a science fiction twist to it added to it. Some examples include The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Victory of the Daleks, and The Curse of the Black Spot. Well I think A Town Called Mercy is one of the best historical stories yet. You really feel like you're watching a real Western film. For once, the American accents actually sound American. I'm not sure if that is because the actors are actually American, or they just got better actors, but that's a thumbs up for me. At first I liked the character Kahler-Jex and didn't like the Gunslinger, but a typical story reveal makes me then feel sympathy for the Gunslinger and hatred for Kahler-Jex. When Jex's true colors are revealed, The Doctor is shown as very angry. The way The Doctor acted in this episode sort of brought things back to the later David Tennant years for me, when his own limit lines were very often crossed and he wasn't too sure of things. I'm not sure I like seeing Matt Smith's Doctor like this, so I hope it's not something we see too often. Amy points out that she and Rory haven't been around The Doctor as much, and that he needs someone there constantly to keep him in check. It's a great justification for companions in Doctor Who. Take that Tom Baker!

Oh, and a reminder: Stetsons are cool!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Resurrection of the Daleks

Resurrection of the Daleks
by Eric Saward
Originally Broadcasted: February 8th-15th, 1984

The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are dragged down a time corridor to London in 1984. Little do they know that the Daleks are behind this time corridor. They are seeking to find a cure to a deadly Movellan virus, so they enlist the help of their creator, Davros...

There is so much going on in this episode. First let me preface my review by saying I do actually like this episode. It was the second classic Doctor Who story I ever saw. But it's easy at times to become slightly confused as to what the plot actually is. The set-up of the first episode is brilliant, with the errant policemen gunning down people from a spaceship. Then it's revealed that the Daleks are behind these killings. They need a cure for the Movellan virus, so they enlist the help of Davros. But the Davros plot almost becomes a sub-plot, away from the Daleks attacking the space station and copying The Doctor's mind and body to assassinate the High Council of Time Lords. Davros has a secret plan, to destroy all the Daleks currently alive, and replace them with a new breed of Daleks. His plans are unsuccessful in this story, but are expanded upon in the following season's Revelation of the Daleks (one of my personal favorite stories). This story is known for being one of the deadliest Doctor Who stories ever. Aside from The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough, only the Supreme Dalek, Lytton and his two policemen survive. I guess Eric Saward really likes to kill people. This was a subject for much controversy at the time, but I think all the deaths really add to the poignance of this episode, and to Tegan's sudden departure at the end of Part Four (or Two, depending on which version of this story you watch). Even The Doctor expresses his desire to kill Davros and the Daleks after being unable to in Genesis of the Daleks. Of course, he, being The Doctor, isn't able to kill Davros, but it's very interesting that he tried. Speaking of Lytton, the character shows much promise in this story, so I'm really glad they brought him back in Colin Baker's first season for Attack of the Cybermen. All in all a good episode, if you can keep up with what's actually happening!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
by Chris Chibnall
Originally Broadcasted: September 8th, 2012

The Doctor collects a gang of traveling companions, including Amy and Rory, Rory's dad Brian, Queen Nefertiti, and John Riddell to investigate a spaceship that will be destroyed by Earth if its course isn't diverted. A rather large, prehistoric surprise awaits them onboard...

I say a surprise, only to the characters, as anyone who has seen the title of the episode beforehand knows to expect dinosaurs on a spaceship. I love the almost Scooby Doo feel to the beginning of the episode. The Doctor collects a gang (which he is audibly very excited about), and it's such a random group of characters. I love how the show is a bit more fluid in who travels with the Doctor now. It's not always just your regular companion. Chris Chibnall is one of my favorite Doctor Who writers, having previously penned one of my favorite stories from the Matt Smith era, The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood. In fact, he takes the main baddies from that episode, the Silurians, and uses them in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship as the reason to why there are dinosaurs on a spaceship. Pretty clever writing there. The second episode of the series always has a hard time living up to the spectacle of the first, but Dinosaurs on a Spaceship stands up. It's a funny, clever, and thoroughly exciting Doctor Who romp!

Luke's Rating: 9/10

The Curse of the Black Spot

The Curse of the Black Spot
by Steve Thompson
Originally Broadcasted: May 7th, 2011

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are marooned on a 17th century pirate ship, where the crew seems to be more afraid of swords than guns. It's revealed that the slightest cut will bring forth a siren, who enchants and supposedly kills her victims with just the touch of her hand...

I remember watching this episode when it aired and not being too impressed. At the time, it seemed like a big let-down after the amazing series opener that was The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. But watching this a second time, I actually enjoyed it a lot more. All three main characters are given some fantastic and comedic lines in this story, which I think is key to any stories success. Murray Gold's music successfully captures the tone of a typical Pirates of the Caribbean-esque movie, adding to the suspense and action. I also think the revelation that the siren is actually a nurse is a pretty cool idea. Upon doing some research on this episode, I discovered that the fictitious character of Henry Avery was actually mentioned in The First Doctor story The Smugglers. I always love when new Who references old Who!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Asylum of the Daleks

We go from the very first episode of Doctor Who, right up to the newest...

Asylum of the Daleks
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: September 1st, 2012

The Doctor and the newly divorced Amy and Rory are teleported to the Parliament of the Daleks and sent on a mission to destroy the Dalek's Asylum planet, where everything is not as it seems, especially a girl named Oswin Oswald...

Since Doctor Who returned to our screens in 2005, the writers always have always tried to start the season off with a bang. And they have each and every year. This year however may have had the biggest bang of them all. Asylum of the Daleks is to me, a perfect Doctor Who story. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are all on top game, given some fantastic lines and wonderful, heartbreaking moments. The Daleks are given even more new life by Steven Moffat, as we now have Dalek/Human hybrids. And they need the Doctor's help? Definitely a different spin on the Daleks. I really love it when Doctor Who surprises me. With the internet full so many many Doctor Who fans, it's really hard to not be spoiled. But I was 100% surprised by the big shock in this episode: the first appearance of new companion Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna Louise Coleman. Or at least, that's who I think she is. I won't give away the big end to this episode, but I will say that Coleman is going to make an excellent companion, maybe the best of the new series. Certainly an admirable follow-up to Amy and Rory. Her comic wit, and instant connection with The Doctor through only a video screen left me grasping for more. And it doesn't hurt that she's really good looking! I'm really excited for the next four episodes of the first part of the series, and even more excited to see how Oswin comes back into play later on this series.

Luke's Rating: 10/10

An Unearthly Child

We'll start at the beginning...

An Unearthly Child
by Anthony Coburn
Originally Broadcasted: November 23rd-December 14th, 1963

School teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright follow student Susan Foreman home, which for her is a dumpster on Totter's Lane. Little do they know that she really lives in a spaceship called the TARDIS with her grandfather, The Doctor. The Doctor kidnaps Ian and Barbara and they set off on their first adventure, desparately trying to avoid fire obsessed cavemen...

As you probably already know, An Unearthly Child is the first ever episode of Doctor Who. It's almost like two stories in one, with the first being a set-up of the whole series, and the second being the TARDIS crew's first adventure in time. Even though much of the lore of Doctor Who as we know today wasn't dreamt of at the time, Episode One really did perfectly start the series off. The Doctor's introduction is given a eery and creepy vibe, and we really don't know who this man is or what he's all about. I don't think the production team did either, as evidenced by the fact that he tried to kill a caveman and was shown smoking a pipe. The story gets a little weaker as we head back to 100,000 BC. If you look at it outside of the context of being the first Doctor Who story, it's not the strongest story. The threat is rather minimal to our heroes in comparison to most other stories, even the one immediately succeeding it. But as it's the first ever story, that brings a certain nostalgic element to it. Overall a fantastic introduction to Doctor Who, and one of the better First Doctor stories.

Luke's Rating: 7/10