Let's Kill Hitler

Let's Kill Hitler
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: August 27th, 2011

The Doctor has spent all summer trying to find Amy and Rory's daughter, Melody. When the three meet up, along with Amy and Rory's childhood friend, Mels, they find that Melody has been there all along. Meanwhile, a highly advanced prison ship called the Teselecta is after Adolf Hitler, yet they find an even greater criminal: The person who kills The Doctor...

Steven Moffat really stepped up his game in Series 6. All throughout the season, surprisingly and startling revelations were revealed. We had The Doctor dying in The Impossible Astronaut, a little girl seemingly regenerating in Day of the Moon, finding out Amy was a Ganger in The Almost People, and the revelation that River Song is Amy and Rory's daughter in A Good Man Goes to War. As mind blowing as every single one of those moments were, none impressed me more than Mels in this story regenerating into River Song (although she hasn't taken that name on yet). Mels' backstory is shown and she has been known by Amy and Rory all their life as a good friend, despite a few criminal character flaws. So to then see her regenerate into River Song was nothing short of amazing to me! I actually feel like it would be an interesting idea to bring back Mels for another story. River is half Time Lord, so she doesn't always have to be played by Alex Kingston. Don't get me wrong though, for Alex Kingston is fabulous as River Song. In this episode, she shows off a completely different side of the character. This River Song hasn't yet fallen in love with The Doctor. She's just trying to complete what she was brought up to do: Kill The Doctor. And she almost succeeds. But in the end, she gives up her remaining regenerations to save The Doctor's life (also nicely doing alway with the rule that Time Lords only get a certain number of regenerations). The sub-plot to this story with the Teselecta was also quite interesting, and provided an interesting contrast to the setting of pre-World War II Berlin. For those that don't know, the Teselecta is a ship manned by miniaturized humans that can morph into any human being. Thanks to the TARDIS spinning out of control and knocking the human disguised Teselecta over, The Doctor unknowingly saved Hitler. Now what show other than Doctor Who can you have your main characters lock Hitler in a cupboard!? This story is a perfect example of what's so good about modern Doctor Who. You have heart pounding plot twists, tender moments with the characters, and hilarious humor. Definitely my favorite episode of Series 6!

Luke's Rating: 10/10

The Aztecs

The Aztecs
by John Lucarotti
Originally Broadcasted: May 23rd-June 13th, 1964

The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara land in the time of the ancient Aztecs. Barbara quickly gets lost and mistakenly believed to be Yetaxa, an Aztec god. The TARDIS team must keep up the bluff long enough to find a way back to the tomb where the TARDIS is trapped. But not all Aztec people believe the bluff...

I'll say it now, this is not going to be the easiest story to write a review for. You see, I saw this on BBC America this past weekend as part of their new Doctors Revisited series, a monthly look at each Doctor with a 30 minute documentary followed by a complete story from that Doctor. Naturally, they started off with William Hartnell. The documentary was absolutely wonderful. It went in depth on the First Doctor himself, as well as many of his companions and enemies. After seeing many of the BBC America specials looking at the current era of Doctor Who, it was nice to see the classic era celebrated for a change. And then they showed The Aztecs, in its entirety, and that is why this review may not be easy. For it's pretty tricky to watch any classic Doctor Who story all at once, but a rather rudimentary story like The Aztecs is kind of hard to watch all at once. This story did have some interesting elements however. It was the first time the show really dwelled on the consequences of time travel. Barbara tries to stop the Aztecs sacrificing people. The Doctor explains to her that you can travel in time and see things, but you can't alter the course of history, for that could lead to drastic change. The funny thing is Barbara just try to stop the sacrifice, but the guy being sacrificed wanted to be, so he kills himself anyway! The other interesting part of this story to me was seeing The Doctor almost in love, for he fell for Tonila, an Aztec woman, and they're openly seen wooing each other. Very odd to see William Hartnell's Doctor doing that, and this sort of thing didn't really happen again until the TV movie with Paul McGann. Honestly, The Aztecs is not my kind of Doctor Who story. There's just not enough happening. But I can appreciate it for what it is, and it was really cool to see a classic Doctor Who episode being played on American TV. Something I've been hoping for for a long time! And I especially enjoyed the Doctors Revisited. Can't wait to see the next one with the Second Doctor!

Luke's Rating: 5/10

Kinda

Kinda
by Christopher Bailey
Originally Broadcasted: February 1st-9th, 1982

Nyssa has collapsed inside the TARDIS, and so while she recovers, The Doctor, Tegan, and Adric go off and explore the jungle world of Deva Loka. Tegan must fight against the demons inside her mind, while The Doctor and Adric have keep a raving lunatic at bay. And are those Kinda really as primitive as the humans think they are?

If I had to pick the weirdest episode of Doctor Who ever, Kinda would definitely be one of the top runners. On the surface, it appears to be a typical Who tale. The Doctor and his companions land on a mysterious alien planet and get caught up in the affairs of some aliens doing some not-so-nice things to the indigenous Kinda. But then Tegan falls asleep, and the story enters her mind. Peter Grimwade directed some truly haunting scenes here, where Tegan struggles against the Mara, who has materialized in her head as a clown of sorts. Unable to take the mental stress the experience is giving her, she gives in and allows the Mara to possess her body. And then the story goes to another length of oddness, as the Mara parades around in Tegan's body, in order to possess a Kinda. I always find body possession to be a clever and interesting idea in science fiction, and its done wonderfully here (and even better so in the next season's sequel to Kinda, Snakedance). While that's going on with Tegan, The Doctor has to deal with the mentally insane Hindle, the man in charge of the dome inhabited by the invading humans. Slowly over the course of the story, he becomes more insane and more childlike. Simon Rouse, the actor portraying Hindle, gives one of the best performances in 80s Doctor Who that really shows the depths of the character's insanity. Peter Grimwade's direction also helped Kinda greatly, with some truly innovative scenes, like the aforementioned scene in Tegan's mind, as well as the flashback to the time of the Mara at the end of Episode Three. The story is let down a little bit by the laughable giant snake that's supposed to be the evil Mara seen in Episode Four, but that's now avoidable thanks to the impressive CGI version included on the DVD release. Kinda was a story unlike none Doctor Who had ever seen before, and nothing quite like it has been produced since. Yet it still stands as an interesting and well done piece of drama.

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Vengeance on Varos

Vengeance on Varos
by Philip Martin
Originally Broadcasted: January 19th-26th, 1985

The Doctor, in vital need of a rare mineral to keep the TARDIS functioning, lands on the planet Varos, the only planet with deposits of Zeiton-7. The Doctor and Peri thus become entangled in the affairs of Varos, a planet where torture is commonplace, and all the inhabitants watch on TV. Even the Governor of Varos can not escape torture...

Colin Baker's time on Doctor Who is perhaps the most criticized in the show's history, mainly due to negative press at the time, not to mention the 18 month hiatus Doctor Who was given by BBC controller Michael Grade. Colin Baker's first season, the season in question for being too violent and "not as good as the Who's of old" is actually one of my favorite seasons from the entire shows history. All but one of the stories (sorry Timelash) are absolutely fantastic, a really stellar year in the show's history. The writing, performances, music, and the overall feel of the show were at a high during this season, for me at least. Vengeance on Varos, the second story from this season, is a wonderful, intellectual tale that really talks a lot about politics and the way we humans have become connected to our television sets. The unfolding plot is not only watched by the viewer at home, but also by the viewer on Varos, a really clever piece of storytelling to show that we sometimes really a little too much on TV for entertainment. A brave idea for a TV show. In fact, thats one of the ways the government of Varos makes money, by selling tapes of their cleverly devised tortures throughout the galaxy. The character you really feel for is the Governor. Unlike in real life, this governor is not there by choice. In fact, becoming Governor is almost a death sentence. He is threatened with death in order to better come up with solutions to Varos' many problems. This Governor does bad things not because he wants to, but really because he has no choice, and we see that clearly thanks to Martin Jarvis' wonderful performance. And let's not forget Sil, one of the creepiest monsters ever to be shown in Doctor Who. Actor Nabil Shaban brought a wonderfully slimy element to his character that makes Sil utterly believable. Well done indeed! A scene somewhat unnecessary to the story, but really cool nonetheless is when Peri and Areta are transformed into animal-like creatures. They don't get to be like that for long, but the makeup is really well done and is just another weird part of the story, an element that is common among all the stories in this season. Another reason why I like season 22 so much. Vengeance on Varos is often noted as the highlight of the Colin Baker era, and while it's not my personal favorite story of his, it is still a very good one!

Luke's Rating: 9/10

The Keys of Marinus

The Keys of Marinus
by Terry Nation
Originally Broadcasted: April 11th-May 16th, 1964

The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara land on the planet Marinus and discover an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. They come across Arbitan, the creator of the Keys of Marinus. The TARDIS crew are forced by Arbitan to collect the keys from all across Marinus in order to keep the planet stable. But the evil Voords are also after the keys, and they'll do anything to get it...

The Keys of Marinus is an interesting episode of Doctor Who. It's actually more like five stories wrapped into one than one overarching story. The quest for the keys of Marinus is the theme that links five unrelated stories together. The TARDIS crew first come across a palace that seems to be full of luxuries, but is really a prison of mindless humans controlled by the Morpho, who may be the worst monsters I've ever seen in Doctor Who. They don't move. Not one bit. They are just stationary eyes on a stalk inside a glass case. At least the Krotons moved... But after destroying the Morpho's control, The Doctor gains two companions for the rest of the story, Altos and Sabetha. They next come across a screaming jungle full of deadly traps around every corner, that mostly leaves you thinking "man, those were some wobbly sets!" Then Barbara gets stuck with a seemingly friendly hermit named Vasor, who actually turns out to be a rather creepy pervert. Ian and Altos find her though, and they head to a surprisingly impressive looking ice cave, to find one of the keys of Marinus. And then comes the weirdest inclusion in this story, where The Doctor has to fight for Ian's life in the courtrooms of Marinus. And then finally, the crew returns to where they started midway through Episode Six and all is saved. The William Hartnell era is a bit so-so for me, but I actually enjoyed this story, perhaps because it was written by Terry Nation, one of the show's greatest writers of all time. The individuality of each episode makes this a unique story, and it was actually quite refreshing to see!

Luke's Rating: 7/10

Blink

Blink
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: June 9th, 2007

A young woman named Sally Sparrow comes across an abandoned house where strange things are occurring. Her best friend disappears and moments later she gets a letter from the same friend, but from back in the past. Sally then meets a man and then sees him die. It has something to do with the ominous statues lurking around the house...

Steven Moffat has done wonders with Doctor Who ever since he took the helm of the show in 2010, but none of his stories so far have lived up to the pure brilliance of Blink. Like Love and Monsters the year before, Blink was written as a Doctor-lite episode, so that it could be filmed at the same time as another episode. So because of that, The Doctor is barely in it. But that really doesn't matter in this story. He doesn't need to be, for Moffat came up with the wonderful lead character of Sally Sparrow, played by the then relatively unknown actress Carey Mulligan. Blink has one of the most complex plots ever used in a Doctor Who story. In many ways it was the template for many of the stories in the Matt Smith era. But if you pay attention, this plot is pretty easy to follow, and pays off wonderfully. Only in Doctor Who can a girl meet a handsome young man, and then only a few minutes later see that same man in his dying moments. This of course leads to a truly touching moment. I remember being mesmerized by the scene where Sally has a "conversation" with The Doctor on a DVD. The Doctor only knows what Sally was saying because Larry (Sally's future boyfriend) wrote it down. And then at the end of the episode it's revealed Sally herself gives The Doctor all the information, after the events of the story had happened to her, but before they happened to him. Blink of course featured the first ever appearance of the Weeping Angels, and by far their greatest appearance. All the succeeding Weeping Angels stories have been a bit of a let down to me. To me they just lost the appeal that they had in Blink. Or maybe it's just too much of a good thing. Overall though, Blink proves that a Doctor Who episode can be great even if The Doctor is barely in it!

Luke's Rating: 10/10

The End of Time

The End of Time
by Russell T Davies
Originally Broadcasted: December 25th, 2009-January 1st, 2010

The Doctor's future has been told, for his song will come to an end when he hears four knocks. With the help of the Ood, The Doctor finds out The Master has returned to Earth, and he's hungry. The Master ends up turning everyone on the planet into him, yet even with the whole population changed into The Master, an even greater threat still looms... The Time Lords are back!

For pretty much all of 2009, I was wondering just how the David Tennant era of Doctor Who would come to an end. And I really was hoping for a story as epic as The End of Time ended up being. I loved The Master in the Series 3 three-part finale, and was so happy they brought him back for a second go-around. This time though, he was even more crazy and demented than before. And what an acting job it must have been for John Simm to be all those different versions of The Master all in different clothing all over the world. I salute you sir! An equally impressive performance was that of Bernard Cribbins who plays Wilfred, Donna's grandfather. Wilf and The Doctor have a couple of truly tender moments that are wonderfully summed up by Wilf saying: "Please don't die, you're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die!" They could have done a whole series with Wilf and The Doctor traveling around, it would have been wonderful! The only thing that disappointed me about this story was how the Time Lords came back into things. It was actually rather confusing and not terribly well done. And they were defeated so easily! So much for a great big threat! But how appropriate was it that the four knocks didn't come from The Master, nor from the Time Lords, but rather from Wilf, trying to wake The Doctor up. He realizes this, and actually goes into a raving rant, but in the end he decides to free Wilf from the radiation chamber, take it all in himself, and thus starts the end of this Doctor's life. It was lovely to see The Doctor revisit all of his old companions, especially Rose. And then it's time for him to die. The Ood guide him to his TARDIS with the music of the universe (beautifully written by Murray Gold). "This song is ending. But the story never ends." With a burst of anger, and The Doctor proclaiming "I don't wanna go" his regeneration starts, and before we know it, the Eleventh Doctor is here! The End of Time is a fitting, emotional, and truly amazing finale to one of the greatest eras of Doctor Who!

Luke's Rating: 10/10

The Next Doctor

The Next Doctor
by Russell T Davies
Originally Broadcasted: December 25th, 2008

The Doctor lands in Victorian London of 1851 on Christmas Eve, and follows a scream calling for him. Turns out it's for a different Doctor, with a different sonic screwdriver. Is this man really a future incarnation of The Doctor, or is something else afoot? And just what do the Cybermen have to do with it?

I remember being really perplexed when I first saw the title for this episode of Doctor Who. For a moment, I seriously thought whoever they introduced in this episode as the "next Doctor" would be the eleventh Doctor after David Tennant finished his run of stories. Now, of course I was wrong, as David Morrissey is not The Doctor. But it was a good fool for a 14 year old kid. This is a pretty good Christmas special. You really feel for Morrissey's character, who is really Jackson Lake. You see, the Cybermen killed his wife and took away his son, and he just wanted to forget everything. And The Doctor's infostamp made him think he was The Doctor. Both Doctors have some really nice moments together, and you see a genuine friendship blossoming. I love the pre-title scene, where they both attack the Cybershade creature with their sonic screwdrivers and shout out "Allons-y!" The Cybermen are put to good use here, with more of their creepy mind control used as seen in Rise of the Cybermen and Army of Ghosts in Series 2. Mrs. Hartigan, who later becomes Cyber Controller, is really creepy. In fact I always find it more terrifying when a woman is the baddy. Maybe it's just because you don't see it all that often. This story gave us a nice look back at all of the previous Doctors, as The Doctor examines the contents of his info stamp, it shows a clip of all of his previous incarnation. This was not the first, or last time the series has done a nice self-referential thing like that. The Next Doctor was sandwiched between two Christmas specials I really love (Voyage of the Damned and The End of Time), and while I don't like it quite as much as those two, it still stands up as a good episode. It's definitely better than The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe...

Luke's Rating: 8/10