Luke's Top 50 Doctor Who Stories: #35-31

See #50-46 HERE
See #45-41 HERE
See #40-36 HERE

35. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood

Matt Smith's first year as the Doctor brought many a great story, but my personal favorite was this great two parter reintroducing the Silurians. Their look is completely refreshed, yet you can see the same story themes from their original appearance in Doctor Who and the Silurians. Add to that a top performance from Matt Smith, and you've got a modern classic!

34. Mindwarp

The second part of the year-long Trial of the Time Lord season, Mindwarp is that year's most innovative episode. Bringing back the popular, evil Sil from Vengeance on Varos, and boldly presenting Colin Baker at his most unlikeable yet. What really makes this story though is Peri's tragic end where her body is taken over for good. Nicola Bryant gives one of the most haunting performances ever in Doctor Who.

33. The Mark of the Rani

Most people aren't too fond of Colin Baker's time as the Doctor. Yet I think his first season contained 5 great stories and just one dud (Timelash, duhhh). The Mark of the Rani is one of the good ones, introducing a new evil Time Lady, the Rani, who wants nothing more than to conduct her experiments in peace, but with the interfering Master about, she can't help but get involved. This story also has one of my favorite Doctor Who scores ever.

32. Spearhead from Space

Spearhead from Space ushered in a whole new era for Doctor Who. The show was now in color, it was Jon Pertwee's first episode, and the show was now entirely based on Earth. Writer Robert Holmes masterfully brought the menace right into our world, with shop window dummies attacking people on the streets. This was the start to one of my favorite times eras of Doctor Who.

31. The Robots of Death

The Robots of Death holds a special place in my heart, for it was the first classic episode of Doctor Who I ever saw. And it was a good one to start with, as this is the quintessential Tom Baker story. Evil robots running amuck, a whodunnit? scenario, and loads of interesting characters and story development. A scantily clad Leela doesn't hinder the show either! :P

Hide

Hide
by Neil Cross
Originally Broadcasted: April 20th, 2013

The Doctor and Clara investigate haunted happenings at Caliburn House in 1974. A mysterious ghostly figure is haunting the house, and Professor Palmer is trying to get in contact with this ghost. Turns out it's not a ghost at all, but rather a time traveler stuck in a pocket universe. Can the Doctor save this time traveler without being mauled by the grotesque creature chasing him?

Series 7, Part 2 was shaping up to be an amazing string of episodes. The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, and Cold War each impressed me equally in different ways. Sadly, I wasn't too impressed with the fourth episode of the season, Hide. A ghost story with an alien twist, Hide tells the story of a time traveler called Hila who is trapped in a pocket universe that aligns with Caliburn House in 1974. It was actually one of the more interesting premises for a story. You think Doctor Who doing a ghost story would be the makings of a truly great episode. But I was quite underwhelmed with this one. There just wasn't too much happening, and the plot was a little iffy at times. Why did the Doctor suddenly have to go from the beginning of time to the end of time just to figure out who this ghost is? In the pocket universe, Hila (and later the Doctor) was being chased by a hideous deformed creature. This led to one great moment, where the Doctor proclaimed his total utter fear. There have been few instances of the Doctor showing his true fear in Doctor Who, only in stories such as Planet of the Spiders and 42. He needn't have been afraid however, because the monster was really only lonely. Much like all of the other characters in the story, he was just looking for a companion. Speaking of Planet of the Spiders, the famous crystal from Metebelis III used in that story and The Green Death makes a return so the Doctor can enhance Emma the physic's thoughts to create a wormhole. No one bothered to tell Matt Smith how to correctly say it however, so I guess Metebelis has a new pronunciation now... Clara has her first communication with the TARDIS in this episode, and it's not pretty, as it seems the TARDIS doesn't really take a liking to her. A relatively insignificant point, that is until you watch Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. Hide, while advertised as a ghost story, really is an endearing love story. Hide is a good example of an OK episode. It is neither terribly great, or terribly bad. But I think every season needs these kind of episodes. If every single episode is absolutely amazing, your not as likely to be impressed.

Luke's Rating: 6/10

Cold War

Cold War
by Mark Gatiss
Originally Broadcasted: April 13th, 2013

The Doctor and Clara are ready to arrive in Las Vegas, but per the TARDIS's usual stubborn attitude, they end up on a Soviet Submarine in the 1980s instead. A mysterious archaeological find is being transported on this submarine, and frozen with in is an old enemy of the Doctor's, an Ice Warrior...

Since returning to our screens in 2005, many classic Doctor Who monsters have returned to our screens, most notably the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master. There have been more obscure baddies returning too, like the Sontarans, the Autons, the Macra, and the Silurians. This time, it's the Ice Warriors turn to be updated for the 21st century. The design of these creatures from Mars remains very much the same as the classic design from the 1960s. But special emphasis is put on the fact that it's just the creatures armor. For the very first time, we get to see an Ice Warrior out of its armor, and it's not a very pretty sight. They're nothing like I thought they'd be, more reptilian than human. The return of the Ice Warriors was handled brilliantly by writer Mark Gatiss, and the idea of putting one on a Soviet Submarine was a stroke of genius. Many reviews I have read have compared the reintroduction of the Ice Warriors in Cold War to the return of the Daleks back in 2005's Dalek. Both feature a similar set-up: The Doctor and companion arriving somewhere underground (or water) and being locked in with the crew and a deranged monster. Dalek had the originality factor to it, but that doesn't mean Cold War is bad. The eerie atmosphere set on the submarine is beautifully done, and the decision to not reveal the true Ice Warrior until near the end was a good one. I love the professor masterfully played by TRON's David Warner. His young-at-heart attitude and decidedly anti-Communist music choices brought some humor to a rather dark episode. His favorite song is Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf", and even Clara starts singing it when things get a bit too much to handle... There's not too much else I can say about Cold War, it's just a phenomenally good Doctor Who romp!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Leisure Hive

The Leisure Hive
by David Fisher
Originally Broadcasted: August 30th-September 20th, 1980

The Doctor and Romana are on holiday, and they decide to visit the Leisure Hive on Argolis, where there is considerably more going on than shown. The Argolins are trying to move forward from the deadly war against the Foamasi, but one Argolin doesn't want that. Pangol, the child of the Generator wants to bring Argolis back to its glory days, and he'll do anything to get his way...

The Leisure Hive was the beginning of a new era for Doctor Who. I don't think any other story saw more of a change in every aspect of the production. Incoming producer John Nathan-Turner (JNT) really wanted to make his stamp on the show by improving things for the better. The big changes were the new title scene and music, throughly bringing Doctor Who into the 1980s. Sid Sutton's graphics and Peter Howell's music intertwine perfectly to create my favorite version of the Doctor Who opening ever. The BBC Radiophonic Workshop took over from esteemed composer Dudley Simpson as the provider of the show's incidental music. The new synthesized music really gave the show a more updated, modern feel. Of course, hearing the music now, it instantly feels dated, but there's just something about those synthesizer sounds that I love. Tom Baker got a new costume, keeping his famous scarf, but introducing the infamous question marks that would continue through the rest of the classic era. New script editor Christopher H. Bidmead also changed things up, by removing a lot of the comedy that had become increasingly evident when Douglas Adams was script editor, and then making the show a bit more scientific. The Leisure Hive is a perfect introduction to this new kind of Doctor Who. Director Lovett Bickford did a great job of directing the serial in an almost cinematic style, really adding to the "new beginning" theme that JNT wanted. I think The Leisure Hive really benefitted from this style of direction. Choosing to only show the eyes and other close-ups of the Foamasi at first made them seem more menacing than the rather laughable costume appeared. We also get some really neat drama, that oddly doesn't feature too much of the Doctor and Romana. Oh they're very much involved, but not necessarily the main part of the plot. That is until the Doctor steps into Hardin's Tachyon Recreation Generator, which ages him several hundred years. Apparently Tom Baker wasn't too keen on playing an aged Doctor. That same machine then produces hundreds of Pangols, who thanks to the Doctor turn out to be hundred of unstable Doctors dressed like Pangol. I really love the relationship between Earth scientist Hardin and Chairman Mena. They're supposed to just be colleagues, but you can almost see something romantic underneath that. The Leisure Hive boldly took Doctor Who into a new era, maybe my favorite era in the show's history. On top of that, it's a great story with lots of interesting themes, and even if a bit too scientific, is still just a lot of fun!

Luke's Rating: 9/10

Luke's Top 50 Doctor Who Stories: #40-36

See #50-46 HERE
See #45-41 HERE

40. Terror of the Autons

Terror of the Autons see the successful return of the Autons, who are somehow made even more scary than before. This time they manifest as children's dolls and even policemen. One of Doctor Who's greatest baddies also makes his first appearance in this story, the Master!

39. Full Circle

Although infamous for the introduction of one of the worst companions in the show's history, Adric, this story is actually quite a good tale. A pretty good story (believe it or not written by a teenager), moderately convincing marsh men costumes, and one of my favorite scores from the 80s synth era. Tom Baker is also in fine form as the Doctor, along with one of my favorite companions, Romana.

38. Meglos

The story immediately proceeding Full Circle isn't usually looked very highly apron, but I'm actually a big fan of this episode. Seeing Meglos (an evil cactus-like being) become the Doctor (needles and all) is actually pretty terrifying, more scary than most run-of-the-mill monsters. This story also sees some rather innovative improvements with the color separation overlay technique.

37. Resurrection of the Daleks

Resurrection of the Daleks is all over the place. There's so many different plot points at work, and yet it still comes together to be a pretty good story. It was the first classic Dalek story I ever saw, so I guess it holds a special place in my heart. Davros gets some new life breathed into him by actor Terry Molloy, that is further expanded on in Revelation of the Daleks.

36. A Christmas Carol

Probably my favorite Christmas special of the Matt Smith era, A Christmas Carol is all joy to me. It takes a well-known literary classic and breathes new life into it, while still being relatively original. Kazran Sardick's change over time is touching, and his love for Abigail is heartbreaking. Add to that some all around Christmas fun and you get the makings of a perfect Christmas special!

42

42
by Chris Chibnall
Originally Broadcasted: May 19th, 2007

The Doctor and Martha land aboard a spaceship just as starts a crash course with a sun. They have just 42 minutes to stop the spaceship from crashing, while at the same time attempting to thwart a reawakened man on the ship who wants everyone to "burn with him"...

42 is one of the few episodes of the David Tennant era I had actually mostly forgotten about, and I'm not sure why, because it was actually a pretty great episode! It was Chris Chibnall's first contribution to the series (he would later pen The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, and The Power of Three). Chibnall is infamous for going on a BBC talk show in the 1980s and brutally criticizing Pip and Jane Baker's writing during The Trial of the Time Lord season. How fitting is it that he himself ended up writing for the show. The director of this episode is one of my all time favorite Who directors, Graeme Harper, the only director of classic Who to return to direct new Who. In fact, he directed my two favorite stories from the classic era (The Caves of Androzani and Revelation of the Daleks). I remember when I first saw the title for this episode, I naively thought it would have something to do with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. After all, Douglas Adams tells us that 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything! But 42 actually means something different, something equally as interesting. The ship that the Doctor and Martha land on has just 42 minutes until it falls into the sun, and so the episode is told in real time. The sun is living and its angry at the spaceship (and by extension its inhabitants) for dumping fuel into the sun, and so somehow the ship has taken over a member of the crew and wants everyone else to "Burn with me". By this episode, Martha is truly the Doctor's companion, she is no longer just along for the ride as a thanks. When Martha accidentally gets ejected from the ship, we get a really great scene with the Doctor, looking back upon Martha from the spaceship, mouthing "I'll save you". This scene is played out in complete silence and is truly brilliant. The Doctor then heroically exits the ship to attempt to bring the escape pod back within the ship's orbit. He succeeds, but the sun manages to take over him too. This is as scary as you'll ever see the Doctor. He's burning on the inside, and for once, he's actually very visibly scared. Very interesting to see the Doctor let his emotions show on a level like this. Also in this episode, we get some early hints of the Saxon arc. When Martha calls her mother, a lady is shown listening into and guiding her conversation. It's revealed she works for Mr. Saxon (who we later find out is the Master). I can't believe I forgot about 42. It's actually a very interesting and great story, and Chris Chibnall is one of my favorite new Who writers, so what's not to like!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Rings of Akhaten

The Rings of Akhaten
by Neil Cross
Originally Broadcasted: April 6th, 2013

The Doctor takes Clara on her first trip to an alien planet, and they end up at Akhaten, where the Festival of Offerings is in full swing. Clara meets Merry, the Queen of the Years who is scared of her duties, and quite rightfully so. For something is stirring inside the ancient pyramid, and a sacrifice will be demanded...

I had low expectations going into The Rings of Akhaten. You had reviews saying this was one of the worst Doctor Who episodes ever, and reviews saying it was one of the best. The Rings of Akhaten is not one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever, but it is a good one with one particularly phenomenal scene. When Merry and the people of Akhaten try desperately to send the Old God back to sleep, it's really the Doctor who saves the day by feeding his hundreds of years of memories to the sun behind a beautiful singing planet. I think the Doctor's speech here is one of his greatest in the history of the show: "Can you hear them? All these people who lived in terror of you and your judgement. All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, to you. Can you hear them singing?" In fact, I think this might even be Matt Smith's greatest moment as the Doctor. He really gets to show off his acting talents with a heartfelt speech and even breaks into tears. I challenge you to watch this scene and not feel emotional. Well done to all involved for creating such amazing drama. The rest of the episode however is a bit run of the mill. We get to see Clara's first trip into space, which seemed a bit reminiscent of how Rose reacted way back in The End of the World. Some funny moments ensue, and we get to see more of Clara's personality, showing her off as a really wonderful human being. You get some pretty awkward special effects in this episode however. The Old God on his own looks great, but the scenes showing the Doctor and Clara traveling to the Rings of Akhaten look really pasted together. But before all that, we get some lovely flashback scenes showing Clara's mother meeting her father in a typical romantic meeting. You wonder why show this at first, but it all makes sense by the end of the episode. Don't let the reviews fool you, for The Rings of Akhaten is a great Doctor Who story. Maybe not great, but you can't have every episode be The Caves of Androzani ;)

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Survival

Survival
by Rona Munro
Originally Broadcasted: November 22nd-December 6th, 1989

The Doctor takes Ace to her hometown of Perivale to meet up with some old friends, but they discover that they're all missing. The Doctor notices some mysterious cats popping up around town, who eventually transport them to the Cheetah planet, where survival of the fittest is the law of the land, and where an old enemy lurks...

There's a reason why I haven't reviewed a story from the Slyvester McCoy era just yet. While it has some standouts, on the whole it is probably the weakest era in the history of Doctor Who. Some stories were poorly written, with bad acting and direction to boot, not to mention some rather dull music. There are a few exceptions though, and Survival is one of them. This is the point where the show was really starting to turn around. The scripts were getting better, and a more mystery was being added to Slyvester McCoy's Doctor. It's then a real shame that this was the last ever story from the classic run of Doctor Who. Survival deals with themes of survival of the fittest, as The Doctor and Ace, and the other characters in the story try to survive against the playful yet deadly Cheetah people. To make matters worse, The Master is in on everything, although he has been partially taken over by the cheetah ways, slowly becoming more animal than man. The same thing happens to Ace, although she manages to overcome it. The Master however doesn't, and the story ends with an epic battle between the Master and the Doctor. Survival is the third of three loosely connected stories dealing quite specifically with Ace. The Curse of Fenric deals with Ace's hatred of her mother, while Ghost Light deals with Ace's current fears. Survival also deals with Ace, by showing her hometown and some of her mates, who all get transported to the Cheetah planet. Producer John Nathan-Turner, knowing Survival could be the last episode of the show, had script editor Andrew Cartmel put in a lovely speech from the Doctor at the end of the episode that sends the show off on a lovely note. "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do." Looking back, it was sad to have Doctor Who come to a sudden halt. But it was probably good to give the show a rest. Of course we all know Doctor Who came back in 2005 with new life and an amazing new direction. Survival was perhaps an early beginning of new Who, for it's easy to see echoes of Ace found in Rose. And it's a pretty good story to boot!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: April 3rd, 2010

The Doctor has just regenerated and the TARDIS is rapidly crashing to the Earth. The Doctor manages to somewhat safely land in the backyard of a young girl named Amelia Pond. Quickly a bond develops between the two of them, because it has to! Prisoner Zero has been hiding in her house for 12 years and the Atraxi will blow up the planet if they do not "vacate the human residence"...

Matt Smith and this episode had a tough task: To successfully win over a public in love with David Tennant as the Doctor. We'd seen a little bit of the Eleventh Doctor at the end of The End of Time for the regeneration, but The Eleventh Hour is Matt Smith's first proper appearance in the role. The story cotinues straight on from the regeneration, with the TARDIS shown crashing towards Earth. It lands in the back yard of a young girl named Amelia Pond, who of course would become the new companion. Here we get an absolutely magical scene between the new Doctor and the young Amelia, where the Doctor tries to figure out what he likes to eat and ends up at the most odd concoction ever: Fish fingers and custard! When the Doctor hops in the TARDIS again for what is supposed to be just a minute or two, he actually ends up taking 12 years. Our introduction to Amy as a grown woman is a daring one, as she's actually shown as a kissogram dressed up as a police woman. From the start, Amy is utterly like-able, albeit a bit feisty. We also get our introduction to Rory in this episode, although his part is really small. A bit like Mickey Smith before him, I didn't really like Rory here, but in later episodes where he was given more to do, he turned into a fantastic character and a great husband for Amy. Matt Smith is utterly manic and completely the Doctor from the very beginning. In post-regeneration state, we see Matt Smith running around in a tattered Tenth Doctor costume before he gets to choose (or steal) a new costume at the end of the story. Although, as he so eloquently puts it "Well I just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me! I kept the clothes." When the Doctor calls the Atraxi back to Earth to prove to them that the planet is protected, we then get short face clips of all the previous Doctors. A great way to show that this is still the same show, even though the main actor has changed again. Matt Smith had a hell of a task following on from David Tennant, who had rivaled Tom Baker's Doctor in popularity. But the man managed to win over the public, bringing a Doctor who is utterly the same, yet completely different at the same time. His Doctor is more manic, and more childlike than David Tennant's was, and yet you can still see the similarities in the performances. On top of that, Steven Moffat gave him a cracking first episode in The Eleventh Hour!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Spearhead from Space

Spearhead from Space
by Robert Holmes
Originally Broadcasted: January 3rd-24th, 1970

The Doctor has just regenerated and collapsed outside his TARDIS into an open field. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart manages to find the Doctor, although he's not too certain if he's got the right man. Meanwhile, some mysterious going-ons are happening at a plastics factory, "meteorites have fallen to Earth," and a strange looking plastic man is out to collect the "meteorites"...

At the end of Patrick Troughton's swan-song, The War Games, the Doctor was banished to Earth and sent into a forced regeneration for his interference in the affairs of others. And that's where Spearhead from Space picks up. This story ushered in a whole new era of Doctor Who, much like The Leisure Hive would do 10 years later. For the first time, the show was in color. Each episode from this season is based on Earth, and of course, Jon Pertwee is now the Doctor. From the get-go, he is most definitely the Doctor, but very different at the same time. He starts off with a little childishness left over from his predecessor, but I think that was just some regeneration woes. Once the Doctor is up on his feet, he becomes the charming, suave, and dashing Doctor that only Jon Pertwee could pull off. Pertwee doesn't get too much to work with here, so it's not his most memorable story from an actor's standpoint, but he still does put a fine, firm mark on the role. After getting a test run in the previous season, UNIT comes into the show in full form for Spearhead in Space, although at this point we just have Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Sgt. Benton would pop back up in The Ambassadors of Death). The relationship between the Brig and the Doc is a bit more tense in the early Pertwee stories, not the warm UNIT family we see in later years. In trying to make a more well-rounded character for a companion, this story introduces Liz Shaw, a scientist for UNIT. Although it seems that Liz and her characterization were not that popular, as in the next story (Doctor Who and the Silurians) it's back to short skirts and screaming before Liz Shaw gets the unceremonious boot at the end of the season. Writer of the story, Robert Holmes, introduces a marvelous Doctor Who alien in Spearhead from Space, the Autons, servants of the Nestene Consciousness. The Nestene can control any form of plastic, including shop window dummies, making for one of the most iconic and terrifying scenes in the history of Doctor Who. That's what Doctor Who does great: It takes something well known like a shop window dummy and puts evil life into it. What a great idea Holmes stumbled upon. It worked so well that the Autons returned for a sequel the following year, and have been used a few times in new Who too. This story is unique for being the only story in the history of Doctor Who to be filmed entirely on film. Yes, even the interior scenes. Spearhead from Space was an almost perfect introduction into a brand new era of Doctor Who. Yes, things are all set on Earth now, but that doesn't mean the quality of the show should decrease. Robert Holmes proved that with one of his best stories, and Jon Pertwee proved that by instantly making the Doctor is own. Thumbs up from me!

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Luke's Top 50 Doctor Who Stories: #45-41

See #50-46 HERE

45. Mawdryn Undead

Mawdryn Undead was one of the more atmospheric shows of the Peter Davison era for me. Reintroducing the Brigadier and the Black Guardian, as well as bringing in Turlough, writer Peter Grimwade had a lot to do, but did it with particular panache. And you can't forget the almighty 80s synths!

44. The Invasion

While being eight episodes long, The Invasion never drags on. At first it just seems like a corporate hob-nob gone mad, but with the Cybermen introduced and the formation of UNIT, this story goes grand. Don't forget the iconic scene of the Cybermen in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. Chills.

43. Asylum of the Daleks

The first episode of Series 7 featured not one, but two of the biggest shocks in modern Who, that being the early surprise introduction of Clara Oswin Oswald and then the revelation that she is in fact a Dalek. On top of that we get some terrific Dalek-y action, as well as a few throwbacks to the Daleks of old.

42. The Snowmen

One of the best Christmas specials to date, The Snowmen features some wonderful imagery like Clara taking the staircase in the clouds to the TARDIS. It also features great comedy from Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, as well as the surprise return of The Great Intelligence, not seen since the 60s.

41. Image of the Fendahl

This has to be one of the creepiest Doctor Who stories ever produced. The last hold-out from the gothic Philip Hinchcliffe era, Image of the Fendahl has some great nighttime location work, which was very uncommon at the time. A classic body-taking-over plot gives us the beautiful golden goddess as a not so nice baddie.

The Bells of Saint John

The Bells of Saint John
by Steven Moffat
Originally Broadcasted: March 30th, 2013

The Doctor has been patiently waiting for any sign of Clara Oswald, the woman twice dead, and he finds her through a telephone call to the TARDIS. She becomes one of many victims of the deadly WiFi, under the control of the Great Intelligence. The Doctor sets out to not only save Clara, but also every single person who has been uploaded...

The Bells of Saint John gives us our proper introduction to new companion Clara Oswald, although its not Jenna-Louise Coleman's first appearance. At the beginning of this season, Doctor Who fans got a huge surprise when Coleman appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as a slightly different version of the character she would later play. And then of course in the previous episode, The Snowmen, we got to see a Victorian Clara. But this modern day Clara introduced in this episode has no recollection or knowledge of her other selves scattered throughout time. The Doctor has spent ages looking for any sign of the "woman twice dead", in fact he became an isolated monk waiting for any sign of Clara. In the beautifully written prequel to The Bells of Saint John, the Doctor has a deep chat with a young girl on swings about his situation with Clara, it's only after the girl leaves that it's revealed she is Clara. So you met her without even knowing it Doctor! It's a simple technical question that leads Clara to the Doctor. She calls an internet help line that somehow reaches the phone on the Doctor's TARDIS. This also serves as our introduction to the villain of the piece, quite simply, the WiFi. Click on a certain WiFi link and your soul is uploaded to the server of the Great Intelligence, back once again after a reintroduction in The Snowmen. The Great Intelligence has taken on the likeness of Walter Simeon from The Snowmen, and it's revealed at the end of this episode that it has been behind the WiFi life-draining. I thought the idea of using WiFi as a starting point for an alien invasion was a great one, taking Doctor Who boldly into a 21st century setting. The Spoonheads, while elementary in design, were quite ominous when you consider they could become anything in your subconscious and remove your soul from your body. I loved the scene where Ms. Kizlet uses every person in a cafe to talk to the Doctor. Mind control is always an intriguing story plot and topic, especially in Doctor Who. But beyond the obvious threat, we get some truly great moments between the Doctor and Clara. Whenever a companion or Doctor leaves, I alway shudder to think how they could live up to the greatness of the last one, but Clara Oswald continually impresses me. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite ever companions, and she's also breathing some new life and qualities into Matt Smith's Doctor. And must I say just how much I love Clara's theme that Murray Gold has composed! It has such a feeling of joy and wonder that perfectly complements the character. The Bells of Saint John was a great first episode for the season, and it also brought up some questions that will definitely be answered later in the season, like just what is the Great Intelligence up to?

Luke's Rating: 9/10

The Ultimate Foe

The Ultimate Foe
by Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker
Originally Broadcasted: November 29th-December 6th, 1986

The Doctor has been accused of the greatest crime in Time Lord society, genocide. It's up to the Doctor now to defeat the true enemy, himself, or should I say the Valeyard. With the help of Sabalom Glitz and Mel, the Doctor enters the Matrix to do battle with the Valeyard, but will he be able to survive what just appear to be illusions?

The Ultimate Foe is, to me, one of the strangest Doctor Who stories of all time. This is the story that gets to bring The Trial of the Time Lord season-long arc to a close. And it gets just two episodes to do that. This is one of few stories that actually has a different writer for each episode. Legendary Who writer Robert Holmes set out to write the script for this story, but unfortunately passed away after only completing Part One. Script editor Eric Saward set forth to finish the final episode based off Holmes' story brief, and he completed it. But producer John Nathan-Turner didn't like how the story ended, in a cliffhanger that saw the Doctor and the Valeyard presumably falling to certain death. Because of this, Saward quit his job and withdrew his script from the show. So JNT then turned to Pip and Jane Baker (writers of the previous Trial installment, Terror of the Vervoids) to write a completely new script for the last episode. They impressively managed to build off of Holmes' episode quite nicely, however real Who fans can tell the difference in writing styles. After a bunch of bickering in the courtroom, including a wonderful speech from the Doctor and the shocking revelation that the Valeyard is an evil future Doctor somewhere between his 12th and final regeneration (talk about being specific!), the heroes and villains enter the Matrix. In this story, the Matrix is shown as Victorian London, a Jack the Ripper type area, with a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. The Doctor also ends up in a barren wasteland (otherwise known as a random quarry in Southern England), where one of my favorite cliffhangers occurs, showing the Doctor dragged into the sand by disembodied hands. As Colin B. quite blatantly shouts though, it is an illusion! I think the real star of this story is the Master. He pops up on the portal to the Matrix and reveals he's been watching the events of the trial with much interest. It is he who reveals who the Valeyard really is. He just seems to be having a blast, with an obvious evil motive, but a fun element to it. This is one of my favorite performances of Anthony Ainley's Master. The Ultimate Foe brings The Trial of the Time Lord to a close in a mostly satisfactory way. It's sad however that it also brought a premature end to Colin Baker's time as the Doctor. "Carrot juice, carrot juice, carrot juice..."

Luke's Rating: 8/10

Planet of the Dead

Planet of the Dead

by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts

Originally Broadcasted: April 11th, 2009

Thief-on-the-run Christina hides aboard the 200 bus to escape the pursuing police, also onboard is the Doctor. All of the passengers on the bus are soon whisked through a wormhole and land on a desert planet. It's up to the Doctor to devise a way back to Earth, while trying to protect everyone from the approaching sandstorm that isn't all that it seems...

Planet of the Dead gave Doctor Who its first Easter special, although the holiday itself was only briefly mentioned in the pre-credits sequence. This was part of a string of specials in 2009 making up David Tennant's last year on the program. This was probably the most light-hearted of them all, the last time we got to see the Tenth Doctor at his comedic best. One common thing between all the specials was that the Doctor had a different companion each time, and this time we got would-be companion/thief, the Lady Christina de Souza. After frantically escaping from the museum she stole the Cup of Athelstan from, she boards the 200 bus to Victoria, which the Doctor has also boarded. The bus jumps through a worm hole and the passengers end up on a desert planet. And then to get home, the Doctor turns the bus into a flying bus, and that's also how Christina eventually escapes and goes off to other thieving adventures, thanks to the Doctor's help. I did find it a bit weird that the Doctor would help a convicted felon out, but oh well. In fact, the police try to arrest him too, so he says he'll just go lock himself in that Police Box. Clever. I thought the idea of the planet being full of sprawling cities just the year before was an interesting one, and gave us a "baddie" that really wasn't evil, but just was living out its natural life-cycle. UNIT comes back into the show in this episode, and while I think the modern UNIT pales in comparison to the classic unit with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, I did find a character in this story that I really loved, Malcolm. Malcolm, UNIT's eccentric scientific advisor knew of the Doctor and looked up to him as his idol, but had never met him. Supposedly, Malcolm was supposed to represent fans of Doctor Who, and that is readily apparent in the way he acts around the Doctor. He is literally starstruck, and his interactions with the Doctor are some of the nicest things I've seen in Doctor Who. When Malcolm finally gets to meet the Doctor at the end of the episode, he repeatedly tells the Doctor that he loves him. Planet of the Dead was the first episode of Doctor Who filmed in high definition, giving the show a broad new scope that is greatly made use of in this episode. Also, this was the 200th story of the show, a milestone that was greatly celebrated at the time. While not a groundbreaking or overly iconic episode of the show, it was a good, enjoyable romp that is well deserving to be the show's 200th story!

Luke's Rating: 8/10