PeterVincent's Doctor Who Reviews

Oh, I just have to talk about episodes of Doctor Who somewhere, and why not here? If I do say so myself. Whilst I most likely won't review a heck of a lot of episodes in chronological order, why not start with the very first episode of the series? You know? Because it was the first? Plus I just re-watched it, which is a bonus...

An Unearthly Child



Before Doctor Who was a fantastical Science Fiction/Adventure series, it was more focused on delivering information and history lessons to viewers, rather than you know...fiction. An Unearthly Child is perhaps the most obvious attempt at this history stuff, as much of it focus' on the characters of cavemen and cavewomen, which I thought was weird in my younger years, as I , like almost every other human being on the planet, was much more fascinated with this 'Doctor' character.

William Hartnell is the original and (as far as we know at least) the first incarnation of the Timelord known as The Doctor here, and despite the lack of exploration into his character, he does a fine job barking at the character of Ian whilst giving a slightly gentler barking tone to Susan, his granddaughter. Although Hartnell is a fine Doctor, it's clear that he was almost too old to play a leading character at this point in time, the poor guy can barely navigate through the junkyard set, yet alone face cavemen. Although, he knows how to talk his way out of a tense situation, which is essential to almost any Doctor.

The story runs a little too long at points, with the cavemen thing as I talked about before, pushing the runtime of the serials a little too long to be tight. Although the first Doctor Who adventure is not perhaps the most ambitious one, it is a fun and entertaining one at that, delivering our very first taste to a show that is almost 50 years old now!

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Oxfords not brogues.

The Daleks




The Doctor's deadliest adversary of all time...well until someone 'Masterful' comes in, was introduced to Doctor Who just as it took off, and I am fairly sure that the Daleks are one of the primary causes of the shows mega-success, or whatever success one scales Doctor Who on.

The Doctor (still played by William Hartnell) and his companions land on the planet Skaro, and upon rewatches nowadays any fan will become bubbled with excitement and joy, as we all know the horrors that occur on Skaro and where it's destiny lies. However, this is the very beginning of Doctor Who, and the lore still hasn't been 100% established yet, mainly because it's clear the writers haven't figured it all out yet. Dropping the ol' history lesson structure and instead focusing entirely on fiction, The Daleks is, of course, like almost every Doctor Who ever until the 2005 update, a multi-parter. Although, much like An Unearthly Child, the long story arc fails at some points, but it is redeemed by one thing...one magnificent thing...

EXTERMINATE!!!
Daleks are awesome. Sure, upon analysis they are silly and stupid. However, see a Dalek in action and somehow, in some magical way, they become the most iconic and damn evil villains ever! Or in Doctor Who at least.

Sure the episode has story problems, like many of Hartnell's journeys, but with a large ambition, some nice set pieces and a villain to rule them all, The Daleks is arguably the most exciting and memorable William Hartnell episode.

The Edge Of Destruction



Where does one draw the line when it comes to overly long episodes? Here unfortunately. The Edge Of Destruction features The Doctor and co. inside the TARDIS, however, after an explosion, the characters begin to behave strangely and turn against each other.

This entire episode occurs in the TARDIS with nobody but the main cast, a recipe for disaster? Not if the writing was good. Was the writing good? ...No.
Hartnell actually doesn't do an awful lot in this episode and even less is done story-wise. Characters shout, scream and then get over it, only for another character to do the same.

This episode does have some redemption, as we get a nice look at the TARDIS, which is rare, however, you have to sit through the painstaking long arguments and tedious talks from a amnesia plot that is in almost every television show ever.

Remembrance Of The Daleks

Sylvester McCoy was always one of my favourite actors to portray The Doctor, and with him being the seventh incarnation, that is saying a lot. McCoy is well known for making the character slightly goofy, and then over time making him darker and constructing a sort of 'master plan' Doctor plot...thingy.

Remembrance Of The Daleks takes The Doctor and Ace (of whom is INCREDIBLY annoying) back to where the adventure began, outside Foreman's of which is a dump or something...I actually can't remember 100% at this point. Sure enough, The Daleks show up to spoil the day, but they aren't focused on The Doctor, they're focused on attacking...Daleks? Yes, Daleks are at civil war, and war has reached earth!

The plot moves along at a rapid rate, with The Doctor's explanation of The Daleks to Ace being a highlight, mainly because the seventh incarnation of The Doctor loves sarcasm and seems to be as annoyed by Ace as we are.



The flaws are there of course, a plot point involving a little girl is bizarre and shifts from being focused on too much and then not enough...and she can shoot lightning? The special effects are slightly dated, however, they are rather impressive at points with the Special Weapons Dalek and Ace's awesome baseball bat fight with a Dalek being highlights. But we must not forget Sylvester McCoy's grand speech at the end of the episode, which involves 'rice pudding'.

Overall Remembrance Of The Daleks is easily Sylvester McCoy's strongest episode, with great storytelling, great action and great nods to previous adventures. Worth a watch? One might say it's essential.

Sylvester McCoy was the first Doctor I ever watched! I remember seeing either a repeat or a video as a kid

Rose

'So I'm going to go upstairs and blow it up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me, no. You go on home, go on and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this 'cause if you do, you'll get them killed!'
- The Doctor

Russell T. Davies can rest assured that he did at least one thing grand and spectacular in his life, he revitalised Doctor Who, shifting it around just enough, adding a modern feel but still paying homage to the classic era, he somehow managed to make Doctor Who what it always could have been and only rarely achieved, outstandingly entertaining television. Gone is the flashy white TARDIS interior, gone is the cheesy music, gone is that sheen of fakeness (of which I did love, sadly) that surrounded the original show.

Now enter the new aged and gritty TARDIS, enter the orchestral soundtrack, enter the impressive production values that also have a sheen of fakeness, but not enough to fully distract you. Behold! The almighty, all powerful and all-seeing Christopher Eccelsten as the 9th Doctor, with an accent from the North (which is explained, well...it's referenced) and a leather jacket, he manages to help pull the 'rebooted' shows first season along, 'shooting it through the vortex' as one might say. Eccelsten is an incredibly underappreciated Doctor, primarily because of his short run, however, he was mainly there to help the show start off, a respected name to gather...well, respect! Eccelsten's Doctor is a man of mystery, pain and hate, but luckily, with the help of Billie Piper's character Rose Tyler, he slowly learns what being The Doctor really means, or something like that.



Rose focuses mainly on the character of Rose Tyler throughout the episode, with the character clearly representing us as the audience, viewing this new and mysterious world around us, is it the same Doctor Who? Or is it completely different? The answer is: a little of both.

Whilst Rose is, to be put simply, a character piece, meant to establish The Doctor and Rose into a modern setting, whilst giving newcomers to the show a little overview of what Doctor Who is, the villains are rather ignored. Yes, that's right my friends, The Nestine Consciousness won't ever win the MTV Award for Best Villain, I'm sorry. That aspect can easily be forgiven, as the Autons were never the most interesting characters in Doctor Who.

Overall when it comes to season starters and show rebooters, Rose takes the throne, well, sorta. Rose establishes a new world with ease, and allows the audience to see a much darker side to The Doctor and to finally see why he actually needs companions. The episode isn't perfect, Murray Gold's score sometimes gets to creative for it's own good and Mickey's character has some frustrating moments (seriously, does nobody notice that this guy is suddenly made out of plastic? He sure as hell looks like it, oh well...I can drop it I guess). Rose is a great starting point for those people of whom want to become Whovians, and it's a nice episode to start the adventure off again! Oh boy, what an adventure it was...

The End Of The World

'I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding it's remarkable that you even exist. I just want to say... how sorry I am.'
- Jabe

After fantastically launching the series forward, T. Davies decided to showcase as many aliens as possible, whilst sustaining a unique and exciting story, enter The End Of The World.

Jumping a little bit away from Earth (but not an awful lot, which is sadly common in the first season of the updated Who), we are in the very very distant future in which Earth is about to be swallowed by the sun, onboard a luxury viewing station The Doctor and Rose meet a variety of alien ambassadors and royalty that are viewing the destruction of our beloved world. But, something is amuck in the station, with some pesky mystery spider-bots fiddling with the controls and causing death, The Doctor has to figure out who is behind this problem and how to stop the robots before it's too late and the station burns with the Earth!



Eccelsten gets a larger opportunity to express his talent than in the previous episode and even gets to tear up towards the end, Piper pulls a fair amount of the episode along, pointing out how incensitive The Doctor is to the events around him and how that is affecting the lives of people. The writing for the episode is fairly standard, however, the dialogue is snappy, deep and even funny at points.

Overall The End Of The World is a solid episode of Doctor Who, it isn't exactly the most memorable episode, however, it is a good one nonetheless.

The Unquiet Dead

'Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them. But that's exactly what they were. Illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that, injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now, you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?'

- Charles Dickens

The third adventure in the 'rebooted series' is a difficult one to rate. Taking a historical figure and panting him in the middle of a Doctor Who adventure is very common, but, one must ask the question, did we really need Charles Dickens in this episode?

Well, yes and no. Whilst Dickens ultimately helps save the day, making him a historical figure is just a bonus, he really could have been anyone...well, maybe.
The Unquiet Dead sees The Doctor and Rose in a Victorian-era Cardiff, but there's something wrong with the dead, they aren't staying that way.



We get plenty of ghost special effects, mystery solving and paranormal stereotypes, but one of the more intriguing aspects of the episode is that they don't treat the ghost thing as villainish...well...until maybe towards the very end. We get some nice monologues but the dialogue isn't exactly impressive in comparison to other episodes, the special effects do hold up in this adventure though, they have the ghoul thing down-pat.

The episode ultimately feels more filler than anything, although it is a good bit of fun. Luckily we had an exciting two-parter on the horizon, or a yawn may have been produced towards the end of the episode.

Aliens Of London / World War Three

'Fascinating history, Downing Street. 2000 years ago, this was marshland. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken - he was a nice man - 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet was in session, and in danger, these were about the four safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of Lesson.'
- The Doctor

The first two-part story in the return of Doctor Who is strangely one that lacks in meat (story) but makes up for in execution. We are treated to a variety of neat special effects, ludicrous history and an alien race that has a bizarre name for a homeworld and an even more bizarre way of releasing compressed energy, because that's a very common problem in society these days.

The Doctor and Rose return to Earth, although something's wrong, the TARDIS has accidentally sent them forward 12 months instead of 12 hours since Rose began her journey with The Doctor in the episode that is also called, Rose. If that doesn't complicate things enough, an alien ship has crashed landed in the middle of London and the world is panicking, but something is fishy about this scenario.



As previously said, the story just isn't juicy enough to be one that spans two episodes, however, the execution of this simple story makes up for that. Exposition is snappy and exciting, the chases are slightly longer than most, but still exciting, the aliens are neatly designed and manage to chew the scenery with their bizarre humour, and most of all, Eccelsten seems to be completely relaxed in the part, now seemingly playing it more for fun than anything else.

The problems are there, of course. The greenscreen in some scenarios is horrible, whilst in others it is decent. We are a little sick of Earth at this point, but oh well, we also have a situation featuring world leaders which is unbelievable, but hey, it's science FICTION!

Overall the double-episode is a lot of fun with some great moments. Sure, it has problems, but hey, it's a very memorable Eccelsten adventure, and made a new alien species that was pretty cool.

Dalek

You would make a good Dalek.
- The Dalek

Bringing back an old enemy had already been done in Series One with The Autons, however, they are no match for the legendary icons that are The Daleks and as far as returns go...this is easily one of the best in Doctor Who history.

The Doctor and Rose find themselves in an underground museum, exhibiting all sorts of alien life found by humans, but there is something alive deep down in the museums vault...The last Dalek in existence.

Essentially the plot is a simple chase, The Dalek brakes loose because of Rose's simple kindness, it kills a bunch of people, it chases Rose and you might be able to guess that the ending is fairly happy...but it's all in the detail my lovelies, the detail is where the episode Dalek excels.



Frequently throughout the episode The Doctor acts out in blind rage against anyone and anything that protests against the destruction of The Dalek, as The Doctor truly believes that it should be 'exterminated', ha ha. Because of her act of human kindness, Rose accidently frees The Dalek and it goes on a rampage, The Doctor tries to stop this of course, but ultimately fails, sitting in the control room shouting over the intercom whilst Rose runs from the slaughter. This may sound like a lazy thing to do, but it's all clearly meant to show that The Doctor has grown to a point in which there is hardly any difference between himself and The Dalek, both are full of hate and want nothing more to destroy each other, until Rose ultimately affects The Dalek and in the climax everything comes full circle, and The Doctor is more of a Dalek than The Dalek itself.

The special effects are fairly believable, whilst some of the supporting actors do a less-than-satisfactory job. We get to see some classic Who stuff in the vault and Billie Piper really shines in this one, well, I suppose she has to, as most of the episode focuses on her.

Overall Dalek is easily one of Doctor Who's more memorable episodes with some great scenes, great suspense and a great overarching theme that I just love watching, a clap for T. Davis!

Enjoyed the last few reviews, PV. The Eccelsten Doctor is the only new Doctor I've liked enough to watch more than a couple of episodes of. I never have been much of a Dr. Who fan, but I thought he did really well.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

The Long Game

'The thing is, Adam, time travel is like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book. You've got to throw yourself in, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers - or is that just me? Stop asking questions. Go and do it!'
- The Doctor

"The Long Game" is the seventh episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 7 May 2005 on BBC One. It was written by executive producer Russell T Davies and directed by Brian Grant. It was watched by 8.01 million viewers in the UK and received generally mixed reviews from critics...WAIT! That's from Wikipedia! PeterVincent, you slimey goat!

The Doctor, Rose Tyler and Guy From The Previous Episode Of Whom's Name I Cannot Recall land on yet another Space Station, however, this one is just overlooking Earth...like the last one, but, this one is also the station/hub for all news and media in the future, but, of course, something is fishy in this society.



What The Long Game suffers from greatly is pacing and structure issues. The threat of the episode is never felt, the pace is everywhere, although it is mainly slow and the character of...umm...Adam!, that's his name! Yeah, that guy...he sucks.

Simon Pegg is cast against type, which is distracting but overall an interesting choice, but he's arguably the only big draw to the episode...other than the fact it's setting up for the finale...in another 5 episode's time.

Overall The Long Game is a solid and watchable episode, sure it's got some mega-flaws, but some aspects like Pegg and the set design help the episode to shine, despite it's familiar treading.

Father's Day

'I should have known. It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you.'
- The Doctor

Every once and a while we get an episode that is heartfelt and creative and stars a character that looks like Bruce Willis in an orange wig.

The Doctor & Rose visit a pivotal moment in Rose's family history, the day her father was hit by a car and died. Consumed by grief, Rose decides to intervene and stop the incident, creating a large paradox that endangers the lives of everyone, including The Doctor.



What helps drive the episode is the strong themes of fate and what must be. We get a lesson about moving on from death and death and fate and death and such and so forth. Christopher Eccelsten helps drive a bit of the episode, despite him being a more of a minor character in the beginning and non-existent in the finale, up until the resolution. The writing is lovely, with some swell little speeches and a lot of clever dialogue.

The negatives, of course, are the special effects (which have become incredibly dated) and the pace of the episode. We get a slow start and a quick finish, which is not uncommon amongst some of 2005's episodes, but is still a bit of an annoying problem.

Overall, Father's Day is a solid episode with a great theme, but some pace issues along the way.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

'Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!'
- The Doctor

One of the few two-parters that is actually worthy of it's long runtime is this one for sure. Not only is this one important to the story of the series, but we get introduced to one of the most iconic Doctor Who characters ever, Captain Jack Harkness.

The Doctor & Rose follow a hospital ship to Earth in the midst of World War Two, whilst searching around a bombarded Britain they both find more than they bargained for, and a mystery that could prove to be the end of the world as we know it.



The double-episode is fun, it's got humour, a nice little revelation for The Doctor and John Barrowman steals the show, as would become a usual thing in the near future with his own spin-off series, Torchwood. Here we are also introduced to one of the scariest villains in recent Doctor Who history, The Empty Child.

The episodes are fun, but occasionally we get problems. Some supporting actors seem out-of-place and sometimes the plot gets too simple and sometimes it gets too complicated, but the ultimate moral at the end washes away all of those complaints.

Overall the double-episode feature of The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances is still one of the scariest and most fun episodes in Doctor Who history, although sometimes it does slip from memory, which is a shame.

As with all the other new Doctor Who episodes that I've seen, I've not seen this since broadcast, but it was a great episode. Possibly the best one I saw.

Boom Town


The first time in the series that an old villain from a few episodes ago returns is also the only time it which it ever kind of feels forced and unnecessary. Well, it always does in a way.

The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack land in Cardiff to refuel, aided by Mickey, they capture a Slitheen survivor, and are forced to keep her prisoner until the TARDIS is ready to leave.



The episode is strong in terms of humour and themes, however, it feels strangely bloated yet hollow, with some aspects rushed and others fleshed out too long. Eccelsten's Doctor gets explored a little more and his resolution to the climax seems understandable and ultimately makes it appear as if he's becoming more of an evolved and different Doctor.

Sadly though, the little stinger at the end of the episode ended up making me forget about what happened completely at first broadcast, also because this episode is before the big two-part series finale, forgetablility is a big aspect.

Yep, I can't remember this episode at all. I've read your post twice, just to try and find something that might've clicked for me.

Great reviews. Eccelston is my favourite of the new doctors and second only to Tom Baker. They both bring a strangeness to the role that I didn't see in the other actors.
I hope you continue this thread.

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“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

Not a review, but I just have to have a brief moment to celebrate...

BADWOLF / The Parting Of Ways

'I'm doing it now... Time Lords have this little trick, it's sort of a way of cheating death, except, it means I'm gonna change. And I'm not gonna see you again, not like this, not with this daft old face. And before I go...Rose, before I go I just wanna tell you - you were fantastic... absolutely fantastic... and d'you know what? So was I.'
- The Doctor

It's always absolutely heartbreaking to see a Doctor go (even Colin Baker, although his parting was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy in a dodgy wig), whether it be a sad speech and a farewell from William Hartnell, a sad and slow death from Tom Baker, a heroic and incredibly tense departure from Peter Davison (which is arguably my favourite alongside David Tennant), every departure has it's emotional beats, and Eccelsten's is...FANTASTIC!.

In BADWOLF the TARDIS crew find themselves trapped in the Gamestation, also known as Satellite 5, where they must battle to survive the cruel games. However, when Rose is taken away, the Doctor realizes his deadliest enemies have returned, THE DALEKS!!!! (dun dun dun!). Then in The Parting Of Ways, the gang take up arms in their last stand on Satellite 5, whilst Rose finds a very special way to save The Doctor, if she can 'get' to it.



The strengths of the two-part finale are multiple and phenomenal. The humour in BADWOLF is spot on, with John Barrowman stealing the show and Eccelsten having his last bit of fun before the dramatic stuff. The ultimate revelation that the villains are the Daleks is exciting, however, it's overshadowed by Eccelsten's reaction/cliffhanger, in which he delivers the most exciting speech known to television (at the time):

The Doctor: *No*! 'Cause this is what I'm gonna do - I'm gonna rescue her! I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and *then* - just to finish you off - I'm gonna wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!
Dalek: But you have no weapons, no defences, no *plan*!
The Doctor: Yeah, and doesn't that scare you to death?



The Parting Of Ways boasts the most strengths. The action and chase sequences are a non-stop thrill-ride, Barrowman proves himself an action hero whilst Eccelsten's Doctor's dark story-arc reaches it's peak, as he is faced with a horrible option that must be taken, and of course, when the finale comes, he does the right thing, The Doctorthing. Eccelsten is truly fantastic in his finale, and the resolution is great, if not an unfortunate deus ex.

Whilst it is sad to see 9 go, his end speech ends up creating a nice character resolution for him, as he seems happy to move on and go, because now he seems to truly be happy, and I like that. It's unfortunate that Eccelsten is overshadowed by his successor but c'mon, Tennant truly amps the show up, and I'll talk about him soon...