[watching] Doctor Who

I wasn't enamoured by all the Time Lord Victorious or Doomsday stuff myself. BF can be really hit and miss in my book. I recently listened to Red Lightning and that was just plain awful, in my opinion. However, I did enjoy the Out of Time trilogy I listened to earlier this year, where they teamed up classic Doctors with new Doctors.
 
Guvnor said:
So, and I realise my niggling may be as much caused by exposure to MCU as two weak audios and two weak novels from Dr. Who.. but where can one get good objective reviews of Who extra mural books and audios?
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Hmm. Maybe look on Amazon and find the ones which have 40+ reviews, all of them 3 stars and above?
Or read the 1 star reviews and see if they hate it for reasons you would hate it too?
 
Wild Blue Yonder was certainly a step up from last week. Very enjoyable, even if it was a little slow off the mark.

It reminded me somewhat of Midnight, one of my favourites from the original Tennant era, with its creepy vibe. And the final scene with Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) put a lump in my throat, as it was the last thing he ever filmed.

Overall I scored it 8.0 out of 10.
 
Got to agree that Wild Blue Yonder was a gem of a show. Simple, creepy, room for actors to act, and focused.

When it finished my wife said something like "has Dr Who started being scary"? Now she doesn't watch it much, and she didn't mean hiding behind the sofa from the Daleks (which she really did in 1963), but that it was creepy.

I did assure it had always been so.. indeed Series 1 has The Edge of Destruction which is an utterly creepy paranoia two episode tale with a closed space and dramatic "space" for the actors to act.

My confidence restored I went to bed and read some more of Interzone 296.
 
Wild Blue Yonder had an overnight UK audience figure of 4.83 million viewers. This figure represents those watching the episode "live" and doesn't take into account those watching on catch up or the iPlayer. This was a slight 5% dip compared to last week's overnight ratings of 5.08 million viewers and slightly lower than the overnight figures for Spyfall, Part 1 (4.88m) in 2020. However, these figures are subject to change when the 7 day and final 28 day consolidated figures are released.
 
The whole family loved this one! A beautifully crafted episode.
Fist pumps when Bernie Cribbins appeared. What a man. Rightfully honoured in this episode.
Pleasantly surprised to see references to Flux and the Doctor's past. Wasn't a massive fan of Flux, but am glad that it's not either being ignored or immediately retconned away. Pleased to see that the destruction of much of the universe has been returned to, it always felt off that this happened and then wasn't really responded to.
Whilst it is clear that they have a bigger budget, I'm pleased that it's been used to generally enhance what they already do rather go over the top. The visuals in this were great fun too.
 
The blue yonder episode was like those old low budget SyFy channel type series, where most of the action takes place in one built-up stage with a cast of three people.
 
The episode looked fine with some CGi thrown bin for good measure. Just that it is an old trick if you watch a ton of SyFy channel movies for studios to save money by placing whole story almost exclusively in something like ship corridors and rooms and hiring just enough actors you can count on one hand, no extras..
 
What you describe is called a "Bottle Episode" and is often employed on TV shows across the board and is not limited to the SyFy channel or Sci-Fi series in general. Go and watch any Star Trek series and you will find a handful of episodes with just the principle cast set aboard ship with no guest stars or extras. The Doctor Who two-part serial The Edge of Destruction from 1964 is such an example as well. And you're right, it's done to save money.
 
Done well, I have no problem with 'bottle episodes', can really ramp up the tension and give a chance to drill into the characters - as I feel this episode did. Done badly, though...
 
Thanks for naming "Edge of Destruction" from 1964.

I just do not have the time to invest in all of Doctor Who, so such named recommendations are a big help.

Due to time constraints my current view book is restricted to only David Tennant, Matt Smith band Peter Capaldi. I may get a collectors' edition of Tom Baker's Doctor for childhood nostalgia. All other Doctor variants, I just watch episodes based on recommendations or specials, like Jodie Whittaker's Legend of Sea Devils because Chinese pirate story.
 
I could recommend you watch the whole damn lot, which you should do really. However, I will give you my limited list of three recommendations per Doctor that I think you might enjoy:

First Doctor: The Daleks Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, and The Rescue.
Second Doctor: Tomb of the Cybermen, The Enemy of the World, and Power of the Daleks.
Third Doctor: Day of the Daleks*, The Daemons, and The Sea Devils.
Fourth Doctor: Talons of Weng Chiang, Genesis of the Daleks, and The City of Death.
Fifth Doctor: The Caves of Androzani, Kinda, and Earthshock.
Sixth Doctor: Revelation of the Daleks, The Two Doctors, and Vengeance on Varos.
Seventh Doctor: The Curse of Fenric, Ghost Light, and Survival**.
Ninth Doctor: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Dalek, and Rose.
Tenth Doctor: Human Nature/The Family of Blood, Blink, and Midnight.
Eleventh Doctor: Vincent and the Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, and Night Terrors.
Twelfth Doctor: Mummy on the Orient Express, Thin Ice, and Twice Upon Time.
Thirteenth Doctor: Rosa***, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, and Village of the Angels.

* Day of the Daleks is what inspired the X-Men comic book story Days of Future Past.
** Survival has a very similar feel to the revived series stories. Rona Munroe who wrote it is the only Classic series writer to return to write for the revived series.
*** This Bafta winning episode features Rosa Parks and is in my opinion the best story of the revived era.
 
Nathan said:
I could recommend you watch the whole damn lot, which you should do really. However, I will give you my limited list of three recommendations per Doctor that I think you might enjoy:

First Doctor: The Daleks Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, and The Rescue.
Second Doctor: Tomb of the Cybermen, The Enemy of the World, and Power of the Daleks.
Third Doctor: Day of the Daleks*, The Daemons, and The Sea Devils.
Fourth Doctor: Talons of Weng Chiang, Genesis of the Daleks, and The City of Death.
Fifth Doctor: The Caves of Androzani, Kinda, and Earthshock.
Sixth Doctor: Revelation of the Daleks, The Two Doctors, and Vengeance on Varos.
Seventh Doctor: The Curse of Fenric, Ghost Light, and Survival**.
Ninth Doctor: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Dalek, and Rose.
Tenth Doctor: Human Nature/The Family of Blood, Blink, and Midnight.
Eleventh Doctor: Vincent and the Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, and Night Terrors.
Twelfth Doctor: Mummy on the Orient Express, Thin Ice, and Twice Upon Time.
Thirteenth Doctor: Rosa***, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, and Village of the Angels.

* Day of the Daleks is what inspired the X-Men comic book story Days of Future Past.
** Survival has a very similar feel to the revived series stories. Rona Munroe who wrote it is the only Classic series writer to return to write for the revived series.
*** This Bafta winning episode features Rosa Parks and is in my opinion the best story of the revived era.
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Thanks, just been given such a list for ST TNG as well. I calculate if I just use lists like that it'll take me 2 years to do ST TNG and Dr Who, maybe a bit of DS9. Oh and watch B5 all again.
 
BenQ said:
Done well, I have no problem with 'bottle episodes', can really ramp up the tension and give a chance to drill into the characters - as I feel this episode did. Done badly, though...
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I'll go further. Such episodes, also known as two-handers can be the best drama ever. Indeed the best Eastenders/Coronation Street episodes are often 2 handers, usually the dramatic climaxes of storylines at Christmas. I am certain they work since they actually allow actors to act, and often are shot straight, and are much closer to a stage play. Then again, I also love 2-4 hander plays at the theatre, especially in our small Studio at the People's.
 
BenQ said:
Done well, I have no problem with 'bottle episodes', can really ramp up the tension and give a chance to drill into the characters - as I feel this episode did. Done badly, though...
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Nathan said:
I could recommend you watch the whole damn lot, which you should do really. However, I will give you my limited list of three recommendations per Doctor that I think you might enjoy:

First Doctor: The Daleks Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, and The Rescue.
Second Doctor: Tomb of the Cybermen, The Enemy of the World, and Power of the Daleks.
Third Doctor: Day of the Daleks*, The Daemons, and The Sea Devils.
Fourth Doctor: Talons of Weng Chiang, Genesis of the Daleks, and The City of Death.
Fifth Doctor: The Caves of Androzani, Kinda, and Earthshock.
Sixth Doctor: Revelation of the Daleks, The Two Doctors, and Vengeance on Varos.
Seventh Doctor: The Curse of Fenric, Ghost Light, and Survival**.
Ninth Doctor: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Dalek, and Rose.
Tenth Doctor: Human Nature/The Family of Blood, Blink, and Midnight.
Eleventh Doctor: Vincent and the Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, and Night Terrors.
Twelfth Doctor: Mummy on the Orient Express, Thin Ice, and Twice Upon Time.
Thirteenth Doctor: Rosa***, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, and Village of the Angels.

* Day of the Daleks is what inspired the X-Men comic book story Days of Future Past.
** Survival has a very similar feel to the revived series stories. Rona Munroe who wrote it is the only Classic series writer to return to write for the revived series.
*** This Bafta winning episode features Rosa Parks and is in my opinion the best story of the revived era.
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Thank you very much, Nathan.

And I just noticed "The Sea Devils" as a title predates Jodie's Doctor. Interesting, indeed.

Just like Guvnor aldo said for Star Trek, such currated lists are great time savers. And I would aldo add a great entry point to bring in more normies into niche spaces.
 
And I just noticed "The Sea Devils" as a title predates Jodie's Doctor. Interesting, indeed.
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Indeed. It's one of my favourites from 1972. The Sea Devils do make one other appearance in Warriors of the Deep from 1984.
 
I'd second Nathan's recommendations and add these ones:
First Doctor: The Romans
Third Doctor: the two Peladon ones... The Curse of Peladon and Monster of Peladon.
Fourth Doctor: The Ark in Space
Seventh Doctor: I'm not really a fan of Ghostlight. I'd say Battlefield instead.
Tenth Doctor: I rate Silence in the Library far above Midnight.
Eleventh Doctor: The Lodger and Hide
Twelfth Doctor: Heaven Sent and Last Christmas
 
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