Canon-Strike XVI: Doctor Who

[Neon Ignition]

I like the first run of Torchwood, it's not its best stuff and the bad stuff is clunky and cringey in equal measure but it carried over enough DNA from the main show to warrant itself. I liked Jack being fleshed out much more here than he is in Who, also exploring how much the life of dealing with this stuff as standard humans weighs down on everyone (especially later learning what happened to the old team too in S2).

[Neon Ignition]

Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 01
Davies had a two pronged attack with this other spin-off picking up with Sarah Jane as she investigates local mysteries. K-9 would make occasional appearances and she was also aided by a powerful computer, also by her adopted alien son Luke and his friends. Each series was made up of multiple two part stories ranging from alien invasions to character driven tales such as this first series story where a childhood friend of Sarah Jane changes time to prevent her death at aged 13.




Did the more child audience focus of this show rule it out for you?

[Neon Ignition]

Looking back I thought I tuned out of the show but it turns out I saw almost all of it. It was often a bit of a strain to be honest, well done but inescapably a CBBC show meaning as an adult you waited for the moments it was worth it rather than it being unmissable TV.

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 29 - The Runaway Bride
A mere moment after saying goodbye to Rose forever, the Doctor turns to find a lone bride standing in the Tardis. Planning to return her, he discovers that there is a lot more going on in the life of Donna Noble than there should be. The episode is notable not only for Donna's first appearance but also that it contains the first hint of the darker personality that the Doctor holds within, giving context as to why he needs a companion in his travels. The episode was well received and saw viewing figures jump up into the 9m's.




How did you fare with Donna on her introduction?

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 29 - Smith and Jones
The Doctor admits himself to hospital to track strange goings on and ends up meeting his next companion in Martha Jones, a junior Doctor. They first meet as the hospital is transported to the Moon and as the Judoon search for an alien threat, the pair race to find the culprit before the air runs out. The episode was a well received opener thanks to its brisk pacing and the well thought of introduction of Freema.




Doctor Who: Series 29 - The Shakespeare Code
Promising Martha one trip in the Tardis, he takes her back in time to meet Shakespeare. On meeting him they discover that he is about to perform Love's Labours Won, something that peaks the Doctors curiosity as it doesn't exist outside of speculation. It isn't long until they realise witchcraft is at play.




What was your first impression of Martha Jones?

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 29 - Gridlock
Visiting New Earth in the future, Martha is kidnapped and taken to the Motorway, a pollution congested underground road network where people spend their entire lives. As the Doctor searches for her his journey will lead him to a final meeting with the Face of Boe, a warning for the future and a confrontation with Martha who is growing tired or touring Rose's greatest hits. Not much was made of it at the time but as years have gone on reviews have grown stronger for this episode.





Doctor Who: Series 29 - Daleks in Manhattan & Evolution of the Daleks
The Doctor and Martha find themselves mixed up with a stage singer and the Amazing Spider-Man as they hear that people have been going missing during the construction of the Empire State Building. Realising that the Cult of Skaro Daleks have returned, the Doctor contends with facing their latest plan - to merge mankind with Daleks. This two parter is the first story of the modern era Who to be written by a female writer and the first Dalek episodes also.





Did the return of the Daleks pay off or was their welcome beginning to wear out?

[Neon Ignition]

So, I would say it's safe to say that switching to focus on the individual storylines of the modern era Who has had an impact on discourse in the thread. Due to the old approach working better in that regard, once the break down of the current series has wrapped up we will switch back to the Series overview approach for the remainder of our journey.


Doctor Who: Series 29 - The Lazarus Experiment
This episode is broadly a typical episodic tale, the main areas of note in it being that we get to see more of Martha's family in which the mother takes an immediate distrust in the Doctor. We also get our first up front presence of the already referenced Mister Saxon. Written by Mark Gatiss, he became the first person to both write and star in an episode of the show.






Doctor Who: Series 29 - 42
Titled as a nod to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the title also refers to the number of minutes the crew of a mining ship have before they are engulfed by a living sun - all played out in real time.




In terms of standalone episodes, was the modern era's third run a peak?

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 29 - Human Nature & The Family of Blood
The Doctor uses a device called the Chameleon Arc to convert his body to being human. With no memory of his life he settles into a boarding school role in England with Martha watching over him as a maid, hiding from a family of hunters looking to kill him. As the months pass he builds a life for himself and begins to fall in love but then the family close in... The two parter is an adaptation of a Doctor Who novel and has been ranked as one of the greatest stories in the shows history - dealing with children raised for war, and the delivery of the Doctor not wanting to change back into a Time Lord.





Doctor Who: Series 29 - Blink
Moffatt returned for a third time and this time took on the challenge of the low Doctor appearance. Focusing on an original character, Sally Sparrow, she inherits an old house and receives a confusing message from the Doctor as she finds herself stalked by a new enemy, the Weeping Angels. The Angels were shot entirely using two actresses in make up and masks and the impact of the effect led to another episode that is considered one of the greatest in the shows history and a new villain to the Doctor's life.






Do you agree with the consensus? Are these Blink and you'll miss them all time classics?

[CMcK]

Those three episodes are the highlight of that Doctor’s era. Although it’s strange in a way as the Doctor isn’t in Blink much. And the original great premise behind the Angels was eventually wasted anyway.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, the Angels have been picked away at very aggressively and lost nearly all of their effectiveness as a result. They just needed a break for a few series and then a similar tale told with new circumstances but instead every aspect of them has been changed. They'd be best off now never returning again.

I do love these three eps though, they peak Series 3 easily

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 29 - Utopia
The Doctor and Martha travel to the very end of the Universe, unwittingly carrying Jack Harkness with them as he clings to the exterior of the Tardis. Here they discover the last survivors of life who are trying to escape to a promised land called Utopia, aided by an old professor called Professor Yana. They work together to help the survivors until Martha notices a possession of Yana's. The episode was broadly well liked but with much of that praise coming based on its closing 15 minutes.





Doctor Who: Series 29 - The Sound of Drums & Last of the Time Lords
Closing out the series, this two parter finds the trio returning to present day to discover that not only has The Master regenerated but he is also hidden in plain sight - as the now Prime Minister Mister Saxon. As he hunts them down and introduces the orb race, the Toclafane, he enslaves half the world and genocides the other half. With the Doctor captured and aged beyond capability, Martha wanders Earth alone. The two parter was well received though less so than the two finales prior to it. The end of the episode saw Martha leave the Tardis, leaving the Doctor alone once more.




How does the third New-Who era series stack up against the first two?

[QualityChimp]

All the Tennant stuff is watchable, but some of it is sooo good, it makes the decent ones seem comparatively poor, which is unfair.

Blink is and absolute blinder of an episode.

I liked all the other ones too and reading through this thread is a reminder of how spoiled we were.

[Neon Ignition]

Torchwood: Series 02
The second series of the spin-off opens with Jack returning from his time with the Doctor and Martha, discovering that the team are furious with him for abandoning them all whilst Jack's dangerous former lover John Hart has arrived. The series see's Martha visit as she investigates a pharmaceutical company using aliens for medicines, a mission that see's Owen shot and killed. Revived shortly after he remains a walking corpse, incapable of multiple human functions including healing. The latter end of the series deals with Jack's origins, his brother returning to seek revenge on Jack abandoning him. His plot leads to Jack being buried alive for two thousand years, to suffocate to death and revive every few moments throughout that entire time, and the meltdown of a local nuclear power plant that will see two of the team die to prevent.







What did you make of Torchwood's second run?
Did it sell you on Doctor Who having spin-offs?

[QualityChimp]

I've not watched much Torchwood, but this is all I've got:

We went away on holiday to Tunisia and we made friends with an older couple.
The husband had been on a Welsh TV soap called "Nuts and Bolts", which had also featured Torchwood's Eve Myles.
The wife had a bit-part on the show "Gavin & Stacey" in the first episode where she angrily tells Gavin, in Welsh, that he can't park there.

They were bloody hilarious and we still send each other Christmas cards.

Highlight of the holiday was the last day, where we'd been sneaking onto a stretch of beach reserved for a more expensive hotel than ours. We'd been getting away with it all week and on the last day the security guard started grilling us about where we were staying and asking to see a room key, but as we all flustered and lying through our teeth, the husband shouts "Don't tell 'em your name, Pike!"

Total "you had to be there" moment, I concede, but it's still something we chuckle about.

[Neon Ignition]

Torchwood still gets somewhat brushed aside as its cheesy bits really where cheesy but for me - and this is going to be key given Chris Chibnall was responsible for most of this second run and given where we'll get to with his tenure of the main show - it was both the peak of the shows output and Chibnall's best work for Who.

It has a couple of weekly isolated eps that are middling but it has a much more dramatic and better written through line through its arc than the first series that is very character focused. It addresses unlikely aspects within the team and I think the only one who comes off worse for it is Gwen which even makes sense as she becomes too affected by the lifestyle. There are some great moments and scenes with Owen, and that finale that the gifs are pulled from is up there with the best of the heartbreaking moments of New-Who.

The show really hit a stride and I was so ready to see it step into a third run with that strength to it but instead change was coming.