Canon-Strike XVI: Doctor Who

[Atticus]

[Neon Ignition]

The Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 02
The second series of the show featured a typical mixture of episodes with the most notable perhaps being the Temptation of Sarah Jane that saw her sent back in time and given the opportunity to save her own parents lives. Viewing figures held steady for this second run where the other notable feature was the Sontarans in a tie-in with the fourth series of New Who.



Were you tempted in to watching?

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 30 - The Voyage of the Damned
The Poseidon Adventure in Space. This second Xmas special dialled up the scale massively and was notable for seeing the BBC show it at cinemas as well as on TV. Having just said goodbye to Martha, the Doctor finds himself exploring a space set Titanic just before a meteor shower strikes its side and see's him and survivors climb through its corridors to prevent the vessel crashing into London. Kylie Minogue plays Astrid, a waitress on board who dreams of exploring the stars. The special was a hit reaching 13.8m viewers, the highest the show had received since 1979.










Is the large scale action focus of the special how you prefer your Doctor Who to be?

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 30
The third and final full series for David Tennant's Tenth Doctor saw him reunited with Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. Over the course of the series this was the first time, in the modern Who era, where there was no romance angle to the Doctor/Companion dynamic with Donna anchoring the Doctor with her empathy and sense of lack of self worth. The Pompeii episode was notable thanks to featuring performances from both Peter Capaldi (who would go on to play another role in the third Torchwood series and then later on the Doctor himself) and Karen Gillian (the next companion of the Doctor after Donna, Amy Pond).

The sixth episode would introduce a genetically engineered daughter of the Doctor, played by Georgia Moffatt who is the daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davidson and also now wife of Tennant. The series also featured a chain of well regarded storylines starting with Steven Moffat's two parter set within a future library where shadows attack, then the enclosed episode with a body mimicking alien that begins to copy the Doctor, followed by the Doctor-lite episode following a timeline where one decision by Donna led to the Doctor's death and then the two part finale with Davros return after 20 years.

The finale would also cross over with Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood in a large scale ensemble storyline capping off a series that would also see the first introduction of River Song, the meetings of her and the Doctor falling out of timeline order, and the return of Rose Tyler. The series was a huge success and media coverage was at its peak as around halfway through airing it was confirmed that David Tennant and Russell T Davies would be leaving the show, a moment the finale teases the viewers about.




Was Tennant's final full series his best and how does it rank across the thirty series of the show to this point?

[Neon Ignition]

I remember being so wary of having Tate full time but I think I was sold on it by the end of the first episode. The key was out of the gate giving her quieter moments and contextualising why she was overtly assertive. The second episode where she supports the Doctor as he causes the deaths of thousands and then pleads with him to save someone cemented the dynamic and from there it just ran so well. The two parter with the Sontaran's is probably its weakest entry but overall I think this is the peak of the show for me in terms of full series. It's just an all cylinders run and it's easy to forget that its MCU style crossover, big event finale happened years before it was common place, when the MCU was just one film deep.

The episode with the travellers on the diamond planet is a great character piece immediately followed by the Donna only episode that plays out brilliantly. The finale is the usual big and dramatic affair of the period but the ending is the most heart crushing of the four new-series up to this point. Overall, series 4 feels like the bar the other series should be trying to meet.

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 30 - The Next Doctor
The title once again trolls tense fans as the Doctor lands in 18th century London and runs into a man calling himself the Doctor, with a companion named Rose, who is fighting a new Cyberman threat. The new Doctor has no memories however and doesn't recognise the Tenth Doctor as a Time Lord or as himself.




Would David Morrissey have made a good Doctor?

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 30 - Planet of the Dead
This second special from the run that brought Tennant's era to an end is notable because it is the shows 200th story. A diamond thief hides on a public bus that is then transported to a desert planet which is being ravaged by an incoming species. Racing against the clock she and the Doctor work to get themselves and the other passengers home as he receives another warning that the end is coming and that 'he will knock four times'. The bus used in the episodes desert sequences was storyboarded at the last minute to have the upper deck shredded by its wormhole travel as a cargo container had dropped onto it during transit.




The last 'light' Tennant Who story and the shows 200th, did it deliver?

[Neon Ignition]

Both of these specials are largely just in the okay range. Th teasing over the impending end of Tennant's era is the most notable aspect around them but factoring in the timing of their airing (Xmas and Easter) that's fair enough.

[Neon Ignition]

Torchwood: Series 03 - Children of Earth
The third series saw the show move to primetime BBC1, airing a single story over five nights in row with a huge marketing push. The series revolves around a conspiracy whereby in the 1960's a dozen children were given to an alien race. The species returns in present day demanding that 10% of the world's children are given to them and events are set up for the destruction of Torchwood itself. The series was a huge hit and is critically the most well received run of the show.




Was this the peak series of the show for you?

[Neon Ignition]

Though I enjoyed this run of Torchwood it's not my favourite. The second series set up such a momentum that the third felt more like a cold start and whilst it was a reasonable event it gave up too much of what I liked about the show to placade passing trade for BBC1

[Neon Ignition]

The Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 03
In its third run, this series of the show is largely in line with the prior two. It's mostly notable for a story that see's the temporary return of K-9, the use of the Judoon and Slitheen again but most key being the third story titled The Wedding of Sarah Jane. This episode see's Sarah Jane on her wedding day to her prior unseen boyfriend, with events interrupted when the Doctor arrives. This is the first time that the Doctor has appeared not only in the show but also in a spin-off outside of the main show. The story see's the Doctor work out that the Trickster is making another attempt on Sarah Jane and also see's Tennant's penultimate scenes with Sladen, their final words together being a play on Sladen and Bakers original farewell.




Was the third run the spin-offs peak?

[QualityChimp]

I enjoyed Children of Earth, but it's hella dark.
I like that Jack Harkness was involved and gives a lot more depth to his character, even though it's not a likeable.

I cannot remember that 200th episode at all!

[Neon Ignition]

My missus has never seen Children of the Earth, the threat to kids riles her so I never dared show her how it ends

[Neon Ignition]

Doctor Who: Series 30 - The Waters of Mars
The Doctor is still travelling alone and lands on Mars in 2059. Here he meets the crew of the first Mars Colony led by Captain Adelaide Brooke and the Doctor recalls that the crew are imminently about to die - a fixed point in time that will inspire Brooke's granddaughter to become the first human to explore the stars. As a deadly alien lifeforce occupies the water supply and begins to kill and possess the crew, the Doctor tries not to get involved but finds himself worn down by the many losses he's experienced over the years and the weight of always being at the whim of fate - knowing his own end is closing in. In the end he defies time itself, saving several of the crew and altering the development of the entire human race, joyful at finally doing what he wants instead of following the rules. Horrified by knowing what he's done, the Doctor's darkest hour arrives when his actions lead Adelaide to force the timeline back into its original form by taking out her gun and killing herself. Horrified at his own actions and warned that his own end is now arriving, the Doctor flees into history. The episode saw viewing figures rise above 10m again and reviews praised the new, dark twist to the character that it showcased.









Never picking up on the Valeyard storyline from the Classic Era, is a darker path for the Doctor a road the show should have explored more?

[Neon Ignition]

I think, before the ending, it's still one of the stronger specials the show has done. The water concept and imagery is well done and it's nice that Adelaide isn't a companion replacement, she pushes back against the Doctor the whole time.

But the ending, that is a bold choice. At this point we're right on the cusp of the end of Tennants run, one of the most popular incarnations in the shows history, and they end his penultimate story with his character taking a dark turn through sheer arrogance. Then they add to that by having his actions result in the suicide of the episodes next major character. Then they tease that the end is really impending. Finally, rather than have him fully about heel in regret, he does realise what he's caused to happen but instead runs in fear.

All very out of character moves that could easily risk ruining the character in the 11th hour but to their credit it's pulled off really well and doesn't get the credit it deserves.