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Doctor Who Review: Season 18 (1980-1981)

It was with trepidation that I began this season, and it is for two very simple reasons that this review took so long to come out. The first is that out of every Doctor I’ve seen thus far, Tom Baker is easily my favourite, and I didn’t want to be done with him. The other reason was less positive, as I had heard bad things about season 18. So how is Tom’s final season as the Doctor? And are the things people say about it true? Without further ado, let’s take a look at Doctor Who, season 18.

The Leisure Hive

An interesting story. The acting is solid throughout, the story does an excellent job at keeping you on your toes, and, unlike many Doctor Who stories, actually does a good job at making the conclusion seem hopeless for the Doctor and Romana. The foamasi are adorable, the argolins look interesting, and the sets and models are all well made. So why does this story fail? Because it doesn’t make a lick of sense. David Fisher, the writer of this story, makes no attempt to explain exactly what is going on with the tachyon generator or whatever the MacGuffin of this serial was called, and as such it is incredibly difficult to understand the plot. The characters are all fairly bland and their motivations make no sense. Nor does it make any sense why the antagonist has any supporters in the first place. There are several obnoxiously long shots that just don’t need to be there, including three reuses of the same incredibly boring shot of the shuttle docking, and K9 is lazily written out of the story. There is also some rather grating sound design. Overall it’s a bit of a mess, but at least it’s somewhat entertaining. 5/10

Meglos

This story was just boring. The acting was solid for the most part, but the marauders and Lexa were incredibly unconvincing. Tom Baker once again does an excellent job at portraying two different characters, but unfortunately Meglos, despite his brilliantly maniacal nature, was an incredibly boring character, due to refusing to explain his motivations even when asked. His abilities were also not explained, which was incredibly lazy. The costumes were terrible, but the models and sets were excellent, if some were somewhat unimaginative. Though some parts of the models were clearly reused from The Creature from the Pit. The supporting characters were paper thin, making them a bore to watch. Romana was written like an idiot in this story, and goes wandering off for an unsatisfactorily explained reason, which predictably puts her in danger. There was some good continuity this story with the Doctor and Romana attempting to mend K9 after he was damaged by water in The Leisure Hive, but, though they succeed, he is once again written out of the story due to “low battery” which was again lazy. The subplot of the conflict between the Savants and the Deons is not resolved in a satisfactory manner, and essentially nothing happens for the entirety of the first episode. Credit where credit is due, the way the story is resolved is quite ingenious, and makes excellent use of the story’s assets. Overall an incredibly underwhelming story. 3/10

Full Circle

A very intriguing story that really picks up after the slog that is the first episode. The acting is very hit or miss when it comes to the supporting cast, especially with the outlaws. Tom Baker’s performance, however, is especially noteworthy in this story, even more so than usual. Conversely, Romana was fairly useless and Lalla Ward’s acting in later episodes leaves something to be desired. One thing that can be said for Romana, however, is that the threat of her looming departure from the TARDIS is incredibly emotional and acted brilliantly by Lalla Ward. The costumes were fairly bland and unimaginative, but the sets and models were decent. The design of the spiders was laughable, even when compared to earlier stories. There were some decent effects, but for the most part they were nothing special. There were some particularly brilliant shots and choices of background music, which is not usually something one notices in classic Who. This story also has some very well done cliffhangers. The story itself was intelligently written and wrapped up everything well, though it does take a little while longer for the characters to work it out than the audience, which is slightly aggravating. As well as this, it is not explained what exactly the spiders do to Romana, or why that links her to the marshmen, which was annoying. The concept of e-space is intriguing and I look forward to exploring it more in future. Overall this is a solid story, and I give it 7/10.

State of Decay

Another intriguing story with a satisfying conclusion. The acting was, for the most part, excellent, with some moments that were just incredibly over the top. Matthew Waterhouse and Orkon, in particular, had some incredibly unconvincing dialogue and acting. While I praised Romana in the last story, in this she was fairly out of character and had some moments of poor acting. The costumes were absolutely fantastic, just stunningly well-made, and the sets were mostly decent, if unimaginative, with a couple of noteworthy exceptions, such as the throne room. The make-up for the antagonists was also fairly sinister and did a good job at making them seem threatening. There were some great location shots too, though very few, and the score for this episode was simply fantastic. The practical effects for the last scene with the Great One were also very good. The story itself was good, if predictable, and almost everything was wrapped up well. However, some things, such as what exactly “the wasting” was, were left unexplained. Something the story does well, however, as with The Leisure Hive, is manage to create a real sense of danger for the characters, which Doctor Who rarely achieves. I felt certain that one character in particular was going to die. The story is also particularly good at using all of its assets, including the TARDIS and K9, which is refreshing to see. As a minor nitpick, the fight scenes were terrible, even by Doctor Who’s standards. Overall this was a solid story with a decent conclusion, and I give it a 7/10.

Warriors’ Gate

A case of great concept but poor execution. To start with the positives, the sets were great, Biroc and Rorvik were acted decently, and the model for the spaceship was somewhat interesting. Lalla Ward was on fine form in this story, especially in the first episode. The ideas the story implemented, such as time winds, time sensitives and the mirror world were excellent, but not carried out to their fullest extent. The atmosphere was appropriately bleak and sinister, and there were some truly disturbing scenes. Unfortunately, there is so much filler in this story that it is just a chore to watch, particularly part three, and the acting for most of the supporting characters was terrible. The supporting cast also served essentially no function to the story, and absolutely all of the characters were paper thin. The costumes were unimaginative and boring, save for the gundan robots, and the design of the tharils was laughable. And while I’ve no doubt the ending of the story was meant to be emotional, I felt nothing, due to it being fairly poorly acted and written. Overall a thoroughly underwhelming story. 5/10

The Keeper of Traken

While a fairly good story with a satisfying cliffhanger ending, my enjoyment of it was spoiled somewhat by the fact that I already knew most of what was going on, and how the story would end. The main strength of the episode comes from the plotline itself, which was incredibly well thought out. This was helped by the fact that the acting of most of the characters was good, and in some cases great. Unfortunately, one of the major characters, Cassia, had some moments of terrible acting. Thankfully, Tom Baker’s performance as the Doctor was, as usual excellent. Surprisingly, I would also say the same of Matthew Waterhouse’s Adric, and I would go so far as to say that he was adorable in the first episode. The Keeper of Traken, and Tremas were also great, and I enjoyed Nyssa immensely. But by far and away the star of this story was “Melkur,” who was an incredibly intimidating presence as a voice, and supremely unsettling and mad when we finally see him in person. The visual design of the story was also commendable, the costumes were great, especially the antagonist played by Geoffrey Beevers, and the design of the Melkur statue was also excellent. The sets, too, were great, particularly the vault containing the source. Some of the scenes, however, were poorly directed, particularly when they rely solely on the actors to show that the area was shaking, which just ended up looking silly. There was only one time in the story that it even remotely worked. Overall this was a good story and I give it a 7.5/10.

Logopolis

Another good story. Let’s get some of the negatives out of the way first. First of all, the concept of the Watcher does not make any sense given how completely unexplained it is. Secondly, Adric, Tegan and Nyssa were virtual non-entities in this story. They served a purpose to the plot, but their acting was totally bland and wooden that they left no impression on me. In contrast, Anthony Ainley’s Master was incredibly overacted, with some ridiculous facial expressions and consistent evil laughter when he was supposed to be inconspicuous. I really hope he improves in future. The plot was incredibly meandering and had a large amount of filler, especially in the first two episodes, which consisted of Tegan running down corridors, TARDISes materialising and dematerialising for no apparent reason, and a lot of measuring. As well as this, some scenes were scored with unfitting music. On the plus side, the Monitor was very well acted, the costumes were excellent, and the practical effects were brilliant. It was also nice to see a new room in the TARDIS, which looked great. The planet Logopolis was somewhat boring, but decently realised. The story also introduced some really interesting concepts, specifically the logopolitans’ tonal mathematics, but took the concept too far, in my opinion. Which brings us to the story itself. The story was, in execution, excellent. It was interesting, exciting, complex, and had a real sense of danger and foreboding to it that Doctor Who usually doesn’t. The atmosphere, in particular, was incredibly bleak and hopeless all the way through, which was perfect. Unfortunately, while it was interesting, the story told was quite frankly completely ridiculous and unbelievable, and did something, in my opinion, that sci-fi should never do. While this certainly brings the story down, the positives of it mostly outweigh the negatives. Therefore I give this story a 7.5/10.

While this is certainly not a bad season, it is a disappointing one. In any other circumstance I would be fine with it, but as an end to a Doctor’s era, it’s less than ideal. The rather bleak atmosphere and stories of decay that seemed to permeate the season were thematically and narratively excellent, so I can’t fault them, but unfortunately the stories do little to back this up, ranging from poor to just good. There were no real stand-outs this season and it was mostly just an underwhelming, forgettable end to a great Doctor. As well as this, the actors, specifically Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, also seemed to lose much of their spark this season, barring some stand-out moments, and Romana’s character was inconsistently written. The introduction of Adric was not as bad as I was expecting, given his reputation, but he doesn’t hold a candle to many past companions and fails to stand out. The same can be said of Tegan and Nyssa, but that’s understandable, as they have far less time to prove themselves compared to other characters. Overall this was a decent season, but underwhelming, and I give it a 6.5/10.

If I were to rank the stories, it would be:

7. Meglos 6. Warriors’ Gate 5. The Leisure Hive 4. State of Decay 3. Full Circle 2. Logopolis 1. The Keeper of Traken

The Leisure Hive is placed higher than Warriors’ Gate due to the latter’s meandering plot and poor acting. Full Circle and State of Decay are nearly equal, but Tom Baker’s performance in Full Circle pushes it up for me.

Before moving on to season 19, I think I’ll do an overall review of the Tom Baker era, with a top ten best and worst stories, so look forward to that some time in future.

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I’m Back

So I haven’t reviewed anything in a while. That was because I had exams and stopped reading and watching things. But now that my exams are over I can get back into the swing of things. My next review won’t come soon, but it will come.

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Doctor Who Review: Season 17 (1979-1980)

The Key to Time showed a great return to form for Tom Baker’s era after the dip in quality of season 15. So was this just a bizarre fluke or will Doctor Who keep going strong? Without further ado, let’s get into my review of Doctor Who season 17.

Destiny of the Daleks

This story is much maligned, and while it is definitely not a good story, it doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. Let’s go over the positives first. The first two episodes are tense and suspenseful, and the whole serial is beautifully shot. The locations and sets are brilliant, and the design of the movellans, while slightly dull, serves its purpose well. Lalla Ward proves to be much more enjoyable as Romana than she ever was as Princess Astra, though it is too early yet to say whether she is better than Mary Tamm. Her costume is also very good, even if it is just a recolour of Tom’s costume. Tom Baker gives a great performance in this story, as per usual, and the effects are spectacular by Doctor Who’s usual standard. So what’s bad about it? The first thing of note is the wobbly and bumpy operation of the daleks and Davros. Then there’s the fact that the story is boring and doesn’t make a lick of sense. This story also refers to the daleks as robots, and given that Terry Nation wrote this story, this is an inexcusable fault. The acting of the supporting cast, including Davros, is flat and uninteresting, and it is a stretch to call any of the major characters even one-dimensional. If we go by Doctor Who canon, Romana wastes several regenerations on vanity, and that’s disregarding the fact that she wasn’t even injured before she regenerated. The conclusion is satisfactory, but given that the story is pretty bad, this doesn’t really mean anything. Overall a dull and forgettable story. 4/10

City of Death

What a story! I find it interesting that people are keen to give sole credit to Douglas Adams when they talk about this serial, as he actually had two co-writers. Perhaps he was more involved than they were, I can’t say for certain, I just find it interesting that their contributions to this masterpiece are ignored. As for the story itself, it was practically perfect. Brilliantly directed, brilliantly paced and brilliantly acted (especially “Count Scarlioni”) with enjoyable characters and some fantastic humour. It was a little slow in places, but only a very tiny bit, certainly not enough to detract from the story. There are also a couple of unexplained plot details that are slightly irritating, one being an artist in a café, and the other the Doctor’s explanation for how “Scarlioni” intends to power his machine. The practical effects and models were fantastic, as were all the locations, sets and costumes. Overall one of the strongest Doctor Who stories yet. 9.5/10

The Creature from the Pit

An intriguing premise with a satisfactory conclusion. The design of the creature was fairly dull, but imaginative in other ways. Lalla Ward had some moments of truly terrible acting, but aside from that the acting was solid throughout. The characters were one-note and flat, K9’s voice was awful, but he was used well. A lot of the story is just filler, with many scenes of characters just wandering about. The sets were fairly good. The plot itself was a good idea but the execution is just fairly average. 6/10

Nightmare of Eden

An intriguing mystery with an excellent payoff. The plot was excellent, and all of the ideas behind it were very well thought out. The effects of the matter interfaces were very cool, though the rest of them were of Doctor Who’s usual standard. This story was slightly unusually paced, but not enough to detract any enjoyment from it. The practical effects were decent, though I found the mandrels adorable rather than terrifying. The models for the ships were great, as usual, and the sets on Eden were brilliantly realised, as foliage planets often are on Doctor Who. I must say that this doesn’t quite compare to Spiridon or Zeta Minor, but it was still good. The sets of the ships were good, but somewhat unremarkable. The performances were mostly solid, but nothing exceptional. I am unconvinced of the logic behind the source of the Vraxoin, but again, it’s a minor detail. My favourite part of the story was the Doctor’s utter disgust at the practice of drug smuggling, and how it brought out some rather dark moments. Overall a very fun story with some excellent stand out moments. 7.5/10

The Horns of Nimon

A story that started off well but just went downhill from there. Starting with what I liked, I loved Romana’s outfit in this story and Lalla Ward gives a particularly strong performance. The supporting actors were fairly solid, with some spotty moments, and the costumes were decent, with a few exceptions. The story itself was an excellent idea, though the parallels to the story of Theseus and the Minotaur were so blatant it was distracting. Unfortunately the execution was poor and repetitive, the design of the nimon was mind-numbingly awful, the sets were generally unimaginative (with the exception of the nimon’s lab, which was fantastically detailed) and the models for the ships and weapons were boring and generic. Despite the fairly decent acting, the characters were bland and undeveloped. Overall a fairly average story. 6/10

Shada (2017)

Shada is certainly an epic story, and it is a crying shame that it was never finished the way it was meant to be, however, what we have does justice to the story. Unfortunately there are a few things that prevent it from being perfect, which mostly have to do with the latter half of the story. The motivations of Professor Chronotis are entirely glossed over, the characters make some illogical decisions, the final confrontation borrows heavily from The Brain of Morbius, and while the explanation behind Skagra’s origins is decent, it is not explored in a satisfactory manner. As well as this, there were some scenes in the early episodes which were scored with unfitting music, and the sphere, while a good idea, was too boring to be threatening. As a minor gripe, I dislike how the studio responsible animates people. It’s sort of stiff and clunky. Now onto the positives. The performances in this story are stellar, with the exception of the voice of K9, which I still don’t like. The effects and models were for the most part decent, and those that weren’t decent were great. The design of the krargs, in particular, is incredibly intimidating (though I’m unsure of why they need a name). There is some fantastic humour in this story, as one would expect of Douglas Adams. Professor Chronotis is an incredibly endearing character, and, by contrast, Skagra is a brilliantly maniacal villain. Chris and Claire serve their roles well, but are otherwise unremarkable. The ideas behind this story are all excellent, and there are some brilliant twists and turns that keep the audience on their toes. And, of course, the final scene featuring the return of Tom Baker is absolutely beautiful. This story is a great one, certainly one of my favourites, and I’m very glad that it has been recovered in this way, unfortunately there are some minor details that bring it down. 8.5/10

Overall, this is an incredibly strong season, with stories that range from excellent to good. The exception being Destiny of the Daleks. Tom Baker gives consistently stunning performances, and Lalla Ward is a better and more entertaining Romana than Mary Tamm ever was. My one gripe with this season was the change in K9’s voice, which really doesn’t work for me at all. Overall, I give it an 8/10.

If I were to rank the stories, it would be:

6. Destiny of the Daleks 5. The Horns of Nimon 4. The Creature from the Pit 3. Nightmare of Eden 2. Shada 1. City of Death

Horns and Creature are hard to rank, and I would say that they are basically interchangeable.

I eagerly anticipate Tom Baker’s final season as the Doctor, although I’ve heard some not so encouraging things. Nonetheless I remain optimistic. I’ll see you next time for The Leisure Hive.

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Doctor Who Review: Season 16: The Key to Time (1978-1979)

With the stumbling block of Season 15 out of the way, it was time to move on to the much anticipated Key to Time arc. Needless to say this season was a significant improvement over the last, but how does it measure up to the others? Let’s get right into it.

The Ribos Operation 

A great start to the season, with another layer added to the Doctor Who mythos with the introduction of the Guardians and the Key to Time. This story was also a good introduction to Romana, and, while at first she was rather annoying, she really grew on me throughout the story. K9 was decent in this story, and well-used, but he was not as endearing as he has been in previous stories. The supporting characters and actors were strong for the most part, with the stand-outs being Garron and Binro. The Bone Seeker was the only character I felt was badly acted. The costumes, sets and locations were absolutely breathtaking, just superbly well done. The only weaknesses of visual design were the shrivenzale. The first beast looked fine, obscured as it was, but once the full creatures were shown, they just looked cheap, and were not intimidating in the slightest. This story also suffered from some rather terribly done cliffhangers which were generally the weakest part of each episode. Also, since I’ve neglected to mention it until now, I really hate the Doctor’s current costume and I really hope he changes it soon. Overall an incredibly strong story and a good start for the Key to Time arc. 8/10

The Pirate Planet

The first offering made by the famous Douglas Adams. I really don’t know how to feel about this story. It was incredibly clever and played with a lot of science fiction concepts, and played with them brilliantly, but this was not enough to save it from mediocrity. The acting was decent for the most part, but the Captain was incredibly annoying and Xanxia in particular suffered from moments of bad acting. Other than that, the characters were incredibly flat and dull, and none had more than one dimension to them save for the Captain. The cliffhangers in this story were once again incredibly weak. The story had some good humour, though certainly not as much as I was expecting given Adams’ reputation. Overall a solid story, but very underwhelming. 6.5/10

The Stones of Blood

A very odd case. This story has two completely different tones split halfway through the story – a supernatural horror story, and a sci-fi courtroom drama. The first half of the story was a lot better than the second, given how repetitive the final episode is, but both parts were enjoyable. Unfortunately they did not mesh quite seamlessly together. The science fiction concepts used were quite interesting, and pulled off well. Some of the acting was slightly off, but the characters were enjoyable, particularly Emilia Rumford. K9 was used incredibly well and was once again adorable. This story was also unexpectedly humorous, with the arrogant megara providing the chief source of comedy in the episode. I am a little disappointed that the name “The Nine Travelers” was not explained, given the focus the story placed on it. The antagonist was ultimately disappointing, given that her motivations were not even slightly explained. The costumes and effects were decent, and the locations and sets were great. An overall solid story. 7/10

The Androids of Tara

This story was… fine. It was perfectly adequate. It’s not terrible, but I don’t really think it deserves to be called good either. The acting was off in places, and Mary Tamm’s inability to shout or to vocalise fear is starting to get on my nerves. The characters were paper thin and the story was flat. Several concepts seemed thrown in for no apparent reason, and the worldbuilding was inconsistent. K9 was used decently and had a few comedic moments. There were some decent action scenes. This story is the very definition of average. 5/10

The Power of Kroll

As with The Androids of Tara, this story was just fine. Not terrible, but rather boring and predictable. The characters were stereotypical and flat, with only Fenner being remotely enjoyable, and the acting was nothing special. Not even Tom Baker has any standout moments in this story. It was also aggravatingly repetitive, with the Doctor and Romana constantly getting captured, escaping and then getting captured again. Romana didn’t seem like much more than a damsel in distress in this story, and she still can’t shout when required. The resolution to this story was weak and annoying. The models were adequate, but nothing special, and the idea behind the swampies was truly unimaginative. This story also tries to be a critique of colonialism but fails spectacularly as the natives are just as violent and unreasonable as the colonists. An interesting thing to note that has no bearing on the quality of the story is that this is the first serial since the TARDIS was brought back to not feature any scenes inside the TARDIS that I have registered. Overall this was a fairly dull story with an unsatisfying conclusion. 4/10.

The Armageddon Factor

I worried that this story would not be a satisfactory conclusion to this arc, but fortunately I was wrong. The overall story is predictable, and it is obvious what exactly the sixth segment of the Key to Time is from the get go. The Atrios/Zeos war story is also fairly predictable, and I knew what was going on from the start. It was also obvious that the villain of this story would have been an agent of the Black Guardian since none made an appearance prior to this story. So why did I enjoy it? Because the second half of the story is pure insanity. The Shadow is the hammiest, most scene-chewing and fun to watch character of this entire arc. K9 was used brilliantly, and his camaraderie with Mentalis was fun and amusing. Drax was a bizarrely brilliant addition to the cast, and his and the Doctor’s plans are ridiculous but brilliant to watch. Aside from the Shadow, the characters were paper thin, but acted decently, with the only one of note being the Marshal who was enjoyably insane. The costumes and sets for this story were brilliant, particularly the Shadow and his minions and Mentalis. The story is resolved decently though I think the ending for Astra’s character is something of a copout. Overall this was a good conclusion to a mediocre season. 7.5/10

An unfortunately mediocre season that starts brilliantly and steadily gets worse. It manages to recover enough quality by the final story to not be entirely disappointing. Tom Baker continues to impress as the Doctor, and commands every scene he’s in. Mary Tamm as Romana was a decent addition to the story, but over time she became little more than a damsel in distress, and her inability to shout or vocalise fear became progressively more irritating. K9 was a rather hit or miss character who was used well or used terribly depending on the story. The Power of Kroll omits him altogether. The story arc was rather weak, but it served its purpose and wrapped up well. Overall this was a decent season. 6.5/10

My story ranking for this season is as follows:

6. The Power of Kroll 5. The Androids of Tara 4. The Pirate Planet 3. The Stones of Blood 2. The Armageddon Factor 1. The Ribos Operation

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Book Review: Something Like Summer by Jay Bell

I badly wanted to love this book, and at first I thought I would, but I just didn't. Part 1: 9/10 Part 2: 5/10  Part 3: 2/10  Part 1 was a brilliantly told doomed love story. Ben was adorable and good-hearted, but at the same time flawed, selfish and naive. Tim was heartwrenchingly insecure but still likable and cute. Their relationship was fantastic, and the story unfolded perfectly. Part 2 was a brilliantly told story about two very unlikable people doing horrible things at the expense of someone good. This would not be bad in and of itself, but you're supposed to sympathise with Ben, even though he's being the worst boyfriend possible, as well as incredibly gullible. Tim was manipulative and cruel, and though he had some good moments, I spent the entire part wanting him to get hit by a car. After part 1, we never heard from Ben's family again, and Allison became nothing more than a plot device for fixing Ben's relationships. The one saving grace of this part was Jace, but he was a little too understanding and forgiving of Ben. Jace was a perfect character, and his relationship with Ben, for the section of the story that Tim is not in, was adorable. Part 3 was pure contrivance. It sacrificed proper development and storytelling for the sake of a rushed ending that anyone could have seen coming a mile off. It was infuriating, unnecessary and horrifically clichéd. Ironically, the only good story in this part is Tim's, which was handled excellently. Overall, it's decent, but it's not what it's hyped up to be. 5/10

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Book Review: City of Strife by Claudie Arsenault

This book is one that I would call almost perfect. Everything about the world is masterfully crafted, and the characters are to die for. I love all of the main characters, though Larryn and Nevian aggravated me a lot. I have a particular soft spot for Diel and Jaeger, and Varden, who are beautiful and pure and must be protected at all costs. I also love the attention paid to crafting great family dynamics, and mentor-student dynamics, and I'm here for whatever is brewing between Arathiel and Hasryan, be it romantically-inclined or otherwise. This book also deals excellently with issues of race, class and sexuality, and masterfully weaves these issues into the plot. Though the contrast between the rigidly homophobic and conservative Myrian Empire and liberal Isandor was perhaps a little heavy-handed, it suited the story and made perfect sense. So why is this book almost perfect and not perfect? Three words: Lord Arathiel Brasten. Here's the thing, I love Arathiel. He's easily the best and most interesting character in the entire story. So why is he a problem? It's quite simple really. There just isn't enough of him. The Goodreads synopsis leads the reader to believe that he is the main character, and he isn't. He has very few chapters of his own compared to Diel, Hasryan, Nevian and Varden. I'm not quite sure what else could have been done with his character, but I am very disappointed that he fell to the wayside. Nonetheless, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy. This is one of the most well-crafted fantasy worlds I've yet to read, and the characters and dynamics are to die for.

8/10

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Doctor Who Review: Season 15 (1977-1978)

I suppose that every Doctor must stumble somewhere, even Tom Baker. There’s no sense in dragging it out, so without further ado, these are my thoughts on Doctor Who Season 15. (Please keep in mind that these reviews occur a story at a time, so something I say in the first review may not concur with my conclusion).

Horror of Fang Rock 

Truly this story is the worst of classic Doctor Who I’ve seen so far. The supporting characters and their actors are nothing, except the Colonel. The single subplot it has amounts to nothing. The effects are terrible. The story is boring. It only gets good about halfway through the final episode. Louise and Tom perform as well as always, with Leela being almost the only entertaining thing the story has to offer. Other than that, the Doctor’s first confrontation with the “beast” is the only entertaining scene in the story that doesn’t have Leela in it. The idea of the enemy is somewhat clever, but it is executed incredibly poorly. Just all around a bad story. 2/10

The Invisible Enemy

The Doctor fights an alien virus is such a fantastic idea for a story I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before. The sets on Titan and at the hospital were great, and the costumes, with the exception of the nurses and the macro-world Nucleus, were very well done. The acting is a little spotty in places, especially with the first three characters to be infected. The modelling of the ships and the hospital were great, and the inside of the brain was decently realised. The special effects were terrible. It was interesting to get to see K9 for the first time, though he wasn’t as endearing as he is in the modern series. I suspect he’ll grow on me. Overall a fairly solid story. 6.5/10

Image of the Fendahl

Doctor Who does the Devil no. 3. All told this was a rather fantastic story. The acting, characters and locations were great, the story was compelling, and the effects were quite good. The costuming of the Fendahl could have been better, and her minions were also a bit lacklustre, but the idea behind the Fendahl, and the Fifth Planet, was very good. I also liked how the story weaved the occult beliefs in with the tale of the Fendahl and provided a believable explanation for how they came to influence these religions. And of course I liked the explanation of ghosts and telepathy that Doctor Who uses to this day. There were some problems, such as characters using the word implosion, and then an explosion happened. But all in all, these faults are very minor. A very strong story overall. 8/10

The Sun Makers

An absolutely fantastic story. From what I’ve seen, this is the best revolution story that Doctor Who has done. Pluto was brilliantly realised as a corporate dystopia, the sets and costumes were great, the acting was strong, and the characters were well-formed and interesting, especially the weaselly Collector. K9 was absolutely adorable in this story and Leela continued to prove herself to be an incredible companion. The final defeat of the Collector was slightly weak in my opinion, but not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story. An all around incredible story. 9/10

Underworld

This story was ambitious in its scope, and, I think, ultimately too ambitious. The first two episodes were fantastic, exciting and tense. The acting from the crew of the ship was good, even if their characters are a little flat, but the performances of the rest of the cast were very hit or miss. The costuming for the Seers and Guards was excellent, the effects were decent, other than the bluescreen, and the modelling and sets of the spaceships were very impressive. Unfortunately, there is a lot in this story that is not realised to its full potential. The Seers being “evolved” seemed thrown in and pointless, and it was not integrated with the story in any way. I also did not fully understand the purpose of the Oracle, and I’m not clear on what exactly she was. This story had a promising start, but sort of fizzled out by the end. 5/10

The Invasion of Time

I have never been so profoundly insulted by Doctor Who. In the first two episodes this was a good thing, as, in hindsight, that was the intention. However my takeaway from this story is less than happy. The first half of the story is decent what with the invasion by the vardans and the Doctor’s intensely clever plan to defeat them. I also liked the characters of Borusa, Rodan and Andred (for the most part), and Borusa was very multi-faceted and interesting, and it was difficult to get a handle on him, which is always nice. I also enjoyed getting to see Leela have so much fun outside the Citadel. This story also established the sontarans as a formidable opponent, and the design for Stor’s armour was very well done. It was good to see more of the TARDIS. Everything else about this story, and I mean everything, was awful. Firstly, this story is incredibly meandering, with many unnecessary scenes of characters walking down corridors. Episode six is an extended and incredibly boring chase scene. The introduction of the exiles, while at first interesting, was ultimately pointless as they were literally only used for cannon fodder. I understand that they had to fill six episodes, and that this story is a last-minute replacement, but that doesn’t mean I can’t criticise it. Secondly, the acting of the vardans was awful, the voices of the sontarans were terrible, and Kelner was a boring and one-note character. Thirdly, a sontaran is shot in the chest by a gallifreyan soldier and does not die. I understand making them a threat, but as the gallifreyans are an incredibly advanced race, it does not make any sense that sontaran armour could resist their guns. Then there’s the Great Key of Rassilon. According to The Deadly Assassin, the Great Key of Rassilon and the Rod of Rassilon ARE THE SAME GODDAMN THING. I apologise for the highly unprofessional capslock but SERIOUSLY? THAT WAS THIS WHOLE MASSIVE PLOT TWIST AT THE END OF DEADLY ASSASSIN! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO MESS THAT UP? As a minor gripe, this story features the worst sontaran face design yet. All of this is capped off with the most insulting companion departure I have ever had the displeasure to witness, with a completely undeveloped romance plot device which was the worst possible way to write Leela out of the story and an insult to her character and everything she was. Overall, this serial was a very pretty mess of a story, with weaknesses that far outweigh its strengths, and an insult to the audience. Despite everything I liked about it, I feel unjustified in giving it a rating of any higher than 2/10. And that’s being generous.

With everything taken into account, I’m sorry to say that this is the weakest season of classic Who I’ve watched so far. It has two brilliant stories in Image of the Fendahl and The Sun Makers, and two absolutely terrible stories in Horror of Fang Rock and The Invasion of time. The remaining two stories are decent, but nothing to get excited about. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson gave consistently stellar performances, even when they had to work with absolute drivel, and K9 is nothing short of adorable. Overall I give this season a 5.5/10.

Now, to rank them: 6. The Invasion of Time 5. Horror of Fang Rock 4. Underworld 3. The Invisible Enemy 2. Image of the Fendahl 1. The Sun Makers

Horror is higher than Invasion because while Horror simply bored me, Invasion insulted me.

I hope the next season will be better.

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Doctor Who Review: Season 14 (1976-1977)

Tom Baker’s tenure as the Doctor really hit the ground running with a strong first two seasons. So how does his third season compare? Well I’ve just finished watching it, so let’s get right into my review of Season 14 of Doctor Who.

The Masque of Mandragora 

An intriguing premise with a decent execution. The sets and costuming were excellent, which unfortunately detracts from my enjoyment of the story as I find the clothing of the time to be totally ridiculous. The acting of the supporting cast was also rather average, and Hieronymus especially was incredibly overacted – almost like a pantomime character. The supporting characters were also paper thin, and underwhelming, the only enjoyable characters being Count Federico and Marco. Also Marco and Giuliano were, to use the technical term, so gay, and it was great. Some of the sound design was also grating and aggravating. I’m a fan of the Secondary Control Room (though I prefer the Primary one). 6/10

The Hand of Fear 

I am truly heartbroken. Actually heartbroken. But before we get into that, let’s look at the story. And my god what a story it was. An intriguing opening led on to one of the most tension-filled moments of the classic series so far and really set the tone for what was to be an incredible story. The effects of the disembodied hand were impressive, the location for the power plant was excellent, the sets on Castria were very well done and the costumes for both versions of Eldrad were also great, though his first form was done a lot better than the second. The acting of both Eldrads was also amazing (though, again, the first was much better), and the rest of the supporting cast, bar some moments from the quarry workers and Driscoll, was outstanding. Elisabeth Sladen also shines as a hypnotised Sarah Jane. The story itself was compelling and executed perfectly, save for one of the weakest, silliest conclusions in the show’s history. And of course, the final moments between the Doctor and Sarah were some of the best minutes of Doctor Who ever produced. I absolutely loved this story. 8.5/10

The Deadly Assassin

What an incredible story! There was never a dull moment throughout it, though I would say that the third episode flags slightly and the opening narration and the Doctor talking to himself at the beginning were poorly done. What I enjoyed the most about this story was how it added so much to the lore and mythos of Doctor Who, and in particular, of Gallifrey. For example, this is the first story to establish that a time lord can only regenerate twelve times. The way the Matrix was handled was incredibly clever, and the battle of intelligence between the Doctor and the Assassin was brilliant to watch. Their physical confrontation somewhat less so. It was also incredibly predictable who the Master’s accomplice would turn out to be. The supporting characters of this story were also fantastic, with a very diverse and enjoyable range of personalities and traits. I particularly enjoyed the character Engin, the bumbling old Coordinator of the Matrix. The design of Peter Pratt’s Master was at once somewhat unsettling and slightly hilarious, but the effect is very commendable, especially for the time. The sets and costuming for the rest of the story were also incredible. Another all around fantastic story. 9/10

The Face of Evil 

An intriguing premise with a satisfying execution. The costumes and sets were all fantastic. Unfortunately, the guns looked ridiculous, and some of the effects, especially the gunfire, were awful. The design and voice work of Xoanon and his “pets” was spectacular though. The acting of the supporting characters was very good, but unfortunately this story also started with the same mistake as The Deadly Assassin, with the Doctor talking to himself in an incredibly unnatural manner to explain what was happening. It feels very condescending to the audience, and I think even children would have understood what was going on if it was presented in a more natural way. I also have some problems with the upper class voices of the supposedly savage Sevateem. I enjoyed the character of Leela a lot more than I expected to, and I look forward to seeing more of her in future. Overall a brilliant idea with a very good execution. 8/10

The Robots of Death 

A decent story. It managed to do away with all intrigue in the second episode when it showed the legs of the villain, who was the only one to wear trousers that looked even remotely the way they did. The acting and sets were great, and while the costumes were good for what they were, I found them quite silly. The model for the sandminer was aesthetically my favourite part of the story. I enjoyed Uvanov a lot more than I initially thought I would, as he is not the one-note character he appears to be. Conversely, the character Poul was one I liked at first, but grew to dislike. The idea of robophobia was not handled well. D84’s voice was poorly done, and the villain’s costume at the end was ridiculous. The ending of the story was quite ingenious, if a little silly, but executed slightly poorly. Overall it was a good story, but nothing special. 7/10

The Talons of Weng-Chiang 

I think something about six-part stories is that they usually flag around the middle. The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a good story, but it doesn’t really deserve its awesome reputation. The villains were overacted, and the portrayal of Chang was rather racist, though less so than one might expect. The fact that Leela called him a “yellow man” was also rather odd, considering she comes from a time that wouldn’t have used terms like that, and because Chinese people don’t actually look yellow and thus she couldn’t have come up with it herself. In a recurring theme with these masked villains, “Weng-Chiang” looks a lot better with his mask than without, but this time it is simply because his true appearance is rather disgusting. It is, however, fairly well done. As are the costumes (though I greatly preferred “Weng-Chiang’s” original costume to his later robes) and sets, and, of course, the enormously creepy Mr. Sin.  There was also a surprising amount of comedy, much of it coming from the unintentionally hilarious giant rat. Its other chief source was the uncivilised Leela playing off the upright and proper Victorian setting. Leela also continues to show herself to be a total badass throughout this episode, though she is unfortunately hampered by the demands of the plot. The character of “Weng-Chiang” while at first an intimidating mystery quickly becomes an immensely aggravating, tantruming, incompetent child, and while that may have been the intention, it doesn’t make for an entertaining villain. I am very fond of Litefoot, but, while Jago had his moments, he was usually a rather irritating presence in the story. Some scenes were difficult to see clearly. All told, Talons is certainly a good story, but nothing spectacular. 7/10

Overall, another mixed bag of stories with some high highs, but no true lows. The loss of Sarah was a blow, but Leela seems to be a fitting replacement and I enjoy her immensely. I look forward to seeing her shine more in future. There were some rather excellent stories to be found here, and none that I would call bad, but some were not very compelling. The supporting cast were decent for the most part, but Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Louise Jameson continually impress. A fairly good season when all is said and done. 7.5/10

My ranking of the stories is as follows: 6. The Masque of Mandragora 5. The Robots of Death 4. The Talons of Weng-Chiang 3. The Face of Evil 2. The Hand of Fear 1. The Deadly Assassin

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Doctor Who Review: Season 13 (1975-1976)

I’ve finished watching Season 13 of Doctor Who. So how does Tom Baker’s second season as the Doctor measure up? Let’s not waste time and get right into the review.

Terror of the Zygons

A distinctly average story for being so iconic. Much of the sound design was grating and unpleasant, and at times you couldn’t understand a word of what the zygons were saying. There were also several moments of truly baffling acting decisions, though not from the main cast. I could swear that the owner of the oil company started out Scottish but turned into a Canadian. I also found myself rather bored throughout the first two episodes. On a more positive note, the set designs for the zygon ship were very good, and very creative. The zygon design was also interesting, and the model for their ship was well made. 5/10

Planet of Evil 

An absolutely fascinating story with excellent set designs and some pretty cool effects. The acting was slightly wooden in places, and the constant back and forth between the soldiers about whether the Doctor was their enemy or not became tiresome by the third episode. The conclusion was slightly weaker than I would have liked, but overall a good story. 6/10

Pyramids of Mars

This one was a rewatch for me; in fact this was the first story of classic Who I ever watched. When I first saw it, I thought it dragged on for too long, and found Tom Baker’s performance to be lacklustre. So, now that I’ve seen it again, are my thoughts the same? I think perhaps that I was simply not used to the style of these stories at that point in time, because I now find Tom’s performance to be just as good as it usually is, and while the story did drag for a little bit, it was nothing too serious. However, I do have other complaints. The design of the mummy robots was a mite stupid, the Mars sets were unimaginative, the voice of the service robot in the pyramid was awful, there are two scenes dedicated to the Doctor opening the same door, and the story concludes far too quickly with a stunningly weak close for Sutekh’s character. I did like a lot about it though. The story was intelligent and interesting, and Elisabeth Sladen was on fine form, proving that Sarah Jane Smith is a badass who cannot be messed with. The supporting cast performed fairly well too. But of course I’ve saved the best ‘til last. Sutekh is an absolutely marvellous villain. Everything about him, from his design to his voice, to his powers, is perfection. He’s one of the most intimidating threats Doctor Who has ever produced, and yet all he does is sit in a chair and issue commands. But anyone who can bring the Doctor to his knees with a single thought is a worthy villain in my opinion. The one problem with Sutekh is that he looks awful without his helmet. Pyramids of Mars is certainly a great story, but not the flawless masterpiece people seem determined to make it out to be. 8.5/10

The Android Invasion

An intriguing premise with an exceedingly dull execution. It really picked up in the second half, however, and had a satisfying conclusion. The costuming for Stigron and the krals was great, and the sets were decent. The acting was also very good. Also I hate the Doctor’s new coat. Though I expect it will grow on me. 4/10

The Brain of Morbius 

This is the third iconic story of the season, and it is easily my favourite of the three. I would classify this story as almost perfect. The acting, costumes, the sets, the sound design, especially the voice and final body of Morbius, were all excellent. I do, however, have a couple of complaints. Firstly, the acting of Ohika, which was annoying any time she was on screen. The songs of the Sisterhood were ridiculous. And of course, the final defeat of Morbius was disappointing. His confrontation with the Doctor was a brilliant idea, but sadly was not carried out to its fullest extent. Still, this is an excellent story and will surely end up one of my favourites of the classic series. 8.5/10

The Seeds of Doom 

An unexpected favourite. An utterly fantastic story for the most part. The point at which it ceases being a story about human greed and stupidity and becomes the story of an alien menace, however, is its utter downfall. The acting was great, the designs for the krynoid (save for its penultimate stage) were excellent, and the sets were incredible. For the first four episodes there was never a dull moment, but the ending leaves a lot to be desired. This story really cemented my love of Sarah and Four. The Fourth Doctor is a complete badass in this story, and Sarah is just awesome. I’m also a huge fan of Amelia Ducat. At times, especially in the final episode, the background music was grating, and the supporting actors, particularly Chase, seemed to lose their spark. A mighty disappointment for a story that started so strong. 6.5/10

Overall, this season was a real mixed bag. There are some really dull stories with good conclusions, some solid stories with aggravating parts which prevent them from being great, and some great stories with disappointing conclusions. One thing this season did really right was cementing Four and Sarah as my favourite TARDIS team. The loss of Harry and the Brigadier was a blow, as I was very fond of both characters. This season helped to grow my love of the Fourth Doctor, and he could end up being my favourite. Also I did indeed grow to love his new coat. 7.5/10

Here is my final ranking of this season’s stories: 6. The Android Invasion 5. Terror of the Zygons 4. Planet of Evil 3. The Seeds of Doom 2. Pyramids of Mars 1. The Brain of Morbius

On to Season 14.

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Book Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

With Demon Road I expected to be wowed and was found wanting. With Falling Kingdoms on the other hand, I was expecting something average, and got something great. Falling Kingdoms follows the stories of several characters; Princess Cleiona of Auranos, Jonas Agallon of Paelsia, and Prince Magnus and Princess Lucia of Limeros. When Princess Cleo's fiance, Lord Aron Lagaris, stabs a wine-seller’s son in Paelsia, he will spark a rebellion that will forever change the world, and bring these characters stories together in one of the most unlikely ways possible. Meanwhile, the mysterious Watchers in the Sanctuary are scouring the world for the Kindred, a magical item of near limitless power. To find the Kindred, they first must find the sorceress, a child born under very specific circumstances, and one with the power to control the elements. As with Demon Road, the ending of this book was numbing. However, where the two experiences differ is the journey, and how the ending is pulled off. With Falling Kingdoms I enjoyed the journey every step of the way and could barely put the book down, and the cliffhanger ending, rather than being bleak, is charged with tension and has a sort of hopeful feel to it. Think of Kingdoms as a YA version of A Song of Ice and Fire; a book full to the brim with fighting, murder, incest, and betrayal, where no character is ever safe from death. I think I'd probably give this book an eight out of ten. Princess Cleo is a spoiled, stubborn brat, who learns the power of her station and starts to resent it. She's a strong independent woman who won't stand for being married off to some handsome lord; especially when said handsome lord murdered an innocent man right in front of her eyes. Over the course of the book, she grows from a naive, idiotic brat, into a girl who actually cares about the plights of others but has generally become a much steelier person due to the things that have happened to her. Jonas Agallon is the brother of the murdered man; he wants revenge on Aron and Cleo. To get his revenge, he intends to start a rebellion. He is very stubborn, but also very wary, and is probably the most intelligent of our four main characters. Unfortunately, he does not have much character development in this book. Prince Magnus is the dark and brooding prince of the fun-hating country of Limeros. He is struggling to resist getting married off to some pretty lady whilst he deals with the incestuous feelings he has for his sister, Lucia (this is meant to be a spoiler, but it's obvious from the get go). He's very manipulative and deceitful, charming one of the maids to do his spying with the promise that she can be his mistress; a promise he has no intention of keeping. Magnus craves the love of his parents which he knows he will never receive, and is fiercely jealous of his father, King Gaius' aide Tobias, who seems to get all of Gaius' affection, and may be his illegitimate son. He is my favourite character in the book, due to him being the most developed of them all. Princess Lucia is adorably naive. She is kind and she cares for her brother deeply, but not in the way he wants. That is her character throughout most of this book. Despite the slight lack of character development, I highly recommend this book, with the caveat that you try not to get attached to the characters, because they might just die.

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Book Review: Demon Road by Derek Landy

Demon Road is about sixteen year-old Amber Lamont and the day her parents tried to eat her. She flees across America with a mysterious protector named Milo Sebastian who drives a car he calls a Beast, a black 1970s Dodge Charger. Along the way they meet the deathmarked Irish boy Glen Morrison, who is travelling the Demon Road to see America's monsters before he dies (because "America has the best monsters"). Amber must escape her parents and uphold her end of a bargain wrongly struck. At the end of this book, I did not come away feeling excited, or even happy. I came away feeling numb. Shell-shocked, if you will. Was it a good book? Undoubtedly. Will I get the next one? Certainly. Did I enjoy it? Yes, for a long time, I did, and then Cascade Falls happened and everything steadily went to hell. This book is Derek's worst book. But that's a compliment, because it's Derek. A solid seven out of ten I'd say. The writing was impeccable, the world was intriguing but the book lacked something I need from Derek's writing; humour. I assume Glen is intended as comic relief and sometimes it works, but most of the time it's just pathetic and sad because he's got the deathmark and you're reminded every time he shows up that he's not going to survive this book. There is one moment in the book I remember noting as funny but that's it. This book is dark, not as dark as Skulduggery became, but it lacks the humour to balance it out. Demon Road is a horror story, make no mistake about it. Our protagonist is Amber Lamont. She's a (supposedly) plain girl obsessed with a book series called In the Dark Places. She's intelligent and, at times, witty, but very, very insecure and naive. Over time, she grated on my nerves. But I'm willing to look past that, she's been driven out of her home and her parents want to kill her, she's thrust into a world she doesn't know and she's terrified. I won't begrudge her that. What I do hate though is how superficial she is. Overall, she's a decent protagonist. Our secondary protagonists are Milo Sebastian and Glen Morrison. Milo is mysterious and taciturn. And for most of the book, that's him summed up. I loved his character, but there wasn't much character there to love. He tries to act unfeeling and uncaring and Amber believes him, but you don't for one second and that's a bit disappointing. I'm used to Derek weaving characters of such complexity that you never know who they truly are but you know exactly who everyone in this book is. Then there's Glen. Dear, sweet, precious Glen. He's easily the best character in the entire book. Glen is a sweet guy with a tormented childhood and a deceiving mask of humour and stupidity that belies his smarts, few though they may be. He's clearly modeled on the same archetype as Fletcher was but that works in his favour I think. He's the only character you don't really know, and I'm thankful for that. He's adorable and he doesn't deserve the crappy life he's had. Then there's the villains Bill and Betty Lamont (and their friends, Grant, Kirsty and Alastair). They're plain old villainous psychopaths. They eat people. The end. Disappointing I know. There's also Imelda, she wants redemption for all the people she's killed. That's her. She's sweet and endearing, but her character can be summed up in a sentence. The minor characters are more developed than the villains are, even Althea Buxton, the little old lady of Cascade Falls and the messed up kid murderer from the same town who I can't for the life of me remember the name of. The only character who isn't is probably Varga. I rag on this book too harshly I think, but from Derek Landy I expect better.

Do I recommend you read this book? Absolutely, but just remember, Derek can do, and has done, better.

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Doctor Who Review: Season 12 (1974-1975)

So I've decided I'll be doing mini reviews for each season of Doctor Who. I'll start with Season 12, and go all the way up to Season 26, then the TV movie. After that I'll probably rewatch Jon Pertwee's seasons (Thats Season 7 to Season 11), and after that the modern series. Not sure what I'll do about Hartnell and Troughton. I might just review individual stories if the season isn't completely recovered. Without further ado, here is my review of Season 12.

Robot

An absolutely fantastic introduction to Tom's Doctor. He commands the role instantly, even in some of the more stupid scenes. The story itself is strong, with some great twists and great characters. Some of the acting is a little spotty and the conclusion to the story is fairly weak, but overall a strong start for the season. 7.5/10

The Ark in Space

A fairly interesting story which is unfortunately hampered by the production values and some rather strange bits of acting. A rather mixed bag. The main cast, that is to say, Tom, Ian and Lis, continue to give some absolutely stellar performances, and I much enjoyed getting to see the famous ventilation shaft scene (although it's actually just a conduit, not a ventilation shaft). It was also intriguing getting to see the similarities between the hypnotised Sarah and how Lis later acted when she was possessed by Androvax in The Sarah Jane Adventures. It really drove home that this was the same actor playing the same part, and I think that's wonderful. 6/10 The Sontaran Experiment 

A perfect little story that really seems to be a prototype for the modern two-parter. A strong story with some good performances from the cast, and of course the main cast are as good as usual. 7/10 Genesis of the Daleks 

What an episode! Just fantastic. Michael Wisher and Tom Baker give the stand out performances as the Doctor and Davros of course, but the rest of the cast also deliver fantastic performances, especially Nyder and Gharman. The production values for this episode were also fantastic, and the daleks seemed to run smoothly for the first time ever. The sets were fantastic too. If I had one complaint, it would be the performances of Raven and Bettan. Some of the scenes outside the domes also dragged on for a little too long for my liking as well. But this is definitely one of my favourite classic stories I've seen so far. 9.5/10 Revenge of the Cybermen 

A very interesting case. On the one hand the story and production values were absolutely amazing, with fantastic sets and costumes. Unfortunately this episode is hampered by some rather diabolical acting, especially in the first two episodes, and some terrible lines. Even the main cast give a few dud performances in this story. There's also some obvious reuse of footage that aggravated me slightly. I'd love to read a novelisation of this story, just to see what it would be like if I could ignore the moments of terrible acting that plagued this otherwise fantastic script. 6/10 Overall, Season 12 was great. It was an incredibly strong start for both Tom's Doctor, as well as Harry Sullivan. The stories were mostly well-written and compelling, and the acting of the supporting cast was, for the most part, strong. 8/10 If I were to rank the stories, it would be: 5. The Ark in Space 4. Revenge of the Cybermen 3. The Sontaran Experiment 2. Robot 1. Genesis of the Daleks (was there ever any doubt?) I look forward to diving into Season 13 with Terror of the Zygons.