#dwtwt

[ectomoog]

How to Get Your Friends into Doctor Who (2005) - A Guide

Ok I really like Doctor Who, and of course I like introducing people to it, but oh my god do you forget how randomly terrible and/or cringy and/or uncomfortably Moffat-esque some of the episodes are, *especially* when you're watching it with someone who has no idea what to expect.

SO I made a list of ten episodes that I think would be the best loose sequence of episodes for a causal introduction to the show...

But first, some requirements:

It has to be a one-off (NO TWO-PARTERS), low commitment, etc

It can't require watching previous OR following episodes to be enjoyable

It needs to actually be good

It needs to represent Doctor Who well

In a social setting where you're showing a group of people an episode, most of these would be fine. Watching consistently with one person however, loosely follow this order, and if your person decides at any point that they want to commit to actually watching the show, skip straight back to The End of The World and watch Series 1. Ok list time...

1. Rose (S1, E01)

I think Rose is the perfect episode of Doctor Who to start on. It's campy, it's fun and weird and it sets up almost everything you need to know for the Revival Era. You get the companion, the Doctor, regular Doctor Who tropes and themes, etc. Plus, if they can't get past the Mickey bin scene, this show probably isn't for them anyway.

2. Dalek (S1, E06)

Skipping a few episodes into Series 1, Dalek is a great way to get a feel for the format of the show, and also a great and intentional introduction to the Daleks. The Doctor and the companion turn up in a mysterious place and have to battle an alien force and really unlikeable one-off side characters, the works basically. It's a fun monster-movie of an episode.

3. Vincent and The Doctor (S5,E10)

Jumping a whole five series forward, Vincent and The Doctor is a notoriously heart-wrenching historical that I think is a classic (if a little indulgent) example of Doctor-meets-famous-historical-figure. It's nice to jump to a different Doctor and a different era of the show, to get a feel for its' diversity. Although there's a few moments relevant to the greater series plot, it's contained, very pretty, very sweet, and easy to understand.

4. Midnight (S4, E10)

Midnight just feels like an essential episode to be honest. A fantastic one-off sci-fi horror/thriller, with one of David Tennant's best performances, a great introduction to the 10th Doctor. It's a shame you don't get more Donna, but I think this one would be my go-to if someone asked for the best episode to watch stand-alone, just based on how genuinely great it is.

5. Heaven Sent (S9, E11)

Jumping to Series 9 with another critically-acclaimed episode, but also one that I think is an amazing introduction to the 12th Doctor. Heaven Sent is a little unconventional, and I'm not 100% sure it should be here, but it does give Capaldi a whole episode to just act his ass off, and he completely delivers. It's artsy, mysterious and dramatic, very much the high concept sci-fi style of Moffat's later scripts, so I think an appropriate watch.

6. The Voyage of The Damned (2007 Special)

If you're not in a festive mood, try The Lodger or Demons of the Punjab instead

The Christmas episodes are too iconic not to show, and as far as Christmassy vibes, celebrity cameos and whimsical concepts go, this one is a fun one. This is David Tennant in his prime, with Kylie Minogue, a massive budget and a romp of a script.

6. Blink (S3, E10)

I mean, duh, but genuinely I think Blink is just *too good* not to include. A tense, creepy, tightly-written piece of horror TV with twists and turns and drama, it's considered the best episode of Doctor Who for a reason, and along with Midnight is an amazing stand-alone episode. It's not super conventional, but all the timey-wimey stuff is very Doctor Who.

6. The Mummy on The Orient Express (S8, E08)

If you're a Tennant stan you could swap this out for The Planet of the Dead

This one is just a fun one really. The Mummy on The Orient Express is stylish and fun, with a cool concept and a little peek into a more complex Doctor-companion relationship. With a short explanation you can get the context pretty easily, and it's a good example of your typical episode anyway.

HOWEVER if you have time, there's a bunch of two-parters you should watch instead, like The Family of Blood, The Empty Child, Silence in the Library, even Extremis.

9. The Haunting of Villa Diodati (S12, E10)

Finally some 13th Doctor rep! This one has some of the strongest writing in the Chibnall era, and is a fun horror mystery that serves as a fun introduction to Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. It has a little bit of series-wide arc, but that's okay.

10. The Church on Ruby Road (2023 Special 4)

If your person liked all those episodes but still doesn't want to watch 13 seasons of TV, just abandon ship and watch the 2023 Christmas special in preparation for Series 14 (or Season 1) in Spring 2024. The Church on Ruby Road is the beginning of the latest soft reboot of the show and has been explicitly created as a jumping on point for new fans. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson absolutely shine in this special, it's fun and silly and in my opinion bodes very well for the next season of Doctor Who...

"in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important" - Bannakaffalatta

I hope that was a success! After all those episodes hopefully you either had a good time with whoever you were watching it with, or you've already moved onto Series 1! I'll be trying this out the best I can with my girlfriend this year, so look out, because I may be back with adjustments later...

[13thdoctorposts]

Things I dont understand on dwtwt

Chris and Jodie killed the show… But did they? Disney+ decided to sink a bunch of money into it and its now expanding and becoming a Whoniverse.

If this was any other show people would be talking about how well it must have done for studios like Disney and the BBC wanting to pour more money into it and expand the universe. Studios don’t put money into dead properties. Half the time they wont put money into a show that is critically well received so I don’t see why they would put money into a show that was ‘killed’. Do people not understand the definition of killed?

People are constantly talking about the lost of viewer numbers, usually in the over night viewing figures, never addressing the fact that the way we view content now vs 2018 is extremely different. There are so many more streaming services now then there were in 2018 and there has been a heavy shift to streaming because of the amount of content offered vs broadcast TV. And of course we also went through a global pandemic that had everyone locked in there homes moving even more people to streaming especially an older generation.

This meant, not only did people not have to watch the show when it aired because it was easier to catch up later, but people had access to more choice over all.

Next… when quoting the viewer numbers they also don’t discuss where Doctor Who sits in most watch show of the day/week/month, which is often similar to other series. All broadcast TV has had overnight viewership go down due to there being more choice since streaming took off. No one is saying other shows are dying because viewer figures are down because they aren’t, the landscape has just change and so the measure of success has changed.

Also comparing Doctor Who in 2022 when there is countless other content to watch vs 2008 when there may have been 5-10 channels is comparing apples to oranges. [side note: Someone noted there was definitely more then 10 channels in 2008, I’m in the land down under so our free to airs channels are/were 7, 9, 10, SBS and ABC, there was/is second versions of these channels who played the content a set amount of time after it air on the original channel. It would make since the UK had/has move channels then us as it’s a larger media landscape.]

The other thing I also hear a lot is that merchandise sales went down dramatically… I have never seen a source for this but if we take it on face value as a truth, could it be because again there was a GLOBAL PANDEMIC… a lot of countries went into recession, lots of people lost their employment and therefore their income, lots of people were dealing with being sick and death, and we have had massive world wide supply chain issues with everything and it wouldn’t be surprising if a lot of the merchandise is made in countries like China that just completely shut down. So the last 3 years we have gone through a major shift in income, priority and supply which is only stabilising now.

And the annoying thing is the numbers will change and these same people will be like “oh yay the show was saved” not acknowledging we are no longer in the height of a global pandemic, employment has gotten better with places reopening and so earning disposable income and the fact that they are sinking way way way more money into Doctor Who so if it didn’t do better that would actually be a problem because when you sink more money in you have to make more money back.

Chris, Jodie, 13, Yaz, Thasmin and even the stories, none of it killed the show, even if there are people who don’t like it. Most regular viewers are probably not thinking about it so deeply, or on Twitter discussing their feelings. They are having 45min-1hour of fun with the Doc and her friends.

Anyway dwtwt is super confusing.

If you got to the end of reading this thanks for coming to my Doctor Who wasn’t killed Ted Talk 😂

[trakenentropy]

Hello dwtwt how are we tonight !!!

[davido-dw]

Hi all, back again since Twitter is on life support rn (and I still have no clue how to use this app 😅)

[raven-617]

I'm going to miss Doctor Who Twitter somewhat if that's all ending

[expectiations]

Matt didn't say this just to be described as someone who's "always a little salty abt the elevenriver romance". The guy is literally the biggest elevenriver shipper since forever (aside from Moffat).

[leikeliscomet]

For my own sanity I've blocked @/youareworldsaway bc I'm not beefing over RoseMartha for several days. I said what I said and this is not a RoseMartha safespace idgaf.

What I'm also saying is have no issue with Rose, Ten or TenRose in itself. My issue is the way the fans and shippers used those characters/the ship to not only be racist to Martha but enabled antiblackness and misogynoir towards Freema Agyeman and mixed race and Black fans. My issue is how for a long time those fan spaces were not welcoming for mixed and Black fans and how in 2023 they still aren't. If this fandom has the balls call Martha Aunt Jemima, affirmative action and every other antiblack trope in the book they can handle a fucking tumblr analysis post. Merry Christmas.

[beanhusk]

rose noble & ruby sunday. girlfriends

edit- post cancelled rose is 15

[higheldertala]

[emmathompsonsmartini]

If any of my Jodie followers want to follow me on Twitter I’m @/emmasmartini 👉🏻👈🏻

https://twitter.com/emmasmartini?s=21&t=XOoBU4azJjZzFFdW0wO_1g

[0405riptide]

WOOHOO

well time to figure out how tf to use this app again

[stuckwithyounotsobad]

people on here or dwtwt make relationships so black and white. This is an example because I know more about this relationship than say Danny and Clara or others past season 4. But the way people will say “mickey was the good guy and Rose was the bad guy” or vice versa is so frustrating and shows how people don’t understand how complex relationships are!! In ‘Rose’ we see Mickey wanting to go to the pub seemingly to calm Rose down after her shop blew up. She knows immediately it’s to watch football (also showing this is not the first time he did this to her). Same in the scene where Mickey switches conversations and Rose goes “oh we’re talking about me for once” again showing Rose can’t talk about her future without him (and or her mom) knocking her down. Now Rose should’ve broken up with him she should not have called him in Boom Town to see him (he also could’ve turned it down). But Yes Rose knows he will probably come and she knows shes going to be traveling with the doctor. (Honestly after that moment their relationship is confusing because in School Reunion they act like exes but we never see them truly break up and Mickey goes on dates and Rose doesn’t accuse him of cheating so like do they have an agreement when she’s traveling they’re not together)? Rose and Mickey had a codependent relationship, they both clearly wanted different things (Rose to see the universe and travel, Mickey to settle down). Rose was use to Mickey in her life due to familiarity (also probably feeling she should date him since she knew him so well). Mickey probably the same way (unfortunately we don’t get to see Mickeys life like that due to him being not a main character and well other things). But yeah these two grew up together its love but not true love. I think Rose liked Mickey and Jackie at the Powell Estate too because of the fear that the Doctor will leave her one day. She had a father who died as a baby (often children of dead parents have abandonment issues) and Jimmy Stone running off. She was also extremely insecure, etc. Anyway this long post is basically neither party are in the right or wrong. It’s complicated and they’re in an young adult relationship. Should have Rose broken up with Mickey? Yes but you could say the same about Mickey as well.

[77yearsteam]

Preorders for THBU Zine and 77 Years Zine go back on pre-order tomorrow!

But what WAS the 77 Years Zine? Well… 🧵

It all started in early 2022, when Mod Kat had the idea to make a zine about the Master’s exile on Earth. This was too big of a project for one, so she found…

Mod Em, famed Thoschei fandom cryptid and Social Media Guy, and—

Mod Dev, literal pug and graphic design whiz. 💜

The three of them found the best and brightest of the Doctor Who fandom’s writers and artists for the project, including the amazing @wykart who designed this stunning cover art!

Through several months of Intensive Project Wrangling, the intrepid mods and contributors managed to get every fic and piece of art written, drawn, edited, tidied up, and compiled into a gorgeous book, complete with production notes from the Master himself in the special edition!

The zine chronicled the Master’s journey around the Earth- from America to Russia to the UK and back to Russia again, and it was illustrated with fashion magazine-style pictures of the Master in era-accurate styles ✨

There was also an audiobook edition, compiled by Mod Kat- here’s an exclusive behind the scenes look at the editing process for it: 👀

Then it was time to promote the zine! Throughout the preorder period, Mod Kat braved the wilds of Cardiff to photograph the zine in random places, and Mod Em relentlessly ensured that no one on dwtwt could forget that there was a zine out!

Mod Kat even made a mini zine, which made it to the BFI, the shelves of Waterstones, and the very proud hands of both Mods Em and Kat 💜💜

After months of effort, the zines finally shipped, with these gorgeous extras and packaging. They went around the world, with well over a hundred physical copies sold!

They even got a special thank you from Sacha Dhawan himself, thanks to then-contributor and now-Mod Nat finding him at a con to hand over a copy for him to keep. In the end, they donated £1083.78 to Crohn’s and Colitis UK, a charity supported by Sacha!!

Shortly after that, they started working on the next zine, and the rest, as they say, is History… 💜💙

[13thdoctorposts]

This post is probably a TLDR post but I just wanna put my opinion out into the void that is the internet to try and counter balance some of the 13 era negativity.

I’m kinda tried of the same uncreative reasons why the majority of the Doctor Who fandom don’t like 13, and I realise I need to get off twitter because I can’t stand the sheer lack of understanding and nuance. And yet I still can’t look away from dwtwt it’s like a train wreck I you can’t help staring at.

What I read there is…

Each Doctor has their own unique personality… but…

Her personality is nothing like the Doctors so she could never be the Doctor… but also

She’s a bad hybrid of 10 and 11…

So which is it? Is she allowed to have a personality different to the other Doctors? Is she not allowed to? Or is she too much like previous Doctors?

Also… shes a Mary Sue…. Is she?

About also…You can’t stop listing all her flaws so I don’t know how she can be a Mary Sue if she’s so flawed that supposedly she could never really be the Doctor. 🤦🏼‍♀️

It’s like whiplash and like a huge part of the fandom decided they just weren’t going to like her, but didn’t meet to get their stories straight before yelling into the void of the internet what that was and now all the reasons contradict each other.

13 is my Doctor, watching her I feel like she honours all the previous versions of themselves while also embracing that she’s someone new. The moral compass is the same the rest is just dressing and she is totally flawed… and in such a realistic way. With all the trauma she wears and her desire to not be alone constantly clashing she wants her friends around but can’t let them into her darkness. Sometimes that also almost gets them killed, she makes mistakes, she try’s to protect the people she loves and succeeds and fails to certain degrees.

We all deal with trauma differently her way is to shut people out, deal with it herself and sometimes it has dire consequences. She’s a great Doctor, she carries the trauma of all the other Doctors and we see the unhealthy way she deals with that trauma. And really her way of dealing with it is to not let people in deep enough to keep them protected from her pain. But she still finds the happy hopeful moments, she gives them incredible experiences. She’s a balancing act between depression and optimism.

What I loved about 13 is she’s deeply flawed, but she never gives up, she never gives in, and even though her coping mechanisms aren’t healthy she did achieve what I think one of her ultimate goals was… she got all her companions home safe. None of them died because of her. What a feat compared to all the other Doctors.

And on a side note what I love about Yaz is that she isn’t blind to the Doctors flaws she loves her in spite of them because even though she’s frustrated and she know the doctor is hurting and hiding things from her and putting her in dangerous situations, she also knows the Doctor has a good heart, that the trauma must be deep and so the Doctor is worth her not giving up on, and so she keeps going keeps pushing but never leaves her side.

Their downfall is that neither of them are great communicators. Their love story is both beautiful and tragic.

[queenhawke]

honestly think i'll stay off twitter completely while doctor who is airing. im too dang old for Discourse and at least on here i can stick to the edit tag for gifs, and for normal discussions of the show i have a discord group of people i like and trust. but dwtwt i want no actual part of lmao

[leikeliscomet]

Claiming bigeneration was some type of commentary on Black trauma then blocking me, a Black fan, for saying it doesn't work as said commentary and that it wasn't your place or RTD's to do that type of commentary anyway. Cool.

This is why I say on dwtwt and I'll say it again on here:

Stop getting your understanding of antiblack racism and Black representation from RTD, Moffat and Chibnall for fucks sake and consume media made by Black creatives.

I can't explain how jarring it is from how fans talk about Rosa and Human Nature/Family of Blood how clear it is that you lot don't engage with these topics outside the show and treat these episodes and characters as some form of politic. It's embarrassing. It's even more jarring when you lot's antiblackness jumps out the minute Black fans don't put your faves on a pedestal. You can love whatever part of the show you want but please stop the grand statements on how DW cures racism and crediting RTD, Moffat and Chibnall for the work they don't have the range for and that they literally never did. There's actual Black people writing the stuff you claim to care about. Support them. Support us!