#like 6 at most of capaldis era

[get-more-bald]

Brb. Getting my brain chemistry changed 👍

[gayleviticus]

in my mind the capaldi era of dw and fma 03 are similar in a lot of ways - including in the actual storytelling itself to an extent, but also just in the meta sense they're versions of a larger franchise often ignored, if not maligned for not being the definitive 'original' version w larger more palatable mass appeal, and often by people who haven't actually seen them properly.

and I realise this is just me and probably nobody else has the same intersection of autism to feel compelled to compare the two but on the occasions i see an 03 fan be like 'ugh I loved doctor who but it got soo bad w moffat (= stopped watching in 2013)' (or vice versa) I'm like where is your solidarity comrade!!

[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...

[scriptscribbles]

Quick Doctor Who women fact check

I know I replied to this shit a while back but I'm gonna make my own post to avoid giving it more notes.

It is factually true that Doctor Who did not have any women write between 2008 and 2015. It sucks.

This is not, however, solely a Moffat problem. It's an industry problem where women are underrepresented in genre media, including across Doctor Who.

So, numbers. In Russell T Davies' era, ONLY ONE WOMAN wrote for Doctor Who, Helen Raynor (lately a TERF who stands with Rowling and campaigns against trans kids going to the bathroom, too, before you decide to stan). She wrote four episodes, two part stories for the third and fourth series.

Moffat went around asking for women to write the show but has talked about having a hard time finding people who he wanted and were interested. When he did finally get Catherine Tregenna and Sarah Dollard in for the ninth series, he even mentioned Tregenna had been asked before, having "turned us down in the past, but I talked her into it with an idea she really liked." Dollard for her part ended up contributing two episodes for the ninth and tenth series, and was joined in the latter by Rona Munro, who became the only person to write both the classic and new series.

Chris Chibnall’s era of Doctor Who foregrounded giving a break to new talent unlike RTD and Moffat who tended to get established writers. That meant getting the first poc to write Who as well as seven women in Malorie Blackman, Joy Wilkinson, Nina Metivier, Charlene James, Maxine Alderton, and Ella Road. That said unlike Davies and Moffat he cowrote with most of them, with only three episodes in his run credited solely to women.

Directors fare better, with series 1 and 2 under Davies and series 6 and 7 under Moffat being the only series of Doctor Who not having episodes directed by women. Rachel Talalay of course deserves a special shout-out for being the definitive Moffat/Capaldi director and being the only woman to direct finales (for series 8, 9, and 10!) or Christmas specials for the series!

Hiring people from marginalized groups is always a struggle we can all do better on, especially in industries that are overwhelmingly dominated by white dudes. To put it on the shoulders of one man for failing when he put work in to fix that because Tumblr has a hate boner is deeply silly.

[sandymybeloved]

okay, I don't know how much sense this is going to make but its been bugging me so bear with

you know how sometimes when people in a fandom go long enough without going back and rewatching/rereading/relistening to/rewhatever, that they end up with slightly warped ideas about the characters and story that are far more based on fanon than anything in the source material. I think the same thing happens with criticisms of shows, some mild critique people had at the time becomes so pervasive and considered so all consuming that it no longer gels with the source material

what got me thinking about this was reading the tags in the @adventure-showdown tournament. a not uncommon thing I read is saying they only remember a single great moment from an episode, but they remember the other story completely, so the other story must be magnitudes better. and when someone is implying that because they only remember the gallery scene from vincent and the doctor, the surrounding episode wasn't worthwhile or even any good, I can't help but think, when was the last time you watched it? was it in 2010 when it aired, if you don't remember anything other than the scene that is regularly shared, and you're criticising based on your lack of memory alone, that just doesn't end up gelling with the episode, its not really a fair criticism

more broadly, half the criticisms I see of Moffat who are almost nonsensical to me as someone who does rewatch. (I'm not going to go into the sexism stuff, my opinions on that are far too nuanced and complicated to make a good example)

one of the most common criticisms is that it made the doctor too important, which every time I see it I can't help but wonder if the person saying it even watched in the first place. Because the thing is this is an idea the moffat era actively engages in constantly, and its not a late development at all, and the conclusion it constatly comes too is that the doctor's ego is too big, he's not as important and powerful as he, or the companions, or the audience percieve him to be.

in eleven's second episode, his plan for the star whale is wrong, it's amy who concludes the star whale won't run away and wants to help. in the series 5 finale, eleven makes a big speech to all his enemies gathered above about how they're afraid of him, and it doesn't work, it is at best a minor delay in their plan, he still ends the episode trapped in the pandorica, AND it turns out the doctor was not the excistential threat they were trying to stop, its the TARDIS, they're only imprisoning him as they (wrongly) think he's the only one capable of flying her

in series 6, in a good man goes to war, after the doctor is done parading about the place, after he's done with his massive ego trip and thinking he's won the day, it turns out he hasn't, he got amy back, but not her baby, melody is gone, and any reuniting that happens later in the series has nothing to do with him in any meaningful sense. a good man goes to war is the doctor getting cocky and it ends badly for his friends

its only more explicit in the capaldi era whre 12 regularly pushes back against people considering him anything more than a guy pottering about the universe in a box helping where he can. yes he is made president of earth, but he doesn't want that, he doesn't want authority. In fact series 10 has several of his most meaningful loses, in extremis there's nothing he can do but get a message out, in oxygen he loses his sight to save bill, in the pyramid at the end of the world the world enters a state of dystopia because bill wants to save him, in the doctor falls he loses everything, including his life, only the audience knows any differently

'moffat made the doctor too important' is not a criticism that gels when you actually watch the show, because it is something his era grapples with, is the doctor powerful, is he important to the universe, and if he is, is it a problem and who for. but the criticism isn't completely unfounded, not liking the material fact that 12 got made president of earth is fine, but 5 years removed its a criticism thats warped and changed into something unrecognisable as a criticism of the show its from, when the show says at one point, not even as subtext, that 12 is just a guy travelling around in a blue box, dropping in and helping out where he can.

anyway, this is helpful to me in that i don't like assuming people are speaking in bad faith, sometimes people do just haven't rewatched recently

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 12th Doctor

The penguin with his arse on fire.

10. The Swords of Kali

This story has everything a good Doctor Who comic needs - jumping between past and future, flashbacks featuring the fourth Doctor, a space goddess, vampires, lesbians... Everything.

9. Face the Raven

Sarah Dollard debuts with a bang. She paints such a vivid world in this one... I really wish she wrote more episodes than just Face the Raven and Thin Ice (which almost made the cut as well, another bloody good Capaldi episode). Please, Russell, ask her to come back.

8. Under the Lake / Before the Flood

The perfect Base Under Siege, with an excellent and likeable cast, a great monster (I love the Fisher King), and a fun involvement of time-travel. I can't help but love this one. My favourite Toby Whithouse script.

7. The Husbands of River Song

And my favourite Christmas special... I love River. I've always loved her. But this episode goes beyond that. The charm, the vibe... It's such a sweet and funny story.

6. Oxygen

Ah, my beloved "anti-capitalist zombie horror in space". It hits all the right beats and I'm just amazed how well Jamie Matthieson constructs the situations in his Doctor Who episodes, where he usually gets rid of the sonic screwdriver as well as the TARDIS. He does it so efficiently. He makes great Doctor Who horror seem effortless. Back in... Oh, I dunno. 2019? This was the first ever script I printed out and read in it's entirety. So it means a lot to me. An excellent episode for sure.

5. Best-laid Plans

Another Paul Spragg Memorial winner. This might just be my favourite one. In it the Doctor visits a shop that sells ideas to villains. An excellent premise and an excellent short story. Go listen to it, it's for free on the Big Finish website.

4. Four Doctors

Paul Cornell's take on The Day of the Doctor. This was a mini-series, published for the 10th anniversary of New Who by Titan. And it's just utterly excellent. I especially enjoy the dynamic where 10 and 12 hate each other and 11 is trying to be the mediator between the two of them, as he's able to get along with both his former and future self. The story offers glimpses at sins of alternate futures, as well as a sequel to one of my favourite 1st Doctor stories. Check it out if you haven't done so yet. It's brilliant.

3. Heaven Sent

I love Heaven Sent. It's beautiful and poignant and precise and well-thought out... Personally, there are two stories with the 12th Doctor I like more than this. Obviously, that's why it's at number 3. But I have to admit - this one deserves to top all the polls. It's really that good. Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and Rachel Talalay all operating at 100% of their capacity. It's magnificent.

2. World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls

Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and Rachel Talalay all operating at 100% of their capacity. It's magnificent. Again. But this time, it is also the end of an era. The most gorgeous, beautiful end of an era. Bleak and dark, yet hopeful and charming. Fanservicy, with a multi-Master story a Genesis of the Cybermen, yet never losing track of the real story. I really think it's the best New Who series finale. It felt like it was made for me.

1. Mummy on the Orient Express

And yet, out of all the episodes of this era, my love burns the brightest for this one. Jamie Mathieson made a simple murder mystery in space... And then he made it perfect. This is the episode where Peter Capaldi really becomes the Doctor. I've been thinking about the "sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones" speech for nearly a decade and it has helped me in some difficult times. It's precise, it's playful, it's dark... And above all, it's Doctor Who.

[variousqueerthings]

Regency England. Bit more black than they show in the movies.

it's "thin ice," which is personally the episode to me that cements some of this season's (perhaps some of this era's?) ethos. it's also the one that people often bring up about twelve-as-the-doctor, and I do appreciate it. I've had critique of twelve's writing throughout most of s8 and a faaair bit of s9, and I think the twelve that people fondly remember is mainly s10 (with a dash of s9 and a few choice scenes in s8 -- it's not all bad) but I am happy that capaldi was able to give the doctor real nuance bit by bit until we got to this point and can sort of feed that back down the line, even though I'm not convinced that the beginning of writing him knew what it was doing entirely

also this episode has a really big fish in it. and the fish... is people! (sort of, it's an animal, but animals are people!)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 7/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 8/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 77/100 (if I can count….)

imagine if we'd had this the whole time...

OBJECTIFICATION: Bill wears this really cute regency fit, the Doctor's swaggering about in a top hat he then gives to a homeless kid, looks upon looks

PLOT-POINT: Bill and the Doctor unexpectedly land in the past (no doubt because the Tardis doesn't want to end things just yet), and she navigates everything from being Black to the Doctor's morality. it's a very clear trajectory from episode one (the wonder, but with some personal sadness), episode two (the danger, but with the feeling of doing good) -- in episode three, Bill realises that things aren't so clearcut, and that the Doctor is, despite being her professor, a bit of an enigma to her

it's not as big of a Thing as back with Rose in s1 or Clara in s8, where they were both really wondering whether the Doctor wasn't a bit fucking unhinged (I'd say Martha as well, but her unhinged Doctor flavour was... unique RIP), but it's a bit of that

of course the Doctor has had their own character growth by now so is sort of more able to not fall to pieces on the whole + isn't the kind to seemingly ignore suffering for the sake of the bigger picture, which I don't think would have been on with Bill at all. yes the Doctor speaks about the bigger picture, but it's about protecting the kids

also I think Bill witnessing the Doctor standing up for her was good for her belief in him, as well as her own worth

COMPLEXITY: it's quite a simple plot. a child just fully dies relatively early on, and I don't know why that's shocking but it just is. I think because the plot is on the whole a tad on the sillier side, but then the villain is truly vile, and the the heart is very much in the right place (what if orphan kids were people! what if big fish trapped in the Thames was people!) so it becomes very Doctor Who

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: there's not technically much Big plot advancement, but Bill and the Doctor feel like they advance a lot in their understandings and trust of one another

at the end of it there's a bit of spooky banging on the door, and it's the Master we know this. knowing it's the Master makes me wonder a bit about how the various hints work out. I need to rewatch the bits where the Master is properly revealed, because yes they're bored and frustrated, but how do they really feel about the Doctor seemingly ignoring them/moving on at this point. banging on the door and all that, but that feels more for effect. idk what I'm saying here, it's not actually critique, I think I'm just wondering about a fic from the Master's perspective while locked up

COMPANIONS MATTER: yeah Bill is both emotionally and practically important in this! it's been more than a week so some of the details are hazy, but she definitely Participates. I think a little less on her own steam than in some others, but definitely doing some Stuff

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: as far as I remember there's nothing egregious in this episode beyond the fact that the Doctor takes charge most of the time and there aren't any really distinguishable single-episode characters who carry some of that side of things. there's the bad guy and the kids, and youknow... hypocritical perhaps, considering how often I've felt like this era has had kids who were kind of superfluous to plot and often unfortunately not good actors, but I'd have liked to have seen more of these kids beyond the Idea of them, if that makes any sense

they're introduced very strongly with the pick-pocketing and the death and finding out where they live, but for the main gist they fall a bit on the wayside

maybe this is the wrong point to be talking about that -- my point is, if the episode had been able to make the kids make more choices in the plot, then the Doctor could have been leading it slightly less

it's not a big thing, it's just a thing

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: the Doctor's been to the frost fair a few times, which is very funny to me and gets a mention. otherwise this isn't much of a referencing episode, and that's fine

“SEXINESS”: can we cross this one off the list for good? (almost, but there's ooone episode I just wanna talk about... well, and then I don't remember if it gets really bad near the end, it's a bit of a risk, as much as I'm so into Gomez!Master, sometimes she does still get the bad dialogue + with the sexism Type that they write the first doctor as at the end of the season... we'll see...)

INTERNAL WORLD: it's the frost fair of 1814. there's circus. there's orphans. there's an evil rich man. there's the Thames. there's the big fish under the Thames. I mean, what more do you need tbh

POLITICS: this is the episode that's famous for the Doctor punching a racist in the face. I cannot say if anyone would have preferred it to be Bill or for it to not have happened at all or... personally I think it's pretty great and of course feels a bit like a direct answer to critique no doubt gotten for some of Martha-in-the-past episodes, where the Doctor never stood up for her and she never really had her worries/fears taken seriously

in this episode you've got a very similar beginning (stepping out of the Tardis and getting nervous because it is 1814), the Doctor allaying those fears in a way that I think was pretty acknowledging of them, while also giving us Black people 1814, as youknow... there were Black people in 1814. including one of the single-episode main characters, so it's not just background characters and Bill

and then the Doctor loses his cool because of racism, which is both admirable and unhelpful to their situation, as it does get them captured. but youknow. you wanted the Doctor to stand up for Martha and this feels like a long time coming -- I don't think it needed to be subtle, I think a bit in-your-face was very needed. now the question ofc is whether we think Ryan and Yaz in chibnall!era are able to continue that... I don't remember

and the next question of course is whether the fifteenth Doctor adds even more layers to the story as a Black character (Ncuti Gatwa at least has said that he thinks so, which is exciting). as a whole though, it's interesting watching this from the perspective of where we are now. Freema Agyeman as Martha shouldered a lot of weight and while I think her character was fantastic and her arc was interesting and nuanced, we know they didn't (and the fandom certainly didn't) give proper space for her to be a Black woman and also just... didn't give her space, in various ways -- however one might have seen it, gracious read is that they "wanted her to be like any other (white) companion, without being singled out," or "they were afraid of writing race," or or or... we know it can be done better (and that if Martha were to come back, say, right now.............) Bill was a very different character to Martha, and after her Ryan joined the team, and since then Rose (Noble), and the fifteenth Doctor are now a part of a much bigger, more exciting (or maybe I should say less depressing) analysis of writing Black characters on Doctor Who, which will only grow as the character roster grows

and the thing is, this season isn't just "important because we need to support Black characters in scifi" in the sense that it's badly written and we're kiiind of gritting our teeth through it, it's... it's quite good. it's not perfect, and I think others could give a much more in-depth analysis of that than I can (specifically in terms of race), but as a trajectory both for writing Black women, for writing marginalised main characters generally, for writing queerness -- which is more my wheelhouse to critique and I do -- for writing the twelfth Doctor's character arc, for the end of this particular era of the show... I think it deserves that kudos. sometimes. someone's gotta punch a racist in the face. and a Black woman can know that her white buddy has got her back. and the two of you can save a big fish and a bunch of homeless orphans and get said racist eaten (or drowned, I forget if the fish got him)

that's good political theory

I want to also note the orphan kids. I mentioned I wish they'd been more fleshed out after the first act/been more heavily involved in the plot, so that the ending really pinpointed how it wasn't just good because homeless kids is... bad... but specifically also from a character standpoint. this especially because one of them died at the beginning, and I feel like it didn't quite sit through the rest of the story -- that being said ofc, the ending is neat. good on you Bill for getting this through and confirming it happened

FULL RATING: 77/100 (if I can count….)

I feel like I did a good summary in the above point. solid stuff. big fish

Just realised "thin ice" obviously also refers to someone who is metaphorically on thin ice- we talking the Doctor taking Bill out even though he's not supposed to? the Doctor and Bill's relationship having a tense moment? the Doctor generally getting "bored" and needing to do something? perhaps and yes, and also ooh big fish

[scrunkore]

Scrunkore Media "Thread" 2023: Part 6

the scrunko core has burned out, rebooting

63) Cassette Beasts (PC, 2023)

This is a really cool monster tamer RPG, it came up with a really fun type interaction system and there are are excellent designs in it especially with the eldritch-style bosses, that's super fun. Big fan of the setting and its unique vibe too, if you've played the game you'll know what I mean about that. Great indie I enjoyed my time with, though the romance feels tacked on and I thought the ending was just Fine. [4★]

64) Doctor Who, Series 6-10 (TV, 2011-2017)

Moffat's entire tenure with the greatest TV show in Britain, knocked out within the year, and honestly I think it was quite good. Plenty of flaws, like his messy ambitions, how weird he is about women sometimes, and how some episodes just genuinely fucking suck, but you get that with every era of the show really. The highs are damn high, especially with Capaldi's Doctor in episodes like Heaven Sent and The Doctor Falls, and I think that's enough to outweigh the bad. And I feel like series 10 in particular is often overlooked more than it should be, pretty strong one that is. No rating, but I love Doctor Who when it's good.

65) Mad Rat Dead (Switch, 2020)

MAD RAT MONDAY!!!! I played this game because of the soundtrack, which totally bangs and of course you need that in a rhythm game like this one. Fun one it is too, it has options to make it less challenging and the story is unexpectedly pretty cool. I'm not very good at it, but I beat it and I had a fun time doing so. Rats rule. [4★]

66) Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins (Switch, 2021)

This is apparently the only good Doctor Who game still officially playable, and yeah, I can see it. Immersing yourself in a mystery contained within a smartphone featuring an iconic monster and fun appearances from existing characters is pretty cool, though it can be kinda janky and there's not that much to it in the end. Certainly an alright experience though. [3★]

67) F-Zero 99 (Switch, 2023)

My only experience with F-Zero so far, the surprise announcement that jumpscared fans of the series before turning out to be a battle royale type game that's actually... kinda good? Chaotic fun with decently engaging gameplay, it's something you pick up and play for a bit before doing something else but don't play for hours once the honeymoon phase wears off. Sure helps add something to NSO, sure hope it doesn't get taken down in a year. [3.5★]

68) Sonic Superstars (PC, 2023)

A good new Sonic game! From Sonic Team! The series really has been popping off lately, and though some people complained about this one, I genuinely think it stands at least close to the classic titles it's following up from. Levels are fun and creative with the only real bullshit being in the optional postgame (which does kind of suck if you're not good), and though the soundtrack has plenty of duds it's still pretty decent overall. Cool cast of playable characters too, and it's great seeing Fang come back, with the new character Trip also being a fun addition. I don't think this is peak Sonic, but for me it was a good time that I enjoyed for the most part. [4★]

69) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch, 2023)

Oh 2D Mario is so fucking back, this takes the formula that the "New" series was running with and gives it a super aggressive shake-up and an injection of creativity that it really needed. It has a really nice visual look, actually cool level design that is great to run through, fun powers, and a large roster of playable characters including Daisy finally. Not to mention it sounds good, the music is a great important part of it and the talking flowers in every level are honestly just fun. One of the best platformers on Switch right now, I like it more than Odyssey honestly. [5★]

70) Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon (Movie, 2019)

Bit of a silly watch this was, but in all honesty I'll always be a fan of Aardman's work and this is a pretty fun movie that all ages can enjoy whether they like Shaun the Sheep or not. It's animated as well as you'd expect, does some cute stuff, and honestly I kinda like the music in it too. Just a funny little adventure with that silly sheep and his weird cute alien friend. [3.5★]

71) Suika Game (Switch, 2023)

Suika Game.

72) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass (Switch DLC, 2022-2023)

Dropping a two-year DLC that doubles the track list and adds a bunch of new characters and balance updates to a Mario Kart game we thought was over was a fucking wild thing to do, but Nintendo did it and honestly it worked out quite well. Sure, it's clearly all Tour ports and a lot of them don't look too hot, but for the sheer quantity of it I don't think I can complain too much. They even chose pretty good tracks for the most part, with only a few favourites being left out that I can only assume will be remade in the next game and therefore end up better than ever. I think the game is actually done now, and I think it's probably the best Mario Kart at this point. Not bad at all. [4★]

73) PLUTO (Anime, 2023)

An anime that took ages to get made, and it shows all the polish that much time of production should have you expect (perhaps too much polish with all those unnecessary digital effects). It's a pretty complete adaptation of a much-praised manga about war, robots and consciousness, some strong science fiction with quite good writing based on an old arc from Tezuka's Astro Boy manga. It's pretty tragic how things turn out for most of the characters, but it's so good how it goes about things, and I think it was worth the wait. One of the best Netflix-distributed anime, I'd say. [4.5★]

74) Super Mario RPG (Switch, 2023)

Geno fans have not shut up for years, so how does his game hold up now that it's been polished up into HD? Not bad, honestly. It's a solid RPG experience with simple yet engaging battle gameplay that laid the foundations for other Mario RPG titles to come, and now it's all shiny and stuff. It's a fun journey through a whimsical Mario setting with the quirks you'd come to expect, apparently a pretty faithful remake with only a few new additions and script edits that it sort of needed. I don't think this game is really that special in 2023, but I liked it plenty. Funny that Geno is barely a character though. [4★]

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[oswinpond]

re: your tags on that river post; going to be super mean and say most of eleven’s era is downright boring/unwatchable until the ponds and river leave and clara joins him 🫣

I lowkey agree... I mean I adore Amy and Rory and their relationship with Eleven despite some gripes, like the non-existen love triangle that just wouldn't quit. And s5 is decent, even if the ending is a mess and Amy's characterization is a bit spotty, but s6 is just awful IMO. With the exception of The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex, I'm never going to rewatch it. It's where River gets totally ruined and it drags down Amy and Rory in the process, and some parts of it are a bit disgusting and maybe that's a rant for later. And by ruining River, it makes me dread seeing her in s5, which takes that season down a notch in hindsight. By 7A, it feels like Moffat didn't know what to do with Amy and Rory anymore.

Then 7B is such a breath of fresh air. I don't get the hate for it at all; the only episode I consider weak is the Crimson Horror. Eleven is at his most enjoyable and least gimmicky (and best dressed lol), the episodes are generally really fun and some of them truly unique, the Impossible Girl mystery ties them all together nicely with a great ending that a lot of people misunderstand completely. It's like Moffat found his footing again, getting him ready for the spectacular s8-s9 Capaldi run.

It's saying something that 6/10 of my favourite Eleven episodes are in 7B.

[ljsd]

10 TV shows to get to know me better!

1. Doctor Who

I used to be a massive fan of this show - and do still like it, I just haven’t watched it much recently. I once made a video which went semi-viral of all the times the title of the episode was said in the episode. My favourite Doctor used to be Jon Pertwee - it probably still is. I need to watch more of the Classic stuff again, and I need to catch up on some of Capaldi and Whittaker’s eras! 

2. Community 

Probably my favourite comedy, especially seasons 1-3. It's just extraordinary. I love the characters and the concept episodes are always really interesting while not being pretentious. I love it. Watch it. You'll love it too.

3. The Office (US)

I'll be honest, I tried watching the original UK Office years ago and never quite 'got' it. I should also admit that I've not seen all of the US Office - I stopped watching a few episodes after Michael left and skipped ahead to the finale - I will watch the rest at some point, promise! Definitely a big 'comfort show' for me.

4. Peep Show

OK, if you're not into British comedy, this is a weird one. Especially the first couple of seasons. But it's so worth it. You'll grow to love (& pity) Mark and Jez, as you see just how comically tragic their lives can get. It peaks in season 4 for me, but it's all great. And this one links to the next one, which is...

5. Succession

I put off watching this one for ages, because I was so attached to Peep Show, and this was created by one of Peep Show's co-creators. It felt almost wrong, for some reason. Anyway, I gave in and binged the whole thing immediately after the final episode came out, because I knew that at some point I'd come across spoilers, so I may as well watch it. Obviously, it's really really good. You should watch it if you haven't already. Very intense and emotional, and occasionally a bit bonkers.

6. Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul

Yeah, I'm including these as one. I think if you watch 1 of them, you pretty much have to watch the other. Again, no spoilers. It's one heck. of a ride, though. (Also, El Camino, the sequel movie.)

7. Red Dwarf

A British sitcom set in space. It's wonderful. Well, most of it. Particularly the first 5 seasons. But it's all at least pretty good, I think.

8. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister

A British political sitcom which changes its name halfway through, because - well, because the minister becomes Prime Minister. The word which comes to mind is 'quaint', in the best possible way. It's like Dad's Army meets The Thick Of It (2 other shows which I don't have space for here but I also love!)

9. Bojack Horseman

This will make you cry with laughter and cry with sadness. It's a beautiful show about celebrity culture and mental health, through the eyes of a troubled and flawed celebrity horse. It's bizarre. And brilliant.

10. The Boys

Left this one till last because while there are some others above which are not exactly family friendly, this one really isn't. It's not for everyone. If you're particularly squeamish, maybe give it a miss. But if you're up for the gore and adult content, this show is insanely brilliant. Very much looking forward to season 4 and the upcoming spin-off.

[babypinktardis]

My unpopular Doctor Who (2005-) opinions

1- Season 10 is Capaldi’s best season: Bill is a great companion and really relatable! Don’t get me wrong, I love Clara but some of her episodes can get dull. Bill gives the era some freshness and her chemistry with 12 is lovely ♥️ the ending always makes me sad

2- Mickey is annoying: He is 100% treated poorly, I just don’t like him

3- 11 has the best episodes and 10 has the best era: Maybe I just love Moffat’s stories but I enjoyed most of 11 episodes specially seasons 5-6. The 10th overall arc is better but 11 has the best stories

4- The Doctor has fallen in love: a lot of people believe the doctor has never fallen in love, I believe he has MULTIPLE TIMES. The clear examples being Rose Tyler and River Song, a person who has lived 1000+ years has definitely loved and lost

5- The Doctor and Martha Jones could’ve been a power couple: If they had met in a different time, I am certain the doctor would have fallen for her (I mean, who wouldn’t) and they would’ve made a great couple (the chemistry in Smith and Jones is INSANE !!) also, if you are not interested sir, why do you keep flirting with her ?!

6- The Thirteenth Doctor’s historical episodes are great: I overall did not enjoy her era (I love her as the doctor but the episodes were mid at most) but the Rosa Parks and Demons of Punjab episodes are fantastic

7- Thirteen and Yaz have no chemistry: I just can’t see them as an item, I don’t know why people even ship them

I might do a part 2

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who 10 for 10 Part 10/10: Series 10 (900th Post Special)

2016, my final year of high school, was a wilderness year for both BBC Doctor Who and my personal project, though there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes. While Steven Moffat was working in full gear to prepare to wind down and hand things over to Chris Chibnall, I was putting my ideas together to relaunch my personal project after a two-year hiatus, adapting the three series of the Capaldi era while creating spinoffs to retell the past, connect the present and forge the future; a bit of a broad strokes reboot, if you will, considering the conflicting continuities of past writers and ideas. At the same time, Moffat created Series 10 as a bit of a reboot (at least for the first five episodes) to help bring in new fans in an attempt to end his tenure on a high note.

2017, my first year of university, was the year of peak internet drama for me, but it was also the year when my personal project reboot took off. Although my interests were beginning to shift from Doctor Who to tokusatsu and I was beginning to grow distant from the friends who I wanted to be with and the friends who were happy to be with me, my drive to tell new stories kept me slowly powering through as my personal project continued for 6 long years. It was that same drive (and other antics) that led me to win an award for “The Next Doctor Who” at my Year 12 formal (even though I was already the Doctor), an award that I look back with pride amidst the cringiness.

My era of Doctor Who was about to end, but my true era of Doctor Who was about to start. Let’s jump into the retrospective for Series 10 and send off a series that I promised for two years and finally got around to doing this year.

Also, before I go on, I'd like to point out that this is my 900th Post Special. It would have been really fitting for this post to be the 1000th Post Special, but sometimes things just line up differently. Anyway, onto the retrospective.

1. The handover

As work on Series 9 went on, Steven Moffat was prepared to finish his tenure on Doctor Who with the 2015 Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song, which was originally planned to be his final episode. Chris Chibnall was coming out as a likely successor and there was no equivalent for Moffat in his era like in the RTD era (Moffat wrote 6 episodes in the RTD era before becoming showrunner); the non-showrunner writer who wrote the most episodes in the Moffat era was Mark Gatiss with 7 (2 more in the RTD era), but he was close with Moffat and so he would likely decline the offer to become showrunner. The next best choice, therefore, as the non-showrunner writer who wrote the second-most episodes in the series, would be Toby Whithouse with 6 (1 more in the RTD era). Chris Chibnall tied with Peter Harness and Jamie Mathieson as fourth-most with 4 each (including co-writer credits), but Chibnall wrote one more episode in the RTD era and he was the head writer for Torchwood, writing 8 of the 26 episodes in the first two series, so it’s reasonable that Chibnall would be the likely successor for Moffat.

Sometime in August 2015, Moffat met with Chibnall to formally offer him the showrunner position on Doctor Who. However, when he learnt that Chibnall was deeply immersed in developing the third series of Broadchurch, Moffat elected to stay for another series so as to give Chibnall time to work on it. As such, that meant that he would write the 2016 Christmas Special as well. The news of Moffat’s departure was announced at the start of 2016. Peter Capaldi was offered by Chibnall to stay on for Series 11, but he decided to resign with Steven Moffat as well. Production of Series 10 was delayed to the summer of 2016 for a spring 2017 broadcast, leaving fans with a full year between the 2015 and 2016 Christmas Specials, the longest on record for the revived series until the two year gap between Series 12 and 13 (Flux) in 2020-21. This gap was apparently to allow Chibnall to form his own production team, though other elements, such as Moffat’s commitments to the production of Sherlock and sporting events like the Euros or the 2016 Rio Olympics, could have been contributing factors.

Just before Capaldi’s departure was announced in January 2017, Moffat learnt that Chibnall didn’t want to start his tenure as showrunner with a Christmas Special and that he wanted to launch the Thirteenth Doctor with a full series. With no guarantee that the Thirteenth Doctor would be cast before production on Series 10 was finished and a fear of Doctor Who losing its place in the festive season schedule, Moffat and Capaldi committed to work on the 2017 Christmas Special and for better or worse, all was well until Chibnall decided to move the Christmas Specials to New Year’s Day.

2. #WhoviansAU

Back from 2005 to 2011, once you finished watching a new episode of Doctor Who in the UK on BBC One, you would turn over to BBC Three to watch Doctor Who Confidential. In Australia, we had something like that; the episode would be available on ABC iView on Sunday morning, right after it premiered in the UK, then it would be broadcast on ABC1 that night and then after that, a talk show called Whovians would be broadcast on ABC2 (later renamed ABC Comedy and now ABC TV Plus).

Whovians was a comedy talk show hosted by “Doctor Who superfan” Rove McManus along with a panel of Australian comedians. During its first season they also had interviews with some of the cast and crew from the series. They even had an interview with former Australian politician George Christensen, and regardless of what you think about his opinions on lockdowns or vaccine mandates/passports (or anything else, really), he did a pretty badass thing and that was presenting a motion in Parliament to encourage the BBC to film an episode in Australia to celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who in Australia (the first episode was broadcast on different days in each state from 12 January - 11 June 1965). There was a small scene and a brief shot of Sydney inserted into Series 10, but the scene was filmed in Cardiff with a greenscreen backdrop to give the illusion of the Sydney Opera House, which was an okay compromise, I suppose.

Before filming each episode of Whovians, the hosts and the audience would watch the original episode subject matter before they filmed the talk show episode itself. Sometimes they would even get an early copy of an episode, which is kind of baffling since if, as panellist Adam Richard claims, they filmed on a Sunday afternoon for broadcast that night (with little editing), then the episodes would have been up on iView already, though I suppose given that the next two series would have their first TV airings on Monday or Thursday nights, it’s kind of understandable.

The series continued to run alongside Series 11 and 12 (without the Festive Specials even though they did do an episode for the 2017 Christmas Special), but no series was produced for Series 13 (Flux) presumably due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Newcastle local division of the Doctor Who Club of Australia organised their version of Whovians on Zoom on Monday nights after each episode aired on ABC (TV Plus). Currently, the future of this series is unknown after the ABC lost the rights for future episodes to Disney+ and all the episodes are no longer available on iView, making this a lost series until someone makes it available. To me honestly, I’m not too fussed. The show was okay, but fans or not, I just wasn’t a fan of watching a bunch of nobodies giving their half-boiled opinions on a show like Doctor Who. I don’t think I continued following the series after the first one.

Feel free to check out Crispy Pro’s video on Whovians for more information on this talk show.

3. The Nardole Saga (and companion introductions)

Series 10 as a whole, along with the 2015-2017 Christmas Specials, form what I would like to collectively call “The Nardole Saga”, which is how I packaged Series 12 of Doctor Who for my personal project. This is of course, because of the involvement of Matt Lucas, who played the character of Nardole, originally working for River Song before having his head incorporated into King Hydroflax’s robotic body, then having it extracted and given a new body from spare parts, some cybernetic and some cheap, like his lungs, then becoming the Doctor’s companion, or rather, assistant, some time after.

Another notable thing to note is that Matt Lucas is a gay man, making for a more progressive TARDIS team when they were joined by Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts for Series 10; her character would be portrayed as an openly gay companion (like Jack Harkness wasn’t “openly gay” when he was introduced, oh but I guess being pansexual doesn’t count, but then again I think Moffat has some contempt for Torchwood) before Mackie came out as bisexual in 2020.

Lucas had enjoyed his time filming The Husbands of River Song and expressed an interest in returning. Since Moffat wanted a second supporting character for his reboot setting, he decided to reintroduce Nardole in a handful of cameo appearances, but when Moffat learned that Lucas was willing to commit more time to the series than he expected, he gave Nardole more appearances and even decided to reintroduce him in the 2016 Christmas Special, The Return of Doctor Mysterio.

I don’t have a lot to say about The Return of Doctor Mysterio. It’s about a boy who becomes a Superman-ripoff superhero known as The Ghost when a young Grant Gordon swallowed a gem the Doctor wanted him to hold while he tried to solve the time distortions in New York. It’s amusing to me that the characters of Lucy Fletcher and Mr Brock were played by UK actors who resembled Brittany Anne Pirtle and Najee De-Tiege, who played Emily and Mike in Power Rangers Samurai, but I suppose it would have cost them more to cover flights and work visas. Also, Justin Chadwick and/or Brittany Anne Pirtle Charity Wakefield should have been credited in the opening credits. I swear, Peter Capaldi’s name holds for a couple of seconds, then there’s nothing else for a bit and then Matt Lucas’ name comes up after the Doctor’s face. I know the 2016 Christmas Special was produced as part of Series 10, but that’s no excuse. Then again, the production team were never consistent with their presentation of the Capaldi era title sequence anyway.

When Pearl Mackie’s casting was announced on 23 April 2016, the production team released a minisode on YouTube based on one of the audition pieces called Friend from the Future. Moffat wrote Bill’s debut episode, The Pilot, to make the minisode fit into the series, then most of the minisode’s dialogue was cut either for pacing or unimportance; he would later claim on The Fan Show that he ultimately deleted the scene because the audience was already introduced to Bill and so he didn’t need her to be introduced again in the episode itself. However, I honestly think the scene should have been included in the episode because not all new audiences will go out of their way to watch the minisode before watching The Pilot and as I’ve implied before, there’s no reason why such deleted-scene minisodes should have been deleted from their respective episodes in the first place.

4. Diversity, inclusion and whiny SJWs

OK, we need to address one of the big talking points about Series 10. Many critics of the Chibnall/Whittaker era who say that the series became woke with their era cite the roots of this to Series 10, though defenders may cite this to way back in 2005 or even 1963 as a rebuttal. In my opinion, the revived series has done politics more subtly before gradually becoming less subtle and more in-your-face over the years to the point where the Chibnall era lectures the audience about current-year politics to the point that they forgot to make the surrounding story entertaining.

When casting for the Doctor’s new companion, it was apparently agreed that only actresses of colour would be considered in an attempt to follow the BBC’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, which from 2016 to 2020, involved an on-screen portrayal target of 50% women, 8% disabled people, 8% LGBT and 15% ethnic minorities. Critics of such diversity quotas may argue that (white) men are becoming disenfranchised by such pandering measures, particularly when certain women and ethnic minorities push political correctness by way of accountability and compensation for past systemic injustices during a time when the world has never been more equal than ever before. Another argument used by critics is that such measures focus on identity rather than talent, apparently undermining the principles of a meritocracy, though I have to wonder how people can see talent beyond identity if they only focus on identity and not talent. It’s probably how we got such a mediocre cast in the Chibnall era and how RTD picked Ncuti Gatwa as the new Doctor when he already had someone else in mind.

Steven Moffat has received criticism during his time as showrunner for being sexist, racist, homophobic, everything that SJWs can think of under the sun and that he had to learn how to be woke in order to appease those critics. If you don’t believe me then I’ll leave a bunch of links below. By the way, a little disclaimer - the following links were compiled by Burrunjor, who has written super-long blog posts about the state of Doctor Who if you care to read through them. I don’t endorse his opinions nor do I agree with much of them.

Article 1: Why Third Wave Feminism and Social Justice Warriors Have Ruined Doctor Who

Article 2: What I Would Have Liked To Have Seen In The Peter Capaldi Era

I know the same can be said of the so-called NMDs in the Chibnall era (not that the above feminists and SJWs weren’t the NMDs of the Moffat era) but when I see stuff like this I just think, “God, can’t we all just enjoy something without expecting the production team to pander to whiny niche corners of the audience?” As I said in my concluding post for the Thirteenth Doctor Reviews:

RTD is someone who has been woke from the beginning, yet knows how to subtly incorporate politics in a way that still makes the episode entertaining; Steven Moffat is someone who had to learn how to be woke judging from the reception of Series 10; while Chris Chibnall is the r/FellowKids version of woke.

It might look like I’m siding with anti-SJWs with what I’ve written so far about the wokeification of Doctor Who in Series 10 (maybe also in the Thirteenth Doctor Reviews), but I’m more of a centrist who tries to get things from both sides in order to help the other side understand why they feel that way (and in some cases why they’re wrong).

Another point of contention is that Bill Potts’ homosexuality was “shoved down our throats”. Now, I didn’t really notice it or mind it while I was watching the series, but I wanted to see the extent of this for myself. Two users on Reddit’s /r/Gallifrey board have done separate studies on the sexuality of the revived series companions, but I wanted to do my own independent study because neither of them have provided detailed evidence of what was said in which episode to emphasise a companion’s sexuality. Going through the transcripts for Series 10, here are the references and inclusions of Bill Potts’ sexuality:

The Pilot: Bill is introduced from the outset to be a lesbian. At the start she talks about giving a girl extra chips because she fancied her. This scene: Moira: “You need to keep your eye on men.” Bill: “Men aren’t where I keep my eye, actually.”

Smile: N/A

Thin Ice: “So the Tardis has dresses and likes a bit of trouble? Yeah, I think I’m low-key in love with her.”

Knock Knock: This scene: Paul: “Bill, if you get scared in the night, you know where I am, yeah?” Bill: “What?” Paul: “Just if you need any er, of my help, or my whatever, you know?” Bill: “Yeah. Er, I get that you’re into me, but, um, sorry, you’re not my type. It’s just, er I tend to go for girls, usually, so…” Paul: “Oh. Oh, right! I was never in with a chance. Awesome!”

Oxygen: N/A

Extremis: In the Shadow World, Bill is shown on a date with Penny before they are interrupted by the Pope at the former’s home.

The Pyramid at the End of the World: On the Doctor’s suggestion, Bill goes on a date with Penny. They are back at Bill’s home when they are interrupted by the Secretary General of the United Nations and his soldiers.

The Lie of the Land: N/A

Empress of Mars: N/A

The Eaters of Light: This scene: Bill: “Ah. Lucius, er. Right, listen. There’s um… something I should explain.” Lucius: “What?” Bill: “This is probably just a really difficult idea. I don’t like men… that way.” Lucius: “What, not ever?” Bill: “Nah. Not ever. Only women.” Lucius: “Oh. Alright. Yeah, I got it. You’re like Vitus, then.” Bill: “What?” Lucius: “He only likes men.” Vitus: “Some men. Better looking men than you, Lucius.” Lucius: “I don’t think it’s narrow-minded. I think it’s fine. You know what you like.” Bill: “And you like both?” Lucius: “I’m just ordinary. You know, I like men and women.” Bill: “Ha! Well, isn’t this all very… modern.” Lucius: “Hey, not everyone has to be modern. I think it’s really sweet that you’re so… restricted.” Bill: “Cheers.” Lucius: “We can be friends, though. I did save your life. That means we’re friends forever.” Bill: (laughs) “Yeah. I can deal with that.”

World Enough and Time: N/A

The Doctor Falls: This scene, just before the final battle: Doctor: “So, if there’s anything we ought to be saying?” Bill: “I can’t think of anything. Can you?” Doctor: (thinks) “No.” Bill: “But, hey, um… you know how I’m usually all about women and… and… kind of people my own age?” Doctor: “Yeah?” Bill: “Glad you knew that.” Later, at the end of the battle, Heather returns to turn Bill into a sentient oil creature like herself before they bring the Doctor to the TARDIS and leave.

Twice Upon a Time: The following exchange between the Captain, Bill and the First Doctor: Captain: “So basically, we’re trying to track the Glass Lady, yes?” Bill: “Basically.” Captain: “A striking looking creature. Quite beautiful, really, isn’t she?” Bill: “Yeah, if you like ladies made of glass.” First Doctor: “Well, aren’t all ladies made of glass, in a way?” (laughs) Captain: (laughs) “Very good, sir, very good.” Bill: “Are we now?” First Doctor: “Oh, my dear. I hope it doesn’t offend you to know that I have some experience of the er, fairer sex.” Bill: “Me too.” Captain: “Good Lord.”

Now, from the above list, we can see that Bill being lesbian is only mentioned once or twice in some and depictions in a couple others doesn’t take up a good chunk of the episode, except maybe for The Pilot but that’s because the plot called for it. Not all episodes in the series have such depictions or references to Bill’s sexuality, though I might have missed some while writing this. As such, having references to Bill’s sexuality in almost every episode might be on-the-nose, but I don’t think it counts as being “shoved down our throats”.

However, Bill being a bit of a woke progressive and possibly an SJW, however, I can sort of get behind because she’s young, black, lesbian and she works at a university; my position would be strengthened if she were actually a student there. Again, I’m going to list some references from each episode of Bill being progressive, though keep in mind that some of them are more general:

The Pilot: I’m a bit meh on this, but… Heather: “There’s a puddle over there, but it hasn’t rained for a week.” Bill: “Yeah, but, well, you know, half the students here are blokes.”

Smile: “Is there going to be food sexism even in the future? Is this bloke utopia?”

Thin Ice: From the start of the episode: Bill: “Wait, you want to go out there?” Doctor: “You don’t?” Bill: “It’s 1814.” (points to her face) “Melanin?” Doctor: “Yes?” Bill: “Slavery is still totally a thing.” Doctor: “Yes, so it is.” This one’s more general and sign-of-the-times, but… Sutcliffe: “Who, who let this creature in here? On your feet, girl, in the presence of your betters!” Doctor: (punches Sutcliffe) “He’s human. Thirty one years of age. Low on iron.” Bill: “Yeah, that was pretty convincing racism for an extraterrestrial.” Doctor: “My thoughts exactly.” Same with this one: Doctor: “Er, you, boy! Remind me, what’s your name?” Perry: (mouth full) “Perry.” Kittie: “Perry. His name’s Perry. Why?” Bill: “Apparently, Lord Sutcliffe’s long-lost heir can’t be a girl.”

Knock Knock: N/A

Oxygen: Bill gets called a racist when she is startled by Dahh-Ren’s appearance. “Look, for the record, I’m not prejudiced. I’m usually on the receiving end.”

Extremis: Bill tries to walk in front of Nardole. Nardole stops Bill from doing so, but she says, “Yeah, totally not happening” before Nardole tells her that just as he is officially authorised to “kick the Doctor’s arse,” he will happily do the same to her if she doesn’t follow his instructions. Bill doesn’t react negatively to Nardole’s comment, but she asks him if he is “secretly a badass”.

The Pyramid at the End of the World: The Secretary General tells Bill that he wants to speak to the President, referring to the Doctor as the appointed President of Earth. Bill does not know this and thinks that he is talking about Donald Trump, to which she says, “I don’t know the President. How would I know the President? I mean, I wouldn’t even have voted for him. He’s… orange.”

The Lie of the Land: N/A

Empress of Mars: Colonel Godsacre laughs at Bill when she tells him that she and the Doctor are “sort of police”. Bill says, “Listen, yeah? I’m going to make allowances for your Victorian attitudes because, well, you actually are Victorian.”

The Eaters of Light: N/A

World Enough and Time: N/A

The Doctor Falls: N/A

Twice Upon a Time: Upon meeting Bill, the Captain initially believed that her life was being offered in exchange for his own and offered it to the glass woman, but Bill said that it was “totally not happening”. The aforementioned exchange between the Captain, Bill and the First Doctor. This: Bill: “You’re an arse. Do you know that? You- you- you- you’re a stupid bloody arse.” Doctor: “As I have always respected you.” First Doctor: (opens TARDIS door) “If I hear any more language like that from you, young lady, you’re in for a jolly good smacked bottom.” (goes back inside) Doctor: (shocked) “Can we just pretend that that never happened?” Bill: “I’m a broad-minded girl. I mean, I know we have this whole professor-student thing going on…” Doctor: “Can we just never, ever talk about this again?” Bill: “Yeah, I hope we talk about it loads. (chuckle) I hope we spend years laughing about it.” Bill offers to look after the Captain in the First Doctor’s TARDIS: Bill: “I’ll look after him.” First Doctor: “Good girl, quite right. Now, young lady, I don’t want to have to repeat myself.” Bill: “I don’t think any of us want that.” First Doctor: “I’ll see you both presently.”

Once again, I might have missed some references there, but an important thing to note is that Bill wasn’t the only character saying progressive things in Series 10; the Doctor had his fair share as well and there might have been other characters doing the same.

If we combine the references and depictions of Bill’s sexuality with the references of Bill being progressive, a few gaps are covered but there are still episodes where neither Bill’s sexuality or progressiveness were referenced. As such, the claim that Bill’s sexuality alone was shoved down our throats is a bit exaggerated, but if you want to combine that with her progressiveness and say that Bill’s progressiveness was shoved down our throats, by all means go for it. Some might see it as a negative thing, but that wasn’t really my line of thinking when I was watching the series as it aired. It might feel like Moffat wrote Bill the way he did because of the criticism he received about his era and it’s quite understandable, but I can’t help but think that it contributed to the declining quality of the series in the Chibnall era. Also, holy shit, this one point is 5 pages long when I drafted it in Google Docs. My rant about Hong Kong in the last instalment only took up 3.

5. The Vault

The main mystery for the first half of the series revolved around the Vault and the mysterious inhabitant within. Speculation was rife as to who was actually in the Vault; I remember someone on Whovians speculating that it might have been a past or future incarnation of the Doctor, unknown or otherwise, and Moffat had considered Davros being in it, however he ultimately decided to use Missy, and her character development would be the focus of the second half of the series. Series 10 gave quite a bit of focus on Missy which made up for her lack of appearances after the Series 9 opener.

Following his date with River Song on Darillium, the Doctor was called to a planet where Missy had been tried and sentenced to death, and the Doctor was to act as her executioner, after which Missy’s body would be placed into a Quantum Fold Chamber for a thousand years under constant guard. A priest interrupts the execution and a brief pause for divine intervention is approved, during which the Doctor learns that Nardole had followed him from Darillium to deliver a message of disapproval from River. As such, the Doctor swears to look after Missy’s body for a thousand years before proceeding to execute her anyway, but when the other executioners find that she is still alive, the Doctor reveals that he fiddled with the machine because Missy was his friend. When the chief executioner voices his outrage, the Doctor has him look up himself in the Fatality Index under “cause of death”; the ensuing results scare the executioners away and the Doctor and Nardole place Missy into the Quantum Fold Chamber, eventually going on to settle at St Luke’s University in Bristol, guarding what would now be known as the Vault for at least 70 years.

Nardole took up the responsibility of holding the Doctor accountable to his oath and would be dismayed, even outraged, when the Doctor went off-world with Bill, even to another time. The Doctor even gave Missy things like a piano, much to Nardole’s dismay. Eventually, the Doctor had no other choice but to enter the vault and consult Missy about the Monks. Following this, Nardole had to seek Missy’s help at one point when the TARDIS went back to Earth and he couldn’t get it back to the Doctor. Later, the Doctor would let Missy in the TARDIS but would essentially trap her in it while preventing her from operating it as well. I know Nardole may have had good intentions but the whole thing just made him a bit annoying in my eyes.

6. Truth

The highlight of Series 10 for me was the Monks three-parter, jointly written by Steven Moffat, Peter Harness and Toby Whithouse. It was highly inspired by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and his conquests against “fake news”, something that ironically rang true when he was elected late that year. However, given the state of current affairs in the years after Series 10 aired, this could ironically apply to Joe Biden and the left as well. This is what I feel is the problem with implementing current year politics in media; even if there are people who might like or not like the politics being shown, those politics might not age well in the years to come. Refer to my rant from the last instalment about the Zygon two-parter.

The background of this arc begins in Oxygen when the Doctor is rendered blind after he exposed himself to the vacuum of space to save Bill and get her to safety. Nardole is apparently able to restore the Doctor’s eyes at the end, but as he berates him, the Doctor reveals that he is still blind.

In Extremis, a shadow version of the Doctor gives the Doctor a message through his sonic sunglasses. In that world, there is a book known as Veritas that contains a truth so true that anyone who ever read or translated it committed suicide. The Pope brings the Doctor to the Vatican so he can read it for himself. Bill and Nardole discover a room with doors of light leading to locations of international importance, such as the Pentagon, the Vatican, CERN and the White House. Bill and Nardole learn about the shadow test from the people at CERN while the Doctor manages to listen to the Veritas despite being pursued by the Monks.

The Veritas is a story of a demon who wants to conquer the world, but because he needs to learn about it first, he creates a shadow world with people who think they are real. The shadow test involves people bringing up any number in any particular order and the results will always be the same because they are all in the same simulation. It works kind of like a predetermined algorithm in programming as in coding, there is really no such thing as a “random number”. The people committing suicide as a result of learning this is like people trying to break the cycle and rebelling against the programming.

Moving onto The Pyramid at the End of the World, the Doctor is summoned to Turmezistan (from Series 9) to investigate a pyramid that has appeared in the middle of a war zone between the Americans, Russians and the Chinese. They try to attack it from the air and from the water, but they prevent the attacks and rescue the soldiers. The Doctor learns that the Monks have simulated various scenarios of Earth’s future, detected a catastrophe in one and offered to stop it from happening, but the Monks must have pure consent out of love without fear, strategy or agenda; as such, the UN Secretary General and the American, Russian and Chinese soldiers fail to provide the right consent and are disintegrated.

Somehow, the Doctor manages to find a lab which is the accident the Monks have been waiting to happen; a misplaced decimal point created a bacteria that turns any living thing it touches into gunk. He sends Nardole back to the TARDIS while he creates a bomb to blow up the lab before it vents the bacteria out into the air. However, once he sets the timer on the bomb, the Doctor is unable to get out because the door uses a combination lock with no raised numbers or braille, the sonic screwdriver can’t manipulate the lock, it can only be opened from the inside due to the emergency protocol (because the lab person clearly messed up the numbers after she went through, the fucking dick) and Nardole is incapacitated due to the effect of the bacteria on his cheap lungs. The Doctor finally reveals to Bill that he has been blind all along and despite his protests, Bill gives her consent to the Monks in exchange for the Doctor’s sight, allowing him to escape.

Six months later in The Lie of the Land, Earth is under full control of the Monks, with transmissions and broadcasts being used to maintain their retconning of history to the population. As Bill talks to an imaginary fabrication of her mum as a coping mechanism, there is something I should point out. Bill’s mum died when she was just a baby and there is no mention of her dad (starting the hate on single fathers early, eh, Moffat?); Moira brought her up for presumably as long as she could remember. Bill’s mum apparently hated having her picture taken (how would she know this if she died when she was a baby, keep in mind that no other family members are mentioned) and when she brought this up to the Doctor after he failed to give her something for Christmas, the Doctor went back in time, took some pictures of Bill’s mum and left them as a present for Bill, which led her to form the imaginary fabrication of her mum. This plays a role for Bill in the finale and looking back, I think it might seem a bit less contrived if Bill had photos of her mum since she was a baby and what the Doctor actually took was videos of her to give Bill some voice samples. But then again, given my parents, you know what they say about meeting your heroes.

Nardole, having been incapacitated for six weeks, manages to find Bill and they set out to find the Doctor together, having spent the rest of the time “finding” him. They find the Doctor on a prison ship, but he has apparently joined the Monks. During the ensuing confrontation, Bill takes a gun and shoots the Doctor. The Doctor proceeds to regenerate, but he was actually faking it as he reveals that the bullets were blanks; the Doctor spent six months deprogramming people and exchanging their ammo, that is, with the exception of Dave.

Anyway, the Doctor and Bill briefly go back to the university and visit Missy in the Vault to discuss the Monks. The Monks take on the forms of a populace to get someone to consent to their help, then they create a psychic link with the person that makes them the anchor to keep them in power, making them the lynchpin. But since the brainwaves of that person wouldn’t be enough to cover the entire planet, they put up statues of themselves as transmitters to boost the signal. The lynchpin goes on through the person’s bloodline for generations until it stops somehow. Missy’s solution is to kill the lynchpin, which she learns is Bill, but since it would take ages, her other solution is to make Bill into a braindead vegetable so that her residual brainwaves blot out the false memories.

Opting for another solution, the Doctor and his group head for the pyramid which had been moved to London. They make it to the broadcast chamber, with the exception of Alan whose deprogramming failed due to an accident caused in a skirmish with the Monks and had to be knocked out with a Tarovian neck pinch from Nardole. Confronting the Giant Monk at the centre of the fake news, the Doctor tries linking into its mind to override the transmission, but he is unsuccessful. Bill decides to link into the Giant Monk’s mind herself, despite the Doctor’s protests, and she uses the image of her mum to open the minds of everyone in the world, causing them to rebel and the Monks to flee. So that’s how we defeat the Monks then, transmit the image of an imaginary friend (who happens to be a beautiful woman) across the world. Wouldn’t it have been creepy if that image was of someone’s crush and it got transmitted across the world? Ahahaha I’m fucking brain damaged lmao.

All in all, the Monk trilogy was pretty good, despite criticism that the third part fell off. It might have been better had Moffat actually co-written the third part like he did the second, or better yet, if all three episodes were an actual joint collaborative effort, but Steven Moffat’s mother was in hospital while he was writing his parts of the trilogy; he ended up having to type up the final draft of the second part at his mother’s bedside because there were only days left before the two episodes were to begin filming and production couldn’t be pushed back to later.

To highlight the parallels to Donald Trump, the Monks were villains who had good intentions, but they used underhanded techniques to maintain power over the populace such as using memory police to arrest people if they began to realise that they had only come to power recently instead of being there since the beginning of Earth. What other powers the Monks had is unknown since we never really see them in use. Speaking of which, how different would the world have been if the Monks had stayed in power, other than a retconned history and memory police?

In spite of this, Australia was largely protected from the Monks’ fake news thanks to the efforts of UNIT, the Power Rangers, the Kamen Riders, the Ultramen and the Space Sheriffs, but that’s more of a personal project thing.

7. Doctor Gatekeeper

Before I go on to talk about the finale, I want to talk a little bit about the state of the fandom since the airing of Series 10.

There’s been quite a bit of gatekeeping happening in various fandoms over the years, with people being told they’re not a (true) fan of something of they like or don’t like a certain thing, or if they express opinions about something which are apparently bigoted, then they’re not a (true) fan as it were. Let’s face it, I hate people who do this because they don’t know to what extent the other person is a fan of the thing. My bottom line is that a fan is a fan if they say, claim or believe themselves to be one. Though I believe there should be a certain expectation of knowledge as to what the source material is, the kind of fans it attracts and the culture that they thrive in, gatekeeping people from a fandom is detrimental to the tenets of fandom, which is people sharing their interests and passions with other people who have similar interests and passions.

At the 2017 BFI & Radio Times Television Festival, there was a Doctor Who panel with Steven Moffat, Brian Minchin, Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie. A fan revealed that they had been the victim of cyberbullying after being on set with Capaldi in the TARDIS some weeks prior and asked “the Doctor” what he felt about bullying and how he would fight it. After a kind comment from Moffat, Capaldi had this to say:

The essence of Doctor Who is kindness, you know, that is what really is underneath all of this; it’s that this is a person who moves through time and space and history, and all kinds of situations, and reacts to them, ultimately - despite the different way, the different versions of him may appear - he reacts with kindness. And that is how everyone who is involved with Doctor Who should be and how everyone who is a fan of it should be. If they’re not kind, they’re not receiving the show in the proper way and they’re not really a fan of it.

You can watch the panel, timestamped to the question being asked here.

In the Doctor Who fandom, people tend to point to comments like this as a justification for gatekeeping “bullies”, but in the end, this is just Capaldi’s own opinion. Maybe we can agree that the bullies are missing the point of the morals the show teaches the audience about, but we live in an age where it’s difficult to distinguish well-intentioned people from bullies, particularly with politics as polarised as it is to the point where both sides may not be right about some things, but they might not be wrong about other things either, hence my opinion on why gatekeeping is bad.

8. A perfunctory Time Team

This is more of a Chibnall era thing, but I just wanted to touch on how attempts from the production companies or their affiliates to participate in a show’s fandom can sometimes come off as out of touch.

In Doctor Who Magazine, there is a feature known as The Time Team. Three iterations of this team were featured over the years; the first team reviewed the classic series and TV movie from 1999 to 2009, then a second team reviewed the revived series up to The Almost People from 2011 to 2017. Following this, a third team, with more members than the last two teams, would make their debut in 2018, but instead of continuing to review the revived series episodes in order, they would review episodes based on a particular theme. Their run ended in 2019 and with it, the Time Team segment as a whole.

When they were announced, the Time Team were criticised for being diverse in everything but age, with the average age of the whole group being 22. They were also criticised for being biased as one of their members, Claudia Boleyn, was an outspoken feminist (she would leave after six issues due to “differences” with editor Benjamin Cook, though some speculate that it might be because Cook didn’t like her criticisms of Moffat’s writing), while another member, Christel Dee, was previously the host of The Fan Show and at the time, the digital marketing manager for BBC Studios, focusing on the marketing for Doctor Who Series 11, putting a bit of nepotism into the mix.

Finally, and this may be a bit subjective, but some members of the Time Team were also criticised for not respecting the classic series, with Miles and Luke saying that it relied heavily on cliffhangers and they were “cheap tricks” as a result, while Christel stated that she watches the classic series at 1.5 speed. Honestly, I don’t find the classic series interesting to watch because the presentation of the episodes wasn’t as vibrant and/or coherent than the revived series episodes (due to the production standards and broadcasting systems of the time), but I’m not going to slag it off because of that and if I really had to watch the episodes, I’d put some subtitles on because maybe then I’d find the stories easier to follow, not watch it at 1.5 speed.

Did you follow the Time Team and their commentary and if so, what did you think of it? Feel free to let me know.

9. The Fall of the Doctor

A couple of weeks before the series started, John Simm was announced to be returning as the Master. Some people say that the announcement spoiled his return when he was revealed in the series finale, but who cares, the Master was back and we would finally get an explanation for the Harold Saxon Master’s regeneration into Missy.

Following a teaser of the Doctor’s regeneration, World Enough and Time (a strange title for an episode) begins with the TARDIS on a colony ship reversing from a black hole. The Doctor sends Missy with Bill and Nardole in an effort to test her rehabilitation to the good side. An alien named Jorj comes out with a gun, saying that “they” are coming up because of Bill’s presence as a human. The Doctor comes out as well and during the ensuing confrontation, Bill is shot through the abdomen. As a group of Patients take Bill’s body away into the lower levels of the ship, the Doctor, Missy and Nardole try to get a hold of the situation with Jorj; originally, there was a skeleton crew of 50 people alongside Jorj, but when it was being drawn into a black hole, 20 engineers were sent to reverse the rear thrusters. Soon after, the Patients arrived and took the rest of the humans away, leaving Jorj behind as he broadcast a distress signal. It became evident that in the space of two days on Floor 0000, centuries had passed on Floor 1056. By the time the Doctor and Nardole got to Bill over two hours after their arrival, ten years had passed for Bill and she had been converted into a Mondasian Cyberman as the first subject of Operation Exodus thanks to the machinations of a man called Razor, who was actually a disguise for the Master, who had encountered his future self as well.

The story continues in The Doctor Falls and I can’t believe they missed the chance to call it The Fall of the Doctor. Whatever, I’ve corrected that for my personal project.

The Doctor is tied up while the Master and Missy taunt him, but unbeknownst to them, the Doctor reconfigured the Cybermen programming to target Time Lords as well. As Nardole finds an escape ship, Missy knocks her past self out and the Doctor is electrocuted by a Cyberman, though they eventually manage to escape to Floor 507 with Bill.

On Floor 507, the humans have been defending themselves from the Patients, or prototype Cybermen, even putting some of them up as scarecrows. Although Bill has been converted into a Cyberman, she has been able to retain her sense of humanity following the six months living under the Monks. Nardole helps the humans fortify their defences while the Doctor, the Master, Missy and Bill find some lifts so they can evacuate the humans. Missy summons the lift and a weapons-grade Cyberman comes out, which they quickly kill. Since Floor 1056 has had many years to build up an army of Cybermen, they can only go up a few floors as the attack phase of Operation Exodus begins.

Missy learns from her past self that after the Time Lords cured the drumming in his head and mutually kicked him out of Gallifrey, he landed his TARDIS on Level 1056, too close to the black home, and blew out his dematerialisation circuit going too fast before a scary lady made him promise to always carry a spare dematerialisation circuit, which turns out to happen as Missy gives the spare circuit to his past self. The Master and Missy decide to leave, but as Missy brings her past self to the lift, she gives him a hug and fatally wounds him, giving him enough time to get back to his TARDIS before regenerating. As Missy says that it’s time to stand with the Doctor, the Master denies this and gives her the full blast of his laser screwdriver, rendering her unable to regenerate before the Master descends back to Floor 1056. At the time I was okay with seeing the Master dead for good, which led me to be bewildered when Sacha Dhawan became the Master in Series 12. After thinking it over, I realised that the Master would never rob himself of chances to spite the Doctor, plus, now that he knew that he and his future self would end up killing each other, he would somehow be able to put a contingency plan in place that would allow him to survive past his Missy incarnation. Also, I think it’s good that we never actually see the Saxon Master regenerate because in my personal project, I have two other incarnations of the Master that came between him and Missy and actually seeing him regenerate would have really screwed things up.

With the Doctor now determining that the Cybermen will plan a bigger assault now that they know that they are a military target, he sends Nardole away with the other humans to Floor 502 while he and Bill make their last stand against the Cybermen. As the Doctor is continually blasted by a Mondasian Cyberman, he detonates the whole Floor 507, destroying most of the Cybermen for the time being. When Bill finds the unconscious Doctor and weeps over him, Heather arrives and turns Bill into a sentient oil creature like her. As they take the Doctor into the TARDIS and set it in flight, Heather reveals to Bill that she could make her human again, or they could travel the universe together. So once again, another companion’s death is undone like Clara’s was in Series 9. Bill and Nardole would make an appearance in a Doctor Who: Lockdown! short in 2020 for the tweetalong of the two-parter (set during the pandemic with a reference to Black Lives Matter, no doubt), plus the novelisation of the 2017 Christmas Special reveals that Bill decided to become human again, living with Heather before dying of old age, essentially rendering her previous death redundant.

The Series 10 finale was the start of a great send-off to the Moffat era and the revived series so far following all the returning characters and references in Series 9. It featured the return of the original Cyberman design alongside the Cybusmen after having very few returning elements from the classic series, though other Cybermen designs from the classic series did not make an appearance, making it less of a tribute to the Cybermen than Asylum of the Daleks and The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar was to the Daleks. However, it did acknowledge the differing origins of the Cybermen and explain it off as parallel evolution. We also get some archival shots of the revived series companions as well.

The TARDIS landed on the South Pole and the Doctor began to regenerate but he stopped himself from doing so, saying that he doesn’t want to change because he can’t keep on being somebody else. It is then that the Doctor encounters a distant yet familiar figure, namely his original incarnation, the First Doctor…

10. An extra epilogue

The 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon a Time, is a crossover with the First Doctor’s era, featuring David Bradley as he actually played the First Doctor instead of the actor who played him, William Hartnell, as shown in An Adventure in Space and Time. The story takes place towards the end of the First Doctor’s final story, The Tenth Planet, with about a minute’s worth of reconstructed scenes filmed as much of the story’s fourth episode remains missing, though much of it did not end up being used in the end.

As the Twelfth Doctor converses with the First Doctor, time suddenly stops as the two of them are met by an army captain (played by Mark Gatiss no less), who was about to die in Ypres 1914 when time stopped for him and he was transported to an unknown ship, only to end up on the South Pole as well when a timeline error occurred. The three of them enter the Twelfth Doctor’s TARDIS and it gets transported into the spaceship, where the First Doctor tries to speak to whoever took the Captain before the Twelfth Doctor reunites with Bill, who he suspects to be a duplicate. Upon learning that a glass woman is the one behind the recent happenings, the Doctors escape the ship with Bill and the Captain and they head to the First Doctor’s TARDIS.

The Twelfth Doctor begins to track the identity behind the glass woman and heads to the weapon forges of Villengard at the centre of the universe, where he meets with Rusty the Dalek (from Into the Dalek) and learns from the Dalek Pathweb that the glass woman is modelled on Professor Helen Clay of New Earth University, founder of the Testimony Foundation that travels through time and extracts people who are near the point of their deaths to extract their memories before putting them back without any memory of the process. Those memories would then be used in glass avatars so other people can interact with them. As such, the glass woman is actually a misunderstood villain because the intentions of her and her foundation were not malicious. Bill is also revealed to be one of those glass avatars as time stops again and the Doctors are told that the Captain needs to go back to his place in time to die.

The Twelfth Doctor requests that he and the First Doctor take the Captain back because it was their fault that he ended up at the South Pole due to them trying to die twice. The Captain is taken back to Ypres 1914 and he requests to the Doctor that he look in on his family, at which point they learn that he is Captain Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart. As the Captain’s memories of his encounter with the Doctors are erased and time restarts, there is singing from both the British and German sides; it turns out that the Doctor made a slight adjustment by a couple of hours because it was Christmas and both the British and German soldiers decided to stop fighting and celebrate.

As the armistice ends, the First Doctor leaves as he prepares to regenerate while the Twelfth Doctor takes a walk with Bill. The Doctor continues to doubt that Bill is real, which leads her to kiss him as she returns his memories of Clara, who also briefly returns to greet him. Nardole also appears as well and the Doctor gives the glass avatars of his companions the proper goodbye he never got to give. He heads back to the TARDIS and accepts that regenerating again wouldn’t hurt the universe before he regenerates (with a different effect to the one used previously). The Thirteenth Doctor emerges and the TARDIS begins malfunctioning, disappearing in an explosion as she falls over Yorkshire.

Twice Upon a Time was a pretty heartfelt episode and some decent filler, but amidst all the progressive references being carried over from the rest of Series 10, there was one thing that didn’t sit right with fans and that was the characterisation of the First Doctor, as he seemingly acted somewhat misogynistic and more in line with men from the 60’s. Even the version of the First Doctor in The Five Doctors, played by Richard Hurndall, wasn’t that obnoxiously repetitive in his misogyny to the point that he can be written off as just acting like a demanding old man. It’s like Moffat deliberately wrote him that way to show everyone how progressive he and Bill are. In the novelisation, which was written by Paul Cornell instead of Moffat, the First Doctor’s misogyny was played off as him purposefully pissing off the Twelfth Doctor (like what happens in other multi-Doctor stories), which frankly, is an absolute cope given how Cornell’s in the same ilk as Moffat and RTD.

Despite the clear shift in current year progressiveness compared to previous series, Series 10 was a rather decent series for something that essentially had to be thrown together. It also served as a great farewell to the Moffat and Capaldi eras and also, ironically, the quality of the revived series as a whole.

With Moffat’s departure, the nepotism of the Fitzroy crowd, represented by many writers of the Doctor Who fan club who met at the Fitzroy pub like Moffat, RTD, Gatiss and Cornell et al, had ended. However, the series would continue to be headed by another one of their ilk, Chibnall, alongside an actress hired out of diversity and nepotism, Jodie Whittaker (who worked alongside Chibnall on Broadchurch) and a new team of amateurish writers that would see the series falling to mediocrity and later, utter disrespect. Though the series would see another peak due to the prospect of a female Doctor, audiences gradually became disinterested as shown by the ratings. Eventually, RTD decided to make his return and possibly Moffat as well, showing how much the Fitzroy crowd nepotism was better to the fanbase given what we had seen in the Chibnall era.

If I had to compare the showrunners of the revived era to main writers and producers in tokusatsu, RTD would be like Naruhisa Arakawa and Yasuko Kobayashi with Naomi Takebe, Moffat would be like Gen Urobuchi (the Japanese Moffat) and Yūya Takahashi with Takahito Ōmori, while Chibnall would be like Toshiki Inoue and Shōji Yonemura with Shinichirō Shirakura. Neither era is perfect (some more than others), but in the end, the fandom’s collective appreciation of the series is what continues to bring us together (or rather should).

Doctor Who 10 for 10 has reached its end. I would like to thank everyone who liked the posts and read through this series that clearly got longer and longer with each instalment. For a couple of years, I wasn’t sure when I’d finally be able to get around to starting this series, but now I’m glad to have finally finished it, even if it took longer to write than I originally thought. If you want to read about my thoughts on the Chibnall era as it progressed, check out my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews. I also cover the details of my personal project in the Kisekae Insights series, so please feel free to check that out along with the other content I have to offer. Otherwise, I’ll be back to review Doctor Who with the 60th Anniversary Specials and Series 14, so I’ll see you all then.

[dailyclassicwho]

So I’ve gotten through series 5 of NuWho — the beginning of Moffat’s run — and I’m very much not impressed. Series 5 is definitely the weakest season since series 2, which is not a great way to start a new era. (Which one is worse is hard to say exactly... S2 had better two-parters but S5′s worst episodes are more watchable than S2′s worsts.) 

Now, I’m not an Amy hater by any means (find her impossible to hate actually) but Moffat hardcore fumbled her relationships with the Doctor and especially with Rory. It’s so much worse than Rose blowing off Mickey because these two were in a committed relationship about to be married. The way Amy wanting to cheat on Rory is played off for laughs rubs me the wrong way. I know things will get better in series 6 and beyond but it’s not a good first impression to make. 

Most of the episodes in S5 range from mediocre to awful. Even Vincent and the Doctor, considered a season standout, was not as good as I remembered. I totally forgot that the famous scene at the end uses a pop song in the background. Speaking of songs, the way the soundtrack, particularly in the first few episodes, repeatedly plays that one track over and over again is really annoying. I don’t get it. The music was used masterfully during S1-S4, but I hardly felt there were many memorable tracks even with the same composer.

This is not even getting into the weak ass plots of each episode. There’s too many flaws to list but my biggest criticism has to be the lack of heart in the majority of episodes. Doctor Who was always weak on the science front but it never lacked other qualities like great social commentary and emotional story and character beats. 

It all makes sense why I remember the RTD era so fondly, why there were multiple episodes from the first four series that I remembered vividly, but very few from series 5-7, and why I dropped the series just before Amy and Rory left.

I think Moffat does gradually get better, and I hope that I’ll be able to find more enjoyment when I get to Peter Capaldi’s era or even series 7B after Clara joins. This is largely negative because I honestly don’t think I would revisit any of the S5 episodes unless I wanted to refresh my memory or something.

[sync24]

re: steven moffat i really think that that hbomberguy video about sherlock did incredible damage

That seems extremely likely to me, yes.

His writing during (sections of) Sherlock as well as season 5, 6, 7 of Doctor Who had sexist moments, no-one would or should deny this. But particularly hbomberguy's video on the final Christmas Special (Twice Upon A Time), I feel, showcases that hbomberguy's criticisms of Moffat's final run of Doctor Who are "making up a guy to be mad at" or more specifically "making up three seasons he didn't watch".

This video made me lose my marbles so this is about to get long. Strap in if you'd like.

Most of the criticism of TWUAT itself is... acceptable. The things he says about season 8, 9 and 10, I cannot make sense of whatsoever.

Story arcs are presented as overambitious terrorism: > How dare authoritarian Steven Moffat eat away at half a page of dialogue from the writers he hired to introduce a 'villain' over time? > Why are we questioning the Doctor's morality, referring to "am I a good man"? > As a result of Moffat having particular arcs in mind, the Doctor's relationship with Clara could not develop and they couldn't change as people, "at best Clara sometimes realizes the Doctor's not always the best guy and they just get back together again".

My eyes are rolling out of my skull. What a bizarre suggestion, that a season should have no arc if it sacrifices a minute of screentime; that the Doctor's morality and goodness is not worth interrogating; that the core narrative of season 8 and 9 is not Clara and the Doctor's relationship and how they change as people, for better and worse. The season 9 finale includes the Doctor saying, we always come back to each other to the point of destroying the universe, this has to stop (through self-induced memory loss) or we'll be the end of the universe -- that they "just get back together again" regardless of what happens is not a good thing, but that is the point. He literally becomes a teacher in season 10, for fuck's sake.

We should have had an entire season about the Doctor becoming a teacher! Season wasted!

Just starting with the Doctor teaching is a silly complaint, it doesn't matter because Moffat has him start here so we can meet Bill because that's the point of that first episode and the center of this season. We don't hang out with just the Doctor (almost) ever. We hang out with him when he has a companion and we tell their story because the Doctor is 2000+ years old and we don't have the time to cover everything else. The companions are the point. They are what delineate seasons.

[as a part of his regeneration] the Doctor says goodbye to Clara, who he forgot because of time bullshit.

Doctor Who is all time bullshit? And again, the fact that someone had to forget someone to put an end to the intensity, toxicity and potential universe-ending nature of Twelve and Clara's relationship, is what season 9 spends nearly every episode addressing. Which is, what might happen if they were to lose each other -- but I guess he hates story arcs, so there's some consistency to this argument.

Season 10 is poorly paced.

No? This one is especially hard to disprove in a paragraph or so, but it's not like hbomb provides any real evidence here. It's not any worse than RTD era pacing, though Moffat and RTD have different flaws. It's much better than Chibnall and RTD2 (so far, anyway).

Capaldi's farewell speech suckz

No. "Never be cruel, never be cowardly. And never ever eat pears! Remember – hate is always foolish…and love, is always wise [...] Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind. [...] Doctor – I let you go."

Onto TWUAT. Might as well.

Steven Moffat is trying to give himself an epic sendoff like RTD but he doesn't have enough iconic characters to do this with

Then why would this episode have the the First Doctor (William Hartnell from SHEIN) in it?? Why not bring back literally any other characters we've met over the course of it all? The theme isn't random NPCs Moffat wants in his sendoff, it's reminding the Doctor of the good things he's done and the need to keep going, to keep helping, to move on. As in the final episodes of S10: Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit, without hope, without witness, without reward. If anything 'Rusty the Dalek' is there as a nod to the consistent question as to whether or not Twelve is a good man or not. The answer is, I don't know, but you try, and I think that's probably the point (thank you, Clara).

Speaking of Rusty,

Into The Dalek is actually a metaphor for Moffat taking over the show by messing with Rusty T. Davies' work!

Absolute crackpot theory. Like, this is how I knew he had actually gone off the deep end and was experiencing QAnon-style mania about Moffat's writing. Beyond the fact that it's genuinely absurd -- First, season 8 is approximately 3 years after Moffat took over the show. Why then? Second, Into the Dalek's concept was originally for one of those Matt Smith era games they made, so it is not his own metaphor. Third, if that comparison is true, it is an extremely self-deprecating one, and I don't buy that Moffat would be like thanks to me the show went from being good to technically being on the right side of history but actually still being bad. Fourth, if Rusty the name itself is a reference, writers do that all the time. They're literally showrunner pals. They email. It's not that strange.

Steven Moffat is not allowed to write sexist characters (SHEIN William Hartnell) to parody the sexist beginnings of Doctor Who.... because he once wrote sexistly

....................................................................................................................................................................... Don't ever improve and don't ever mention or shed light on an -ism if you've ever once partaken in it. That's an argument, I guess.

He even mentions that Moffat wrote the Doctor regenerating into a woman as a joke once. Buddy, I've got news for you: Clara, River and Missy (the Master) are characters that are, at several points and in several ways, functionally the Doctor. The groundwork for Twelve turning into a female Doctor (Thirteen) is laid with the introduction of the Master having regenerated into a woman; Moffat jokes that "if the Doctor was a young woman living in London, he'd be a bit like her"; again the two-season arc of 8-and-9 is that Clara and the Doctor become each other, codependent, begin to mirror each other, to the point that it leaves them more vulnerable than ever. River, of course, being a timetraveller herself.

Like, I'm so sorry, but we can't keep holding people accountable for things that are simply no longer relevant in their writing.

[ontargetmadders]

2023 Tumblr Top 10

1. 91 notes - Apr 5 2023

one of my favourite things about the kalos era (bar gushing over how disgustingly cute ash and serena are together) is the...

2. 49 notes - Aug 13 2023

whether you like his doctor or not peter capaldi is one of the best actors to play the doctor honestly

3. 25 notes - Jun 13 2023

god I just love serena so much. She easily has the most character depth and development out of all of the pokegirls and you...

4. 23 notes - Sep 25 2023

I absolutely love that kalos is basically based on france (and lumiose city is basically paris) because it has given me the most...

5. 23 notes - Jun 20 2023

6. 18 notes - Nov 23 2023

Sam is actually just like me cause i too would be doing all the trials I could for ant and dec because of how much I love them...

7. 17 notes - Oct 20 2023

I love darth maul in rebels. He's so deliciously evil and brilliant haha

8. 16 notes - Feb 24 2023

as snt is back tomorrow I thought I'd do a what's your favourite ant and dec show poll! Saturday Night Takeaway Britain's Got...

9. 16 notes - Feb 8 2023

Because I can't decide on a favourite.... What's everyone's favourite fanta flavour? Orange 🍊 (very underrated) Fruit Twist...

10. 14 notes - Jan 17 2023

funny how waterloo road and bad education have been rebooted in the same year but both are kinda disappointing and have nothing...

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[skewbforty]

Doctor Who 2023 series thoughts (spoilers)

I've been a fan of Doctor Who pretty much since I knew of its existence which was when the series rebooted in 2005. I was totally obsessed with the show for many years afterwards too, but things don't always last. In fact, they usually don't.

Matt Smith came onto the scene and the show exchanged lead writers, and while I thought his first series was absolutely amazing, I felt like the writing took a sharp decline since then. Series 6 and 7 were kinda the transition between what I call the golden era of Doctor Who and the... Era I don't like to think about. Capaldi and Whittaker's era.

Right from Capaldi's first episode, I was appalled by the writing, I thought it was boring at best, downright disgusting at worst. Whittaker's era had better writing, but not by a huge amount. But by this point I was so annoyed by Capaldi's era (no flac to Capaldi or Whittaker btw, their acting was fine as far as I'm concerned, just the writing, man) that I really didn't care. The show was dead to me.

But, I subscribed to Disney Plus and gave the new specials a chance anyway. Because I had a tiny amount of hope with the direction the show was going in behind the scenes, including the return of Russel. And well...

The show's fuckin' back baby.

Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. I have gripes with all 3 episodes. But they're really minor gripes, and they far from outweigh the good.

The first episode was an extremely clever way to bring Donna back. And it shows some love for the enbies which I thought was brilliant. I understand some may have issues with the notion that enby was kinda half portrayed as male + female when it's somewhat more complex than that, but honestly, I love the gender-non-conforming rights. I didn't however, like the line bashing on men towards the end, calling male time lords inferior or something. Luckily this is the last time in this series that's all like "Men. Boo." so, I'll let that slide.

Episode 2 was one of the weirdest episodes of Doctor Who I've ever seen. Bit hard to follow, and I kinda wish they'd touched more on the "You're not from Galifrey" thing, at least in a later episode. But maybe that was the point, perhaps Russel was trying to re-establish a sense of mystery. I just think that could have been done in better ways. That said, my eyes were glued to the screen. I love the idea that beliefs, however daft, can become reality that far out in the universe. Yes, I'm talking about the salt.

The 3rd was probably my favorite. I haven't seen the episode the Toymaker was originally in but I think this was a good introduction to what's pretty much a crazy god. Of course he had to have a weakness, which in this case is that he can't cheat at a game. This did lead to a somewhat anticlimactic ending where he was like "oops I didn't catch the ball, guess I'll die", but this is by far the smallest gripe I have with the episodes, cause I've known far bigger stories to have much worse final fight climaxes cough cough Harry Potter book 7, and I understand that there's not much you can write in a scenario like that, so it's fine.

But like

The whole thing is absolutely choc full of spooky moments and amazing gags that made me howl with laughter, and clever moments, and realistic real-life struggles and emotional moments and so many throwbacks, some of which are to moments in the show I doubt most remember or have even seen (Like "Love the moles"). The ending is just so sweet and is a wonderful way to close off Donna's story (that is if it is over, I wouldn't be surprised if the two doctors clash again) and I'm just so glad that my favorite show has risen back to such heights after I practically buried it in the graveyard of my mind. The new doctor also looks like he's gonna be a great time to follow and I can't wait to see where the show goes next. It's far from perfect. But let's face it, the show wasn't perfect back in 2005 either, I was just too young to see its flaws.