Episode #271 - Heaven Sent

 

"If you think because she is dead that I am weak, then you understand very little. If you were any part of killing her, and you’re not afraid, then you understand nothing at all. So, for your own sake, understand this. I am the Doctor, I'm coming to find you, and I will never, ever stop."

Episode #271:      Heaven Sent.

Companions:        The 12th Doctor.

Air Date:             28th November 2015

As if the death of his best friend wasn't enough, the Doctor's situation has only gotten worse. What initially started as an attempt to help clear someone of a false murder charge has evolved into to something much worse. Now trapped in an old rusty castle in the middle of an ocean, the Time Lord is being stalked by a mysterious creature that only pauses when he gives up his deepest secrets. What does this thing want? And can the Doctor escape and find his way back home?

Heaven Sent is the continuation of the theme running through this season, which properly started in the previous episode with the death of Clara Oswald and the revelation that someone paid Ashildr to capture the Doctor. Although it is part of an ongoing three part story, each one is separate enough in my mind to deal with each section individually. 

This is actually a very odd story and it feels all too surreal for me. Especially once you work out what is going on closer to the end of the episode. Even so, Heaven Sent still works as an edge of your seat story. It's nice to have an episode that makes the viewer try to work it out before the Doctor does and there are plenty of clues.

One thing that does rub me the wrong way a little with this one is the revelation that the Doctor is just being recreated over and over again until he solves the problem. A situation that takes billions of years, quite literally. It is said that the Doctor's pattern is stored in the hard drive of the teleporter so that it creates an identical copy of him each time. But does this not mean that on some theoretical level, that our Doctor is dead by the end of the story? He would have been the first one out and killed. Everyone after that is just a copy. That's how I read it anyway and I'm sure an argument can be said that each copy is the Doctor. But going by how I see it, the Doctor we have followed for the last forty odd years is now actually deceased and we're left with a kind of teleporter clone (how very Star Trek). That doesn't quite sit with me. However, it is one of those elements where each viewer will take away their own interpretation of events and that is just as a good.

I'm rating this episode as 4 stars. It's not fantastic as of itself but it does work very well and the writer put some thought into it and it shows. It's a thriller of an episode I suppose and for me, Heaven Sent is a better than average episode because of it.

Episode #265 : Under The Lake / Before The Flood

"Listen to me. We all have to face death eventually, be it ours or someone else's."

Episode #265:      Under The Lake / Before The Flood.

Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.

Air Date:             3rd to 10th October 2015.

Arriving on an underwater base under attack, it's up to the Twelfth Doctor and Clara to save the frightened crew. But also onboard is an alien spaceship, and the base is being haunted by the most impossible of things. The Doctor's deepest beliefs are challenged when he encounters something he cannot explain. Can it really be possible? Can ghosts be real?

With this adventure we are back to having a cool new horror themed episode. I have said for a long time that although Doctor Who is a great science fiction show, it is the quality of it's horror stories specifically that really work for me. With Under The Lake we have a story of a crew of scientist types trapped by ghosts of their deceased co-workers. Stuck in the base with them, the Doctor and Clara must find out why the dead have risen, what they actually are and solve the problem without causing a paradox. 

This adventure is very well written and thought out. The writer, Toby Writhouse, did great here. There is a lot of information to relate to the viewer and he manages it perfectly without being boring or dragging it out. The suspenseful, dare I even say spooky, atmosphere is conveyed brilliantly as well.

The ultimate villain, the Fisher King, harkens back to the days of classic Who in my opinion. His look and scheme scream classic one off Doctor Who monster. Think of the Terrileptils for instance. They are monster suits that look the part of what we expect from the show's classic days. It gets a big thumbs up from me for this and shows that classic style stories and villainious types can have a part in the modern day of New Who.

Speaking of the classic days of Doctor Who, Under The Lake is the sort of story that would have worked great back then and could have done well as a four or five part serial. It is a shame that so much of New Who is one off stories with very few multi-part episodes. We get two parters and maybe three at most. I'd like a season to take the old format of four or five stories but with four of five parts again. I think it is all change because modern audiences don't have the staying power to watch something like that these days sadly.

Under The Lake is one of the great Capaldi episodes and I do recommend it as one to watch, if not as an introduction to new viewers. It doesn't bog you down with the background of the universe but does enthral the viewer and does a great job if introducing the characters. Well worth a watch.

Episode #259 : Mummy on the Orient Express

"Would you like to think that about me? Would that make it easier? I didn't know if I could save her. I couldn't save Quell, I couldn't save Moorhouse. There was a good chance that she'd die too. At which point… I would have just moved on to the next… and the next, until I beat it. Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones, but you still have to choose."

Episode #259:      Mummy of the Orient Express.
Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.

Air Date:              11th October 2014.

After their previous trip to the moon ended on a sour note, the Doctor decides to take Clara on a final trip in the TARDIS - "our last hoorah!" The destination? There have been many trains that took the name Orient Express, but there's only ever been one that traverses space! However, they find their luxury trip may take an unexpected turn when they discover there's a supernatural passenger...

Mummy on the Orient Express is the sort of story that harks back to the days of classic Who. Swap the fancy sets for flimsy board and polystyrene, and you could easily have the 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane on a starship called the Orient Express playing out this very scenario. It is a great throw back to how classic and new Who can easily gel together. 

Our two time travelling companions decided to have one last adventure together but it turns out to be somethign more than expected. The premise was originally set up at the end of the 11th Doctor story The Big Bang, when they received a phone call in the TARDIS to say about an Egyptian princess lose on the Orient Express. Seems they never did take up that adventure and the individual behind it all has tried on repeated occasions to get the Doctor to go. Nice tie in.

It is another horror themed adventure with some great special effects, make up and atmosphere. Just what you want from Saturday tea time telly. Capaldi gets to shine in this story with some wonderful dialogue and just the right grumpiness that doesn't push over into the absurd like the previous episode.  This time though it seems to be Clara who takes a funny turn. From being so hurt by the Doctor while they were on the Moon she seems to have happily leapt back into the TARDIS with him with little concern for what had happened last time and in part, this time. 

Other than finding out that the mummy was a former soldier from an ancient war, there is no explanation as to who the mysterious Gus was and what they wanted with the mummy. The episode plays into the theme of this season which is the Doctor's dislike of soldiers but I had wondered whether it was anything to do with the "afterlife" plot with Missy but nothing ever comes back to it so I assume not.

Mummy on the Orient Express is a great episode and I would recommend it as one to watch. One of the best of Capaldi's run on the show.

Episode #252: Deep Breath

"I'm the Doctor. I've lived for over two thousand years, and not all of them were good. I've made many mistakes, and it's about time I did something about that. Clara, I'm not your boyfriend."

Episode #252:      Deep Breath.
Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:              23rd August 2014.

Shortly after his regeneration, the Twelfth Doctor arrives in Victorian London, and Clara Oswald struggles to embrace the new man the Doctor has become. All the while, they reunite with the Paternoster Gang to investigate a series of combustions that have been occurring all around the city.

And so begins the 12th Doctor's era on the show and what a great start it is. Deep Breath is a bit of a rather odd story though. Since the end of The Time of the Doctor, somehow he and Clara ended up back in the Mesozoic, swallowed by a dinosaur (and that is enormously incorrect in it's size) and somehow time travels with it to the Victorian era where robots are stealing body parts. By Doctor Who standards it's probably just another Saturday.

The Doctor's new persona is quite similar to that of the 1st Doctor, in that he is rather a grumpy grandfatherly figure. A bit rude perhaps but also funny. I had wondered whether this was intentional as this is a brand new reset of regenerations. I don;t know whether that was the case but it seems to fit the new personality.

The new element of this story is that the robot body part thieves aren't just a random villain for a one off post-regeneration story. They are in fact connected to a previous story The Girl in the Fireplace. You may remember that one as the story where the 10th Doctor, Rose and Micky fought time travelling robots using body parts to fix their ship. While not from the SS Madame de Pompadour, they are from the sister ship SS Marie Antoinette. It's a nice tie in to a previous story.

Part of the story that doesn't really work for me is Clara at the beginning of the episode. In her recent adventures she has had to deal with the concept and actuality of Time Lord regeneration and yet she seems to not understand it now where the Doctor is concerned. The writers try to make this seem about her being in love with the 13th Doctor and wanting him back over an old man, but it doesn't come off that way to me at all. It takes a final moment of the episode to reconcile this which it does to an extent.

The adventure is a good one. It has adventure, action, excitement, humour and a slight bit of horror. It has some great dialogue too, from Clara's logic about torture to the final unanswered confrontation between the Doctor and the half-faced robot. Even the phone call from the 11th Doctor is a good emotional ride. Eventually it ends with a bizarre twist involving a mysterious woman named Missy in some sort of "afterlife". An interesting set up for later in the series.

A great start to the new series and a new Doctor.

Episode #251: The Time of the Doctor

" We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me. "

Episode #251:      The Time of the Doctor.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:              25th December 2013.

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe's deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars - among them, the Doctor. Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his companion must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

At the end of Matt Smith's time on Doctor Who we nice big Christmas special that not only wraps up a number of open mysteries but sees him regenerate into his 12th/13th incarnation in the form of Peter Capaldi. We finally see the outcome of the crack in the universe that appeared in his first season, the question hidden in plain sight and the answer to just how many regenerations does a Time Lord actually have. All wrapped up in a nice package.

While it starts off in the usual way of Christmas specials being set on Christmas it thankfully does not stick to it like previous specials did. It moves away from that to being set in a small town called Christmas instead which although strange doesn't feel like the Christmas element is being shoved in your face. Just for that immediately it gets a thumbs up.

The story shows us what is supposed to have happened to make Trenzalore look like it did when we last visited it with The Great Intelligence. A mysterious message is cast through all time and space through the crack in the universe which when translated turns out to be a question that only the Doctor can answer - his name. Hence I suppose why the show is (retconned here) called Doctor Who I guess. When the assembled alien menaces attack the town of Christmas is saved by the Doctor and his tenuous allies from the Papal Mainframe - the Silence - over and over again through the centuries until the Doctor is an old man at the end of his life. Although since events played out differently than we saw in The Name of the Doctor does that mean that The Great Intelligence is not dead after all and could return? Good question.

Importantly we learn that a Time Lord does indeed just have 13 lives and the rumours of that going around since the latter years of the 4th Doctor are true. Thankfully the Time Lords intervene and present our hero with a whole new set of lives. They promised the Master the same thing in The Five Doctors had he been successful. Speaking of which, we see once again the seal of the high council that the 5th Doctor took from the Master in that story. Nice bit of throwback there.

The story itself is good, exciting and emotional at the end. It is fun which is what I would expect from a Doctor Who special at Christmas. However it does get a little silly in places again. Wooden cybermen and sontarans reduced to a cheap laugh especially did not sit well with me. It seems that the Sontarans haven't been given a serious appearance since the reappeared in The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky under the 10th Doctor.

It is a shame to see Matt Smith go as although I was not convinced when he was first announced he grew on me very quickly. His first few moments in The Eleventh Hour really enamored me to his character. Even now I do miss him. He is probably my favourite modern Doctor to date. The end of an era. Let's see where we go from here.

Episode #248 : The Night of the Doctor

"Four minutes?! That's ages! What if I get bored, need some books, a television? Anyone for chess? Bring me knitting."

Episode #248:      The Night of the Doctor.
Companions:        The 8th Doctor.
Air Date:              14th November 2013.

Still trying to skirt around the edges of the Last Great Time War, the Eighth Doctor is forced to fully join the conflict by the mysterious Sisterhood of Karn. Killed while trying to save a woman who hates him simply for being a Time Lord, the Doctor gets to choose what his next incarnation will be like. He arranges for a warrior... but makes the darkest sacrifice of his life in order to be reborn.

So this is a short, the first of two, to serve as a prequel to the 50th anniversary special and it brings with a special treat for us fans, we finally get to the see the 8th Doctor regenerate. Sort of. For some time now the fan base had been discussing what had happened to the 8th Doctor after his one appearance and then countless audio dramas (and whether they were canonical or not). At last we learn what happened.

We also get a reappearance of the Sisterhood of Karn, not seen since the 4th Doctor story The Brain of Morbius. While that may mean nothing to the casual modern view to us old school fans of the show, it's an exciting element. I do think we need more references to the days of the original show. I've said quite a few times on this blog and I don't expect to not keep saying that. The Sisterhood hasn't changed much from what we see and they are ready to intervene in the Time War. They do this by saving the Doctors life and giving him the opportunity to choose his next incarnation. So perhaps the fault is not with the War Doctor but with the 8th incarnation. He chooses to be a warrior and regenerates into a younger version of the War Doctor, meaning that he has been fighting the Daleks for some time.

The Night of the Doctor is only a short film running seven and a half minutes but it is really well done and helps cement where we last saw the Doctor prior to his 9th self appearing in Rose.

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Episode #247 : The Name of the Doctor

"You didn't listen, did you? You lot never do. That's the problem. The Doctor has a secret he will take to the grave. It is discovered. He wasn't talking about my secret. No, no, no, that's not what's been found. He was talking about my grave. Trenzalore is where I'm buried."

Episode #247:      The Name of the Doctor.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:              18th May 2013.

A prophecy is coming true. The Eleventh Doctor is summoned to Trenzalore where it was said he would fall. But what does the alleged site of his final battle have to do with the mystery of Clara — or is it Oswin — Oswald? Can the Paternoster Gang help him avoid his apparent destiny? And most of all...Doctor who?

What a fantastic ending to this season of the show. We get a host of the Doctor's friends together, the return of the Great Intelligence, the final revelation of what and were Trenzalore is and at last the resolution to the impossible girl story line.

It is difficult to explain how good this story is because it isn't any one thing. It's the emotion, the perfectly written scenes and dialogue and the awe moments when everything starts to come together. I have said it before and I'm repeating it now, when Stephen Moffat really puts his mind to it we get some phenomenal episodes. The Name of the Doctor has it all whether you are a modern fan or a classic one. The brief flashes of the old incarnations really gives me the giddy feelings watching this one.

But who is the mysterious Doctor not spoken about? And what a coup getting esteemed (now late) actor John Hurt in for that role is just a masterstroke. That all gets explained soon enough as well. You have to remember that this was leading up to the 50th anniversary episode and we're in for a wild ride.

Anyway, getting away from the excitement, the final set up for the overarching plot this season brings us finally to Trenzalore. This planet was mentioned by the headless Dorium during his "doctor who?" prophecy at the end of A Good Man Goes to War. The Great Intelligence has planned all this to get his revenge on the Doctor for thwarting his schemes. His plan being to enter the Doctor's time stream and cause his adventures to fail although this will destroy him. Clara realizes that the "impossible girl" is her existing in all the Doctor's time lines helping him out and stopping the Great Intelligence. Quite clever really although it does in my mind cause a few little paradoxes not to mention that this future for the Doctor and Trenzalore will never come about.

The Name of the Doctor is a great ending to the story arc and is a nice stepping stone to what comes next.

Episode #244 : Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.

"She's going to die if you don't help me. Don't get into a spaceship with a mad man. Didn't anyone teach you that?"

Episode #244:      Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:              27th April 2013.

The Doctor's TARDIS is captured by brothers running a salvage company in space. In the process, Clara gets lost inside the time machine. To save her, the Eleventh Doctor promises the brothers they can have the TARDIS if they'll help search for his missing companion. They agree, only to find that what lies at the centre of the TARDIS can kill them all.

This adventure breaks the usual mould by confining the characters to the inside of the TARDIS as opposed to running around an alien planet or a starship. In a way it reminds me of the 1st Doctor short story The Edge of Destruction which did something similar. The difference here is that rather than the companions going slightly mad, time has ruptured and now potential "time zombies" are running lose in the TARDIS corridors seeking to transform their real selves into their zombie selves.

As much as this episode is a cool adventure racing through the dangerous insides of the TARDIS, it is more the references that give me a big geek smile. Mostly though I was pleased that unlike the 4th Doctor story The Invasion of Time, which quite frankly was almost too awful for words, we have a decent showcase of what the interior of the TARDIS is like. In that older story the BBC just used random real rooms rather than making them appear as though the characters were running through the TARDIS. This time they have done a much better job of showing us what the inside of the machine looks like while keeping it in keeping with our expectations.

Although everyone forgets by the end of the episode, the Doctor and Clara have a revelation together that he has met her twice before and each time she has died. Just who is she? We'll find out soon enough.

I rate this one a 4 because while it does little to further the season plot arc, it is a really enjoyable adventure and one different from the usual fare. It has something for the classic era fans as well, which will usually help bump the rating as well.

Episode #242 : Cold War

"It's an Ice Warrior! A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back."

Episode #242:      Cold War.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:               13th April 2013.

In 1983, the tensest point of the Cold War, a Soviet submarine discovers a strange creature frozen in the ice of the Arctic. When one of the Firebird's crew breaks it free, it starts attacking. As the crew strikes back, the Eleventh Doctor warns them that the attack could be considered a declaration of war on the entire Ice Warrior race.

I'm a fan of bringing back the classic monsters to new Who and at long last we have a return of the Ice Warriors, and about time. Not only do we get a return of these Martian aliens but the episode expands upon them and gives us much more information than the classic third Doctor episodes ever did. Just a shame that the look of the actual Ice Warrior, Skaldak, has to be CGI rather than a man in a rubber mask but I can accept that given we have decent special effects these days to do it.

Having the story set during the Cold War and on a submarine brings back happy memories of a childhood favourite, Warriors of the Deep, which for all intents and purposes tells a very similar story to this just with Silurians and Sea Devils instead.

Cold War seems a story very much built around showcasing Clara over the Doctor. Our main hero is his usual top form but Clara gets most of the on screen fun, having to interact with Skaldak and running about the corridors of the Submarine. With other companions I might have grumbled a bit about that but Clara grows on you very quickly and I at least don't mind an episode where she gets most of the limelight.

As episodes go this is quite fun. It doesn't try too hard and it doesn't go the silly route, and unlike many of the modern adventures I can quite easily imagine any of the classic Doctors playing this adventure very well.

Episode #241 : The Rings of Akhaten

"I walked away from the Last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe, and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time, no space – just me. I've walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman! I've watched universes freeze and creations burn! I have seen things you wouldn't believe! I have lost things you will never understand! And I know things. Secrets that must never be told, knowledge that must never be spoken, knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze! SO, COME ON, THEN! TAKE IT! TAKE IT ALL, BABY! HAVE IT! YOU HAVE IT ALL!!"

Episode #241:      The Rings of Akhaten.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:               6th April 2013.

Clara Oswald wants to see something awesome, so the Eleventh Doctor whisks her off to the inhabited rings of the planet Akhaten, where the Festival of Offerings is in full swing. Clara meets the young Queen of Years as the pilgrims and natives ready for the ceremony. But something is stirring in the pyramid, and a sacrifice will be demanded.

I really enjoy this episode. On so many levels this is almost perfect. What grabs me the most is that this is a story about Clara's first proper journey through time and space with the Doctor, and she gets to experience all these alien races and strange environments with a real sense of wonder. That is some thing that I feel we don't get enough of from new companions in the show. We also have a nice big monolithic villain for the story that can't really be defeated in the conventional way and the Doctor has to take that life and death risk in order to do so. In doing so Clara sees the real side of her new mentor - someone who while somewhat silly and strange is more than willing to lay his life on the line to save others. Plus the episode has some just awesome dialogue, the sort that still gives those goosebumps when you hear the Doctor doing his rant.

If that is the case why don't I give this a full five star rating? it is simply the case that this is the first real trip out for Clara and thus this episode is really the character introduction story. Certainly more so than the previous one. When you've seen one companion introduction story you have pretty much seen them all. It has nothing new in that regard.

This story does also continue the Doctor's fascination with his new "impossible girl" and we see him continue his search for answers by following the time line of Clara's parents. A random event brings them together and we see them have a child, raise her and then the unfortunate but not explained death of her mother. The date of her death does coincide with the Auton attack from the episode Rose but there is nothing to actually say that she died during that incursion. We are following the Doctor's journey of discovery as he tries to work out who she is.

The Rings of Akhaten is one of those stories that is self contained but I'd recommend to anyone wanting a good episode to watch and possibly guide someone into the show. It may not have the big action sequences but it does carry itself well and has some just awesome dialogue moments.

SJA #26 : The Curse of Clyde Langer

"According to legend, Hetocumtek was a vicious warrior god who descended from the skies and tried to enslave the people of the Great Plains. But the story goes that the tribe's greatest medicine men came together and tricked Hetocumtek, imprisoning him in a totem pole."

Episode #26:        The Curse of Clyde Langer.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Mister Smith, Rani Chandra, Clyde Langer and Sky.
Air Date:              10th to 11th October 2011.

It's raining fish from the skies! Sarah's investigations lead the gang to the Museum of Culture, where the ancient god Hetocumtek may offer answers. Yet when Clyde touches the totem pole, his family and friends savagely turn against him and he is thrown out of their lives!

The Curse of Clyde Langer is a really rather good episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures. It's another good horror themed story, perfect for children. They can enjoy the spooky elements while the rest of us can read between the lines and see a story that might have done well (or better) as a Doctor Who or Torchwood episode.

The story is about a mysterious totem pole which holds the essence of some evil alien. Clyde somehow has the power to defeat it and in order to protect itself, it turns everyone against Clyde. The essence of a good horror story is in there. I really would have liked to see this expanded beyond just the two part story format.

Unlike the previous story Sky is no longer an annoyingly naive young girl and she feels like a part of the Sarah Jane family at last. Shame that the show ended before she could get further into the role. Although this story is about Clyde and not her, which may have helped.

This is a great story but without knowledge of the characters and what has gone before it can't stand on it's own like many Doctor Who episodes. You need to feel the connection between the characters.

Epsiode #234: Asylum of the Daleks

"These are the Daleks who survived me."

Episode #234:      Asylum of the Daleks.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Air Date:               1st September 2012.

Insane Daleks are about to escape the Dalek Asylum where they are kept. The rest of the Daleks call on their greatest enemy, the Doctor, along with his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams, to lower the defences so they can destroy the Asylum. Can the Doctor save the day, along with his companions' marriage, as easily as he can fix his bow-tie?

The season starts up with a fantastic adventure for the Doctor and his companions. Normally, I am like a lot of modern viewers who grumble about Daleks being used in every season of the new show but with this story I forgive them. Primarily because this adventure is a great throwback for the old classic fans as it features daleks from throughout the run of the show and even makes references to a number of classic stories. My favourite, the special weapons dalek, even gets a brief showcase but unfortunately only in the background.

Other than the daleks the focus of this story is about the companions. Since Amy and Rory last travelled with the Doctor they have had a bad time in their relationship to the point that they are on the verge of splitting up. It takes the Doctor and the dangers of this adventure to bring them back together again. Also, we are introduced very briefly to Oswin, a young woman trapped in the Asylum. I won't spoil her plot for those who haven't seen this but suffice to say this isn't the last time we see her... sort of. Her inclusion is a nice set up for later in the show. The adventure isn't about the daleks but about the companions and it works really well.

The adventure is fun and feels like the old classic dalek stories which is why I enjoy it so much. But there is a niggle towards the end. The Doctor's existence or identity is removed from the daleks collective memory before he makes his escape. But why then is he remembered in later stories? Was it just those daleks in the council that have their memories altered or what? It isn't explained and it niggles in the back of my head.

This is a great adventure and certainly up there on my watch list.

Episode #230 : The God Complex

" I can't save you from this. There's nothing I can do to stop this. I stole your childhood and now I've lead you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens. Forget your faith in me. I took you with me because I was vain. Because I wanted to be adored. Look at you. Glorious Pond. The girl who waited for me. I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man in a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are."

Episode #230:      The God Complex.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams.
Air Date:               17th September 2011

The Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory investigate a hotel of horror where repeat business is low but the body count is high, where a mighty monster stalks the corridors and the rooms hold visions of angels, apes, and creepy clowns. Who — or what — has brought them to this place? Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the residents check out in grisly style?

The God Complex is a much enjoyable and well written adventure than the recent few. It deals with a mysterious hotel which seems to be abducting people from different planets and forcing them to face their fears, which results in their death at the hands of a powerful monster. It is a much more cerebral story but doesn't push it too far. Instead it features just enough weirdness and fun Doctor moments to make it enjoyable.

In The Girl Who Waited we saw character development for Rory and Amy. This adventure gives us some time for the Doctor. It builds upon the foundations that New Who has build with the Doctor being much more aware now of how his adventures affect his companions. He knows that his time is almost over and it is on his mind. He also has to destroy the faith that Amy has in him, much like he did to Ace in the Curse of Fenric, so that he can save her. He knows what his adventures could mean to his companions and at the end of his life he is beginning to understand the threat he is to them. Maybe I care more for the Doctor's character development than for his companions, but it seems to work for me more when it deals with the main hero.

It isn't all doom and gloom however. This episode has a lot of humour as well. David Walliams makes a great appearance as an awkward alien from a world which has been invaded more times than any other in the universe. Even the planet's national anthem is a welcome song to any invading empire.

It is nice to see a tie to a classic episode again. The monster behind this horror mystery is connected to the Nimon faced by the 4th Doctor. I've said it before and I'll probably repeat myself again, but I get a lot more enjoyment out of New Who when it does these little tie ins to the classic show.

Definitely a great episode and one worth watching.

Episode #227 : Let's Kill Hitler

"Well, I was on my way to this gay gypsy Bar Mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, "Gosh, the Third Reich's a bit rubbish. I think I'll kill the Führer." Who's with me?"

Episode #227:      Let's Kill Hitler.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, River Song, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams.
Air Date:              27th August 2011.

In the desperate search for Melody Pond, the TARDIS crash lands in Thirties Berlin. The Doctor comes face to face with the greatest war criminal in the Universe. And Hitler. Old friendships are tested to their limits as the Doctor suffers the ultimate betrayal and learns a harsh lesson in the cruelest warfare of all. As precious time ebbs away, the Doctor must teach his adversaries that time travel has responsibilities. And he must succeed before an almighty price is paid.

After a short hiatus the show comes back with a bit of a corker. In this story the Doctor meets Amy's childhood friend Melody who turns out to be a bit of a bad egg. She hijacks the TARDIS and takes them back to kill Hitler. Melody turns out to be a previous incarnation of River Song, one brainwashed to assassinate the Doctor by the Silence. It isn't a particularly serious episode being very much comedic although it does explain a lot of what happened in the previous half of the season.

Outside of the comedy elements, the point of this story really is to explain the back story to the current series from who River Song is and why she is prison, who are the Silence, to the death of the Doctor in the first episode of the season. It's a clever twist and not one that I would have thought of previously. I really enjoy the back story to River Song in this episode. From killer to the Doctor's future lover in one short story.

The episode title is a bit of a ruse really. Hitler only features in about five minutes and spends the rest of it locked in a cupboard.

I won't spoil anything, so it's going to be a short review really, but this story is well worth watching although it probably won't make much sense if you haven't seen the previous episodes/

Episode #226: A Good Man Goes to War

"This was exactly you. All this, all of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name? Doctor: the word for healer and wise man throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word "doctor" means "mighty warrior". How far you've come. And now they've taken a child. The child of your best friends. And they're going to turn her into a weapon, just to bring you down. And all this, my love... in fear of you."

Episode #226:      A Good Man Goes To War.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, River Pond, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams.
Air Date:              4th June 2011.

On the asteroid Demon's Run, Amy Pond has given birth. But the villainous Madame Kovarian and the religious order of the silence are waiting to make a collection that tears Amy's world apart. Across the galaxy, the Eleventh Doctor and Rory Williams are assembling an army to fight the battle that lies ahead, whilst in Stormcage, River Song prepares to escape for what may be the last time. For this is the battle of Demon's Run. On this day, the Doctor will rise higher than ever and fall so much further, and finally, this is the day he discovers who River Song is.

Where do I start with this story? It is big. Each series of New Who has contained it's own plot line that builds and builds before reaching, hopefully, an awesome finale. A Good Man Goes to War is no different, other than it builds up to this mid-season break and ends on a real corker. A good few plot lines that have been building or hanging get resolved or at least opened up here. Mainly, who the mysterious eye patch lady is, who River Song is and who was the little girl from The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon? Even now I get goose bumps when the revelations come up at the end of this story.

We are introduced to three new characters in this story who become recurring allies of the Doctor. Madame Vastra (a Silurian), her lover/servant Jenny and a Sontaran nurse named Strax. Although not called such on screen, they are known as the  Paternoster Gang (Paternoster Row being the street in Victorian London where they reside). These characters have quickly become fan favourites.

I won't spoil the plot here as I think this is a great episode to watch and learn rather than be told. However, watching it did reveal to me why I think certain stories in New Who work better than most. Part of it is the plot and the excitement they generate but more specifically I think it is the perfect dialogue. Some writers seem to just coast through it sometimes getting those moments of exposition just right, but then you get some who seem to strike the right cord. The quote above is one that gets me every time. We learn so much from that short speech and it opens up our understanding of our beloved Time Lord. River's speech above mirrors, for me, Davros' speech about the Doctor from The Stolen Earth / Journey's End. We all look to the Doctor as a hero or even anti-hero and we see what he does. We give him the big thumbs up but really throughout time and space he has become the cause of so much bloodshed and destruction in order to achieve the desirable outcome. Does the final outcome outweigh the deed that brings them about? For the Doctor we say yes but is that right? These sort of questions make for me the better episodes.

So why then is this a 4 star story not a 5? Well, I'm being resistant I think. The 11th Doctor's adventures, as I have said many many times, has a certain strange fairy tale quality that doesn't always sit well with me. A Good Man Goes to War has those elements and pushes my personal enjoyment down slightly. Had it not featured strange headless monks and space worthy spitfire planes, for example, I might have given it a 5 star rating.

Episode #224: The Doctor's Wife

"I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away. And you were the only one mad enough."

Episode #224:      The Doctor's Wife.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams.
Air Date:              14th May 2011.

The Eleventh Doctor receives a message from an old Time Lord friend. The message brings him, Rory Williams and Amy Pond to another universe where they meet an alien who eats TARDISes.

One of the better and more enjoyable stories of the 11th Doctor. Having received a message from another Time Lord, the Doctor and his companions find themselves trapped in a pocket universe with an asteroid monster that feeds on the Artron energy. The TARDIS itself is forced into a human body and her and the Doctor must rescue Amy and Rory, recover the TARDIS and escape back into the real universe.

What makes this story so good is the interaction between Idris (the TARDIS) and the Doctor. Famed author Neil Gaiman does such a magnificent job with this story. We get some great back story from Idris about who exactly stole who on Gallifrey all those years ago. The only thing that prevents me from giving this story a 5 star rating is that I just don't like the villain nor the chase sequence through the TARDIS. I dislike it enough that I can't give this one more than 4 stars.

Back in the SJA episode Lost in Time, there is a character who has been canonically named as the Corsair, and he (or she) is mentioned in this one. Now definitely deceased. In passing the Doctor mentions that the Corsair was once a female which has kicked off the silly (in my opinion) idea that Time Lords can regenerate into different genders. I don't like that idea myself.

There is a lot to like in this episode and it certainly goes on my list of episodes that everyone should watch.

Episode #222: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon

"Safe? No! Of course you're not safe! There's about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world, but if you want to pretend you're safe just so you can sleep at night, then, OK, you're safe. But you're not really."

Episode #222:      The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, River Song, Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Air Date:              23rd to 30th April 2011.

Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song and the Eleventh Doctor receive a mysterious summons that takes them on an adventure to 21st century Utah and Florida in 1969. Along the way they meet Richard Nixon, president of the United States of America, and former FBI agent Canton Everett Delaware III.

With this story the newest series kicks off with an excellent adventure. It begins the adventures that deal with the mysterious "Silence". These were first referenced in the 11th Doctor's first adventure, The Eleventh Hour, with the phrase "Silence will fall". These aliens resemble tall, thing creatures reminiscent of Grey aliens from UFO lore. At this time we don't learn a lot about them other than they seem to be everywhere in 1969 Earth and that no one can remember them unless they are looking directly at them.

We are also introduced abut very briefly to the mysterious eye patch lady who plays a bigger part at the end of the series. Her appearance her opens up some intriguing questions (assuming you haven't seen the later episodes).

Another reference we have goes back to the previous season with an episode called The Lodger. the mysterious time ship on the roof either reappears or there is at least another one. A nice tie in to connect the series.

There is a lot of strange cross time line elements to this story, mainly dealing with the Doctor and his companions trying to stop his death sometime in 2011 at the hands of a mysterious astronaut who is also present in 1969. It works in this story as the writers have taken the opportunity to make sure everything fits together. As a future element we also learn that Amy is pregnant.

I really enjoy this one because other the very beginning it keeps a steady pace of action and adventure going all the way to the end. It also has a nice science fiction horror vibe that works spot on. A sort of alien psychological horror I would call it.

The final culmination to the story is really rather inspired and, at least in myself, generated a very exciting sensation. In some elements this adventure could be better but I have no real grumbles about it. Very well done.

Episode #221 : Space & Time

"Oh, so this is how it all ends, Pond flirting with herself. True love at last."

Episode #221:      Space / Time.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Air Date:              18th March 2011.

The Eleventh Doctor is doing repairs on the TARDIS with Rory Williams' help, but thanks to Amy Pond they make a mistake that could leave them trapped in the TARDIS forever.

This was a special episode created for the BBC charity telethon Comic Relief back in 2011. Although created as a bit of fun for the show it has been accepted as canonical to the show. The story is simply that the Doctor and Rory are making repairs to the TARDIS in flight but something goes wrong when Rory looks up and see's up Amy's skirt through the glass floor above, and pulls the wrong cable out. There follows some comical time travel high jinks as they use the temporal situation to tell their future selves how to fix the problem. Despite the potential paradoxes they fix the situation and get under way.

I love these little filler episodes because it condenses down well and in this case is genuinely funny. It holds the fun elements that younger viewers enjoy but also contains enough disguised rude elements to have the teenagers and adults laughing along.

As the whole thing rocks in at under 9 minutes there isn't much more to say than enjoy this slice of Doctor Who fun.

SJA #23 : Lost in Time

"The tapestry of time is a fragile thing. Apply the slightest pressure, and the threads of history can unravel. But you understand that, don't you, Sarah Jane?"

Episode #23:        Lost in Time.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Rani Chandra and Clyde Langer.
Air Date:              8th to 9th November 2010.

A harmless investigation turns into an epic quest across time and space. Sarah Jane and the gang are separated by the enigmatic Shopkeeper to find themselves in three different time-zones throughout history – doing battle against ghost hunters, Nazis, Tudors and a mysterious parrot called Captain!

Along comes another Sarah Jane Adventures episode that I thoroughly enjoyed. Recruited my a mysterious shopkeeper and his parent, the adventurers are split up and sent into different time zones to recover pieces of a temporal artifact, the chronosteel. Clyde arrives during the second world war, and helps thwart a Nazi invasion. Rani finds herself in service to Lady Jane Gray in her last hours and Sarah Jane helps a 19th century ghost hunter save the lives of two children in the 21st century.

I like this story because it brings home the time traveling historical stories of the early days of Doctor Who. Although I wasn't a fan of them the modern stories can be done so much better even in just a brief hours worth of television. In particular the life and death of Lady Jane Gray, an historical figure I had never heard of prior to watching this episode when televised. Having watched it, I was moved to read up on the actual events.

As for the mysterious shopkeeper we never learn who he or his parrot companion are but according to The Brilliant Book 2012, and a blog post from Neil Gaiman, Gaiman and Russell T Davies were both of the personal opinion that the Shopkeeper was in fact the Corsair, a swashbuckling Time Lord friend of the Doctor's mentioned in the television story The Doctor's Wife.

I do like this particular adventure a lot and it shows what the show could do when the writers put their minds to it. More like this would have been preferable to the overly basic children's stories.

SJA #21: Death of the Doctor

"Because your memories are more powerful than anything else on this planet. Just think of it. Remember it. But properly. Properly. Give the Memory Weave everything. Every planet, every face, every madman, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."

Episode #21:        Death of the Doctor.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Rani Chandra, Clyde Langer, Mr Smith, the 11th Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:              25th to 26th October 2010.

When the Doctor is declared dead, old companions Sarah Jane and Jo Grant meet for the first time and join forces to discover the truth. As an interstellar conspiracy gathers around UNIT HQ, Clyde finds he holds the fate of the Time Lord in his hand – quite literally!

They are not many adventures among the Sarah Jane Adventures that get me as excited as many Doctor Who ones do, but Death of the Doctor hits nearly all my buttons. Any story that brings in so many references, and a former companion, from the classic show is bound to do it. Throw in the Doctor and we're away! This story unites Sarah Jane with the 11th Doctor and her predecessor Jo Grant, and together this adventure works so well for both younger fans and us grognards who remember the good old days.

The story itself revolves around a group of renegade aliens, the Shansheeth, a sort of space vultures who also serve as the galaxy's undertakers (I guess Necros puts them out of business one day?) who come up with a plan to stop death all together and for that they need the TARDIS. Stealing the time machine and trying to use his former companions to create a psychic version of the key kicks things off. The bannerman road gang are joined by Jo Grant and the 11th Doctor to stop them and recover the TARDIS. It is a simple enough plot hook but as I have mentioned it is the frequent references both in dialogue and in screen snippets to the classic show that really make it so enjoyable.

However, it isn't all just fun and games. Although used perhaps as a throwaway filler section of dialogue there is some wonderful exposition between Clyde, Rani and Rani's father about how people handle the death of a loved one which is really quite moving.

CLYDE: Luke says Sarah Jane's gone mad. 
HARESH: Don't be so rude. He wouldn't say mad about his own mother. 
CLYDE: No. He said, nutty, fruity, loop the loop, tonto, barmy, bonkers. Be fair, though, sir, he's worried. 
HARESH: It's like your mum. Remember when Grandad died? 
RANI: She washed everything. Curtains, furniture, me. She even washed the walls. Who washes walls? It went on for days, and then she just started crying. 
HARESH: It takes time, because when someone dies it's so massive, it's like you can't fit it all inside your head. That's what Sarah Jane's doing. She's denying it. 
CLYDE: So, what do we do? 
HARESH: Wait. That's all you can do. Friends just wait. 

Death of the Doctor was written by Russel T Davis and oddly I find that he does a better job in this episode of writing the 11th Doctor than was done for the 10th Doctor in The Wedding of Sarah Jane. Maybe that's just me though but it certainly sounded a lot better.

This adventure is one I certainly would consider watching if you want the best of the Doctor's adventures.