Her standard reaction to everything is "hit or threaten people with a knife". It got really tiresome.

 

Would you prefer it if she acted like most female Companions before, and just scream when they see anything scarier than their own shadow?

I'm not saying I completely approve of her extremely violent nature, I'm just pointing out half the point of her character is to basically be the opposite of past Companions.

 

Most of the classic companions save for Sarah Jane, Ace, Jaime, Romana, and Lethbridge-Stewart are all exceptionally one-note and painfully tiresome to watch onscreen. Leela is also exceptionally one-note, it's just a different note than the rest of them. And on that point I maintain that being different (but suffering from the same core problem) does not make her a good character.

But, you know, opinions.

 

Well, I finally finished the Fourth Doctor era. Wow, do I have a lot of thoughts on it.

1. To be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of the wormhole intro with the diamond logo. The logo itself is kind of meh, the wormhole isn't all that impressive, and after 17 seasons of the exact same theme song it starts to get a bit repetitive. The stars intro, on the other hand, is already my favorite Classic Who intro. It's just so apologetically 80s, I can't help but love it.

2. At this point, I have to say three episodes really is the ideal number of episodes for a Classic Who story. It feels like even good stories can have trouble stretching things out to four or even six episodes, and making bad stories longer just makes them worse. It's not that shorter stories are automatically good or longer stories automatically bad, but I do think it would have been better if there were shorter but more stories every season than longer but fewer stories.

3. The first Davros was amazing, while the second one sucked. The first two Masters, with that deformed face, was horrid, while I already like Anthony Ainley's version, possibly more than Delgado's.

4. Harry was a perfectly adequate companion, whose most memorable characteristic were those sideburns of his. Sarah Jane was the best Classic Who companion yet, to the point where I'm half tempted to watch The Sarah Jane Adventures, or even give that K-9 and Company pilot a look. Leela was fun, even if they kind of gave her a "My Fair Lady" shtick. K-9 was a cute little robot, although I can't say I was particularly sad when he finally left. The first Romana was really good, to the point where it's a shame she only stayed for one season. The second Romana always rubbed me the wrong way for some reason, but still nice to see someone match the Doctor. Adric is a slightly less annoying Wesley Crusher, and I can't say I look forward to spending more time with him. Nyssa is more than a bit dull for my taste, although since she's only been in two stories I'm willing to give her a chance. And after only one story I already rather like Tegan and look forward to seeing more of her.

5. Why the hell did New Who stop having companions from across time and space. Other than Sarah Jane (from the Pertwee era) and Harry (who only lasted a season and a half), Baker's Companions have a really wide range of backgrounds that helped keep things interesting. Leela and Nyssa came from other planets, K-9 was a robot from the future, Romana was a fellow Time Lord (complete with her own regeneration), Adric came from a whole other universe, and even Tegan was at least an Australian played by an actual Aussie. Nowadays, they're nearly all Contemporary Brits, with the most exotic the main ones ever get is the Scottish Amy. The only ones with any such diversity are Jack (who was barely a companion), River (also barely a companion), and Nardle (who was always second fiddle to Bill). I'm not saying the show should stop Contemporary Brits altogether, just that they should remember they have a TARDIS and can get Companions from outside the UK every once in a while. Even Ireland would be a welcome change at this point.

6. What can I say about Tom Baker, save that he's awesome? His energy, his charisma, his voice, even that scarf I keep expecting him to trip on, all help make him the best Classic Who Doctor by quite a bit. While Tennent is still my favorite Doctor, I'd say Baker is overall my second favorite (sorry Capaldi). With that said, if half of what I read about him is true, he seemed like quite a pain to actually work with if you didn't earn his respect.

7. Is it me, or did this era of the show absolutely suck in terms of saying goodbye to people? Sarah Jane got an amazing goodbye that left me a bit misty-eyed, but everyone else? Harry was outright abandoned on Earth without so much as a by your leave. Leela, in true My Fair Lady fashion, just marries some boring schmuck who was nice to her. The first Romana was unceremoniously tossed aside with a regeneration, while the second Romana randomly decides to stay in that E-Space with a very hurried farewell to the Doctor. Even Baker himself left on a poor note: dying by gravity, surrounded by people he barely knows, whatever the hell that Watcher was. Kind of ironic how much Baker's regeneration sucked, since Pertwee (a Doctor I despise) had one of the best regenerations of any Doctor.

8. I'd have to say my favorite episode is Genesis of the Daleks, followed by City of Death. The Talons of Weng-Chiang, for reasons I already elaborated on, is my personal most hated episode of all time, if only because it should have known better than to be so appallingly racist.

9. I want to briefly talk about The Key to Time, Doctor Who's first attempt to have a season-long story arc. It was overall a good first attempt, with a decent enough premise, some fun adventures, and a good companion with the first Romana. It was kind of fun trying to guess what the Key segment was disguised as that week, from an entire planet to a necklace. It did have a pretty lousy conclusion though, and it kind of bugs me how after all that we never hear a peep from the Guardians again.

10. I didn't know who Mary Whitehouse was before I started going through Classic Who. But now that I do, I just want to take this as a chance to say that she was an awful, awful person. The only real enjoyment I have over discovering her existence is imagining what a meeting between her and Ayn Rand would look like, considering how very similar yet very different the two of them are.

Well, now to start Davidson. The only thing I know about him is that he has a celery on his jacket, and I will be very disappointed if no one ever attempts to eat it.

 

Sorry about the double post, but I'm all done with Davison's Doctor.

1. Davison's opening credits is the best so far. His face has an intensity that just grabs your attention. A shame it didn't carry over to the actual show.

2. One of the fun things about this project is I get to learn about British history at the same time. And it's doing a great job at making me fully understand Thatcher as the British Reagan, how messed up the jingoism behind the Falklands War really was (especially with Rupert Murdoch leading the charge), and how absolutely everyone involved in the 1984 coal strike were horrible schmucks (with Thatcher being the worst of course).

3. I'm kind of meh on Ainley's Master. I am a fan of his evil laugh, and he pulls off that beard. But otherwise he isn't a particularly compelling villain, falling into the exact same pattern Delgado fell into: come up with some dumb plan, get betrayed/screw up big time, get the Doctor to help him out of his jam, and try and fail to betray the Doctor. I can't even bring myself to care too much about his death, since I already know Ainley's coming back in a season.

4. Adric was absolutely horrible, who over time became a worse version of Wesley Crusher. And I wasn't upset at his death, since he was a bad Companion, only died because of his own arrogance and hubris, and they literally brought him back for a cameo in the very next story. Nyssa was actually pretty good, if terribly underused and leaving them so she can play doctor. I grew rather fond of Tegan, especially since after years of alien companions it was refreshing to get a more human companion and got a sad goodbye. Turlogh is quite possibly the single best male Companion the show ever gave us (including New Who), with a worthy goodbye in his own right. Kamelion barely counts as a Companion, and I have nothing to say on him. It's too early to say much on Peri, although she seems pretty good so far.

5. I was not a fan of Davison's Doctor, at all. He felt a little too nice and a little too inactive for my taste. Even his outfit never said Doctor so much as some cricket player with a piece of celery on his lapel. And even the celery did nothing for me, since it took until his last episode for anyone to comment on that dumb costume move, and when we do get an explanation why he has it it ultimately has nothing whatsoever to do with the story at all. Don't get me wrong, Davison is a pretty good actor, he does have his moments, and besides Peri's distracting cleavage his regeneration scene was really well done. But between my dislike of Davison and the bad writing he usually got, I declare him the second worst Doctor yet, behind Pertwee.

6. Now that I know Davison, I rewatched Time Crash, that charity special where he's with the Tenth Doctor. And for a special all about letting Moffat and Tennent geek out at Davison, I think they got Davison all wrong. He seems way too grumpy and annoyed at Tennent, especially since he never treated Adric like that. I get it's a kids charity special we aren't supposed to take that seriously, but still. Did Davison change his Doctor in the Big Finish stuff or something?

7. In terms of favorite story, I'd have to say The Caves of Androzani, followed by a tie between Mawdryn Undead and Enlightenment. The worst would have to be Black Orchid, whose sole saving grace was watching Adric and Nyssa trying to follow the lunacy that is cricket.

8. I think The Five Doctors deserves a mention, since I have rather mixed feelings about it. It was overall a fun episode, with some great familiar faces, an interesting plot, and Rassilon being so good I get now why New Who brought him back. On the other hand, it also had a long list of wasted opportunities for a reunion of so many old characters. We don't see all the Doctors together until the very end. While it was probably for the best Baker didn't show up and hog all spotlight, his absence was still very inconspicuous. The Brigadier spends most of the episode with Troughton (who he only shared two stories with) but only 15 seconds with Pertwee. Four characters only got quick cameos as illusions that are immediately seen through. Leela (who is specifically on Gallifrey) offered to come back only to get rejected. Benton was going to come back, but left when he was told he wasn't going to recognize Troughton for no reason. Tegan spends half the episode with the First Doctor without doing much fun with it, while Turlogh spends that half on the TARDIS for some reason. K-9 only shows up to remind us K-9 and Company was a thing and get left behind by Sarah Jane. A random Dalek shows up only to be defeated insanely easily shortly afterwards. But the real winner has to be Susan. I can't say I'm her biggest fan, but she got completely shafted in the episode. She's his granddaughter and first Companion, the one who was with him when he went on the run from his old people on a rackety old TARDIS the first time around. She was the first Companion he had to say goodbye to, and gave a farewell so good the episode literally opens on it. And what did they do to her? They don't even bother to show us how she gets kidnapped and just sends her straight to that maze. We don't hear or see a word about what Susan's been up to since she left. Davison barely reacts to seeing her again, while Troughton and Pertwee don't interact with her at all. She gets a broken ankle by tripping on some dirt, and spends half the episode on the TARDIS hanging out with Turlogh. Her goodbye in the end is entirely in the background, instead of moving up front to the other Doctors with a proper goodbye. And for good measure, they originally weren't going to mention in the story Susan was the Doctor's granddaughter (since God forbid that would imply the Doctor had a sexual relationship at some point in the distant past), only for Carole Ann Ford to tell the writers how stupid that is. I don't even like Susan, but if you have to bring her back at least treat her with more respect that that! So as much as I wanted to like that episode, it just did a poor job at reuniting so many old characters.

So yeah, I didn't particularly enjoy this era. Maybe it's just because it was after Tom Baker, maybe the writing is really starting to decline, I just didn't care for this part of the show. Now I'm off to Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor. All I know about him is his really colorful outfit, he got the job after he attended a wedding, and he left on such bad terms he didn't even show up for his own regeneration scene. So that should be fun.

 

And done with the Sixth Doctor. Wow, that was fast.

1. The Trial of the Timelords has my favorite opening theme yet. There's a bit too much neon for my taste, but I'll forgive it since it was the 80s.

2. I liked the switch to two 45 minute episodes. Maybe I'm just saying that because New Who episodes are 45 minutes, but it's a shame they switched back to 25 minute episodes.

3. The Rani was a better and more interesting villain in one story than the Master was in all of Classic Who. Why the hell didn't New Who bring her back yet? I know people talked about Missy turning out to be the Rani, so it's not like the idea never occurred to the show.

4. Similarly, why hasn't New Who done something with the Valeyard yet? He was interesting enough, and now that we're on the 13th Doctor (ignoring the War Doctor and Tennent's double regenerations) we're at the point where he should be showing up. It could be a cool season-arc to show how the Valeyard came into being, and give something for Whitaker to sink her teeth into.

5. The Trial deserves credit as the second attempt to have a season-arc in Doctor Who. The Trial itself was alright, and I liked how they tried to tie the different stories with the Trial. Although I'm kind of bothered how the Doctor used events from his own future, since it raises weird continuity questions (especially in regards to Mel).

6. Props to A Fix With Sontarans for showing one of the scariest moments in Doctor Who history: a serial pedophile in the TARDIS with a small boy. I barely even knew who Jimmy Savile was beforehand, but after reading up on him I don't know who to hate more: Savile for raping/sexually abusing hundreds of children over the course of a 50 year TV career, or the system that knew what he was doing since the 70s but never actually punished him for it and only acknowledged what he did after he died.

7. Peri was a nice enough Companion, but she had a lot of issues with her depiction: making a British actress be American without really doing anything with it, being depicted to be sexually appealing way too often, seemingly every male guest character lusting for her, and the Doctor kind of having an abusive relationship with her (including choking her in his first episode) until the Trial. And her "death" was particularly annoying, since I thought they did a great and tragic job with killing her only to reveal she survived and is married to Brian Blessed for some reason. As for Mel, I kind of hate how we don't get to see her join the Doctor but otherwise I think she's off to a good start. Although am I the only one weirded out by how Bonnie Langford (the actress playing her) is actually younger than Doctor Who?

8. This is the third Doctor in a row who in rapid succession dumps his long-term Companion(s), gets a brand new one, and then regenerates. I don't like it, since it means the Doctor keeps ending his run with characters he (and we) only just met instead of ones we've come to know and love.

9. Ah, Colin Baker, the other extreme to Davison's blandness. I actually liked his Coat of Many Colors, and at times I did enjoy his brand of insanity. But way too often he was way too mean and cruel, especially to Peri. The fact two separate blogs compared he and Peri to an abusive relationship was more than a little telling. He was doing better in the Trial, but he left the show before he had the chance to go any further. I'm also bothered by how he never got a proper goodbye and isn't going to appear in his own Regeneration, something even Baker acknowledged was selfish of him. I probably liked him more than Davison overall, but only barely.

10. My favorite episode has to be The Two Doctors (if only because it reminded me how great Troughton is), followed by Vengeance on Varos. The worst is The Twin Dilemma (especially for starting Baker's run on such a horrid note).

And now, off to McCoy, the last Doctor in the show. Will I find him to be a horrid last gasp of a dying show, or a swan song that ends the things on a positive note?

 

If you found Davison bland (I love Davison's friendly every-man Doctor but to each their own), you'll probably find McCoy to be of a similar flavor. He was meant to be a sort of comic-y band-aid after Colin Baker, a return to 'eccentric niceguy' normalcy if you will. The real problem with McCoy is that the series was dying before he started. The stories in his seasons are uninspired at best. The BBC had stopped caring at that point, and by the time McCoy started to get comfy in the role, they had no budget and no decent writers.

The only redeeming feature of his seasons is Ace. Ace is awesome and a massive step up from Mel.

 

Interesting, because I've read all some stuff that make him sound like a massive manipulator who got people to do pretty shady stuff. Or was that interpretation wrong or exaggerated?

 

The Two Doctors is the only story of Baker's run that I've seen, and I really enjoyed it from what I recall - although admittedly, that's mostly Troughton hamming it up with the cannibal chef.

 

You'll see. He's always sort of affable and positive and bumbling, but in his later series he starts to display a sort of underlying devious gamesmanship to make people do what he wants. He is definitely a talker and a manipulator.

That said, his enemies always just give in at the slightest whiff of being outmaneuvered, which I always felt really undercut the master manipulator aspect tbh.

 

And all done with both McCoy and McGann, and right on time for the show's 56th birthday.

For the Seventh Doctor:

1. I liked the intro, it's pretty cool. The CGI is rather dated, but this is forgivable seeing how it's one of the first shows to have a CGI opening sequence. Kind of crazy how a show that began in the black-and-white era survived into the CGI era.

2. I really didn't like how the Baker-to-McCoy regeneration was handled. I get why the BBC wouldn't want Baker for another season, but they really couldn't work something out, maybe get him just one more episode? The fact McCoy's first episode was lousy doesn't do much to help.

3. This is quite possibly the most consistently good the show's ever been. There were only two episodes out of twelve that were outright bad, everything else was either pretty good or among my top episodes ever. Although I wonder how much of that is because they only had to write four episodes a year. It sucks we ended up with so few episodes, but it might have ironically helped allow for better quality in each episode.

4. I think there's a sort of tragedy with this part of the show's history: as good as it is, it still gets cancelled. I know people were talking about cancelling it years beforehand, but still. Just think what else they could have done with McCoy if given the chance.

5. Battlefield was a better UNIT episode than anything Pertwee was ever in. Fight me on this.

6. Why did they waste their 25th anniversary on Silver Nemesis? Remembrance of the Daleks was literally right there! And whoever thought it cute to have Cybermen in the story just because it's a silver anniversary should be ashamed of themselves.

7. Mel was a perfectly acceptable Companion, with a perfectly acceptable goodbye. As for Ace, now I know why everyone loves her so much. Her character, the show's exploration of her background, her relationship with the Doctor, all were brilliant. She really is the first modern Doctor Who Companion. My only real problem is they never gave her a chance to say goodbye or even mention her in the Movie.

8. McCoy was undoubtably an amazing Doctor, one of the best the show ever did. His charm, his comedy, his manipulations, his outfit, even the way he rolls his "r"s made him my second favorite Classic Doctor (sorry Troughton).

9. The best episode has to be Survival (if only for ending the show on such a great note), followed by Remembrance of the Daleks. The worst has to be Time and the Rani (if only for starting McCoy's run on such a lousy note).

As for the Eighth:

1. I can't say if the opening was the best the show did, but it was certainly the most cinematic. The soundtrack, the wormhole effects, all were an impressive start. No wonder New Who went back to that wormhole for their opening credits.

2. There's a metaphor in regards to McCoy's fate: gets shot at the moment he comes to America, and dies at the hands of Americans who don't understand the Doctor. The regeneration itself was cool, but the circumstances behind it rank as some of the worst the show ever did.

3. Also, it was a mistake to have McCoy show up at all. We spend way too much time either with him dying or McGann's post-regeneration trauma. It would have been better to simply start with McGann, like New Who did with Eccleston.

4. I don't know what bothers me more: that the Doctor is now half-human for some reason, or that it served literally no purpose in the story anyway.

5. Ah, so this is where "The Doctor gets romantic with all his Lady Companions" comes from. I don't specifically hate it here, but the trope got so tiresome after Tennant and Smith that I'm obligated to be annoyed at its very first use.

6. I have strongly mixed feelings about the TARDIS design. I love all the wood, but there are way too many candles and something feels off about it that I can't quite place.

7. Wait, the Doctor can just bring people back to life now? The hell? Why doesn't he do that more often.

8. Why did they make the villain Terminator Master? Especially since the story before this was literally about the Master getting stuck on an exploding planet? Wouldn't the Daleks have been the better villain to show, since new fans are more likely to know what they are while old fans would get excited at a Dalek?

9. Grace was ok as a Companion. Way too rushed as a romantic interest, but she had her moments. Although I found it weird she didn't stick around at the end: she quit her job and broke up with her boyfriend, why not just stay in the TARDIS?

10. McGann himself showed a lot of potential as a Doctor. He could be pretty funny at times, and I liked his outfit. But it's hard to properly judge a Doctor when he was only in one movie (where he doesn't even fully become the Doctor until halfway through). Maybe I'd feel differently if I ever listen to his Big Finish stuff, but for now I have to consider him a perfectly adequate Doctor.

11. If this was for introducing new fans to the Doctor, it did a lousy job properly explaining what Doctor Who is. If this was for long-time fans, it broke with Canon way too often. The plot was so convoluted, confusing, and ended so neatly it's like Steven Moffat wrote it. And everything was so American I felt like I was watching Miracle Day all over again *shudder*. And I say that last one as an American!

So yeah, I was not a fan of the Movie. It might have led to something good if they continued, but I totally see why they stopped with the movie and not pick up the show again for another 9 years.

And with that, I'm finally finished with all of Classic Who. It was a fascinating experience, with some genuinely great things (and more than a few pieces of junk) along the way. It gave me new perspective on New Who (like how the 13th Doctor is an updated version of the 1st), and made me wish they bring back some parts (like The Rani and the Valeyard).

Any recommendations on other Doctor Who stuff I could try next? I have no intention of listening to the Big Finish stuff since as a general rule I don't like podcasts, but I'd be up for other things to watch/read.

 

Well, if Big Finish doesn't interest (I'd really recommend McGann's Dark Eyes series), then how about this trailer for the new series?

 

I'm sure Big Finish stuff is good, I just don't like podcasts. I'm very much a visual person and find the idea of just hearing a story instead of seeing/reading it kind of unappealing to me. There's a reason I skipped most of the missing Doctor Who episodes.

As for the trailer, it looks promising. Hopefully it'll do a better job than last season.

 

Once upon a time, a trailer for new Doctor Who would have made me excited.

Now, I watched it and I just don't care about it.

Its not The Doctor I dislike, its more like I just don't see Dr.Who's "soul" in this new iteration.

Its like when you watch an international version of a show. The characters are the same, but the flavor is completely different.

I still don't know what Jodi Whittaker's Doctor character is about. All the other modern Doctors had a central defining theme, Eccleston was the Doctor coping with PTSD, Tennant was the Highly Emotional Doctor, Smith was the Childish Old Man, Capaldi was the Grumpy Old man, Jodi is.....?
I'll still check out some episodes. I really wish they prove me wrong and actually make good episodes.

 

The trailer looks...alright, I guess? The whole dark "something is coming for me," immediately cutting to cyberman and then having the supporting characters saying "let it come," and "we're a family, and we support you" or sth feels like I've watched the whole series in 3 seconds. And the generic pop/rock music doesn't exactly give much character to the experience. It looks pretty though.

 

I think my main problem with Jodie's Doctor is that they haven't committed to any character traits for her yet. She has touches of zaniness, touches of humor, touches of seriousness, touches of emotive drama, but they never quite fully explore any of these, so she comes off as a bit boring.

Also, I think they need a decent overarcing plot this time around. Now would be a perfect time for the Valeyard and shenanigans from other Time Lords.

 

The thing is I don't necessarily think it's wrong to take a few steps back from Moffat's messianic take on the doctor when the doctor was the show. A more peripheral take could be interesting if done correctly putting the companions, plot and setting of the week front and centre. But I think the doctor, the companion and the story all need to be more interesting for that to work.

I don't think last seasons gimmick of hiring writers who've never written any sci fi before really worked. Hopefully with the return of recurring monsters, it alleviates some of the writing burden allowing them to create more compelling stories? But they could just as easily fuck it up.

 

First episode of the series tonight, and it was quite fun. Not a classic, although it was only part one, so you never know, but entertaining with some interesting concepts, and a twist I didn't expect at all.

Spoiler

He's definitely more Simm than Gomez, but I'm looking forward to more of Dhawan's take on the Master.

 

I didn't even know the new season was starting today. I guess the advertising was lacking?

Off to watch.

 

I will say, having the (probably) evil corporation be called VOR is a...questionable choice, especially with (paraphrased) lines like "VOR is infiltrating every part of our society"...