The Official MZ Doctor Who Thread!

[sentaison]

Torchwood had it's moments but overall there's a reason it didn't last. OTOH it introduced me to Burn Gorman who's now one of my favorite "Hey it's that guy!" working in genre films and tv.

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

Tonight we watched the next two episodes to Torchwood along with The Runaway Bride for DW.

They Keep Killing Suzie - Another average episode. I'm not really sure what there is to tell about this one other than Suzie doesn't do anything to make me want to like her or even feel sorry for her. The whole plot being based around a plan she made months in advanced seems quite farfetched, especially with it requiring the bald biker dude to follow her instructions. I do love the scene when Jack has to call the police chief and tells her they are locked in their base and can't get out. That scene alone does make the episode worth it.

Random Shoes - Eh, I don't know how to feel about this one. It has an interesting concept, but it's so god damn boring. Gwen also feels a bit out of character here. Speaking of Gwen, did she even tell Reese what she was doing? Or is she too busy cheating on him with Owen to care?

The Runaway Bride - I hated Donna when I initially watched this one, and while I still don't care for Donna's portrayal in this thing, I'm okay with it now knowing how her character progresses over time. On the other hand, the spider queen is just laughably bad. I'm not sure if it is the over-acting or the ridiculous face, but she doesn't come off as a threatening villain. More like some 60s Adam West Batman joke. Still, it is a vast improvement over the previous Xmas special and I love the bits when even the Doctor is getting annoyed at Donna for keeping him from leaving at the end.

[Dr Kain]

Two more episodes of Torchwood down:

Out of Time - This one felt more like it belonged in The Twillight Zone than Torchwood, but it was good. Really good by Torchwood standards. However, it also showed how much of a worthless despicable piece of "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" Owen is. God damn I am so glad he dies in the next season. What a wretched wanker. They really do a great job at making you feel sorry for the father while the teen girl can easily adapt to her new world since she's young enough.

Combat - More of Owen's assholery. Ugh. Also, Gwen is really becoming an unbearable brat too. She cheats on Reese, tells him about it, and then wipes his memory clean of the confession. What a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" she is. She got what she deserved by him not forgiving her. On the other hand, the concept of people using the Weevils for sport sounds about right even if the way it is executed was down right dumb.

[Dr Kain]

Finished the first season today.

Captain Jack Harkness - This episode was interesting and might be the best of the season. It had a lot of touching moments while keeping you interested in the plot.

End of Days - I'm not sure where to faul this one. It's not a bad episode, but it doesn't make for a stellar season finale. Too much is crammed into the plot, but the worst part is how everything just falls to pieces in the last act. It's a mess of a finale that makes little sense as if they were writing the ending as they were filming the episode. It also doesn't feel epic like a finale should. There's very little continuity relating back to rest of the season outside of quick visions, but none of the plot points come into play in this at all. A finale should feel grandiose and make the whole season feel like it was worthy of my time. This finale feels half-assed and more like being just another episode with a randomized plot.

Overall, this first season was an even bigger train wreck than I remember. THere were too many plots that went nowhere or had no purpose on the overall story at all. Of course, it also lacked an over arching story, which hurt it immensely in the end. If you're going to "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" me, I want it to be pleasurable. This whole season felt more like a, "Well maybe... I could, but I'm not sure I want to do more than a quick tug at the joy stick." Wow, that came out a lot weirder sounding than I thought it would, but so did this entire season. Such a waste. I really hope that Season 2 is the vast improvement I remember it being.

If I were to rank the episodes, it would probably be:

1. Captain Jack Harkness
2. Ghost Machine
3. Small Worlds
4. Countrycide
5. Out of Time
6. Everything Changes
7. Random Shoes
8. Greeks Bearing Gifts
9. End of Days
10. They Keep Killing Suzie
11. Combat
12. Cyberwoman
13. Day One

Though to be honest, 8-11 is pretty interchangeable as they were all "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" episodes.

[Dr Kain]

We watched the first 7 episodes to Tennant's second season today.

Smith and Jones - Part Rhino, part alien, all cop. Rhino Cops! Bad aliens, bad aliens, whatcha going to do when we come for you. <ahem> Sorry. Anyway, this was a really solid premier that has a lot of excellent moments from the Doctor trolling Martha and Martha comes across as a really strong companion right off the bat. The plot is interesting and the alien villain is cool. I do wish we got to know more about her original form, but I get why they couldn't do that.

The Shakespear Code - Just an amazing episode all around. The chemistry between Tennant and Freeman continues to rock and the dude that plays Shakespear is just as great. My two favorite moments are when they use the Harry Potter spell name to finish off the spell and when the Doctor tells Martha he didn't want everyone to start screaming "Witchcraft" and then tells her that was what it actually was.

Gridlock - Another unique episode. The scene where the Doctor just starts hopping down onto the cars is pretty damn funny, especially since every car has its own theme in its interior. I'm not sure I understand the whole point of the Face of Bo when all he tells the Doctor is "You're not the only one." Like seriously? Your last words and you are still being cryptic? Why not just straight up tell him the Master is still alive? Ugh! I think my favorite scene though is when the people that kidnap Martha give her a piece of food to eat and then mention that their waste has been recycled into food. So great.

Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks - This first subpar story for the season. The first part is really interesting and full of great ideas, and then the Human Dalek part happens and it all goes downhill from there. It could definitely have been worse, but it's not the show at its best. I also find it funny how the Daleks were wiped out, but then one survived. Then they are said to be gone, oh, but the Emperor survived, so they get wiped out again. Oh wait, there were some that hid in a time sphere thingy. Oh, not they're gone for good. BUT WAIT, there's more. Four more in fact. At least until they need to be brought back again, then the lone survivor will have multipled ten fold again. Ugh. I really feel like the Daleks are overused because they clearly have no idea what to do with them, yet, they will never win. It's either reuse the same plot that has been done before, or try something new, but put the Daleks out of character in order to do so. I don't know, I mean the concept of a Human Dalek sounds cool in execution, but it misses its mark and I can't put my finger on what exactly. Also, OH MY GOD THAT'S ANDREW GARFIELD!!! I had no idea he was auditioning to play Spider-Man in this episode by playing a New Yorker. :p Seriously though, how come the British can pull off a perfect New York accent, but Americans struggle to pull off a good British accent? Ugh.

The Lazarus Experiment - Aside from the terrible looking old make-up on the scientist dude, this episode is not bad. I enjoy the banter between Martha and her family, and I love the Resident Evil vibe I get from this episode with the scientist's mutation. In fact, it makes for a better Resident Evil movie than the actual Resident Evil movies. However, the plot feels rushed as if this story should have been a two parter instead of a single one.

42 - Oh god, it's Sunshine meets The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit without any substance to make it interesting. This episode bores me. It has a good idea, but it feels like a scaled down version of last season's grandiose two parter (even to the point where the set itself feels reused), rendering it moot. I don't care about any of the characters, the sun being alive and infecting people for them using its energy as fuel is dumb, and the ending feels so half-assed. It's easily the worst episode of the season thus far.

[Dr Kain]

Human Nature/Family of Blood - An amazing two parter that shows the Doctor to us in a different light and I love the blood thirsty nature he has at the end of the tale. That is very Tom Baker of him. He's just relentless and I love it. The headmaster dude (whole totally looks like JK Simmons from the Progressive Insurance commercials) was such an "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!". I hate it when principals think they have the right to treat their staff and students like "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" just because they are the top dog of the school. Just like the Blood Family, he totally got what he deserved.

Blink - Just simply one of the greatest Doctor Who episodes of all time. It's easily tied with The Girl in the Fire Place for being the top contender of the entire new series run. The Weeping Angels are just badass and I love the use of having DVDs with Easter Eggs on them to get their instructions out. It's just a mind bending episode that always feels fresh with every watch, which is how an episode should be.

[Dr Kain]

Season 2 gave us an epic two part finale that finally pitted the Cybermen and Daleks against each other. So what does Season 3 give us? An excitingly bombastic THREE part finale featuring the return of the Master, and what a joy this trilogy was, especially when it related back to the entire season. Having The Master go from Cadfael to John Simm was badass. Simm just goes all out with his performance, harkening back and exceeding Ainsley of old. He is truly magnificient.

It was also nice to see Jack return, though having it revealed that the Doctor left him knowing fully well that he survived was a dick move, a really dick move. It did lead into an interesting conversation about the Doctor being prejudice despite seeminly out of character for the Doctor. Learning that he was the Face of Bo is kind of anti-climatic, but it makes sense considering how FoB seemed to know the Doctor despite the Doctor not knowing him. However, if his parting words, "You Are Not Alone" were supposed to translate into the name of Yana on purpose, then that was kind of dumb and farfetched.

Speaking of farfetched, the whole "People speaking the name "Doctor" giving the Doctor super powers" was just out of left field. Of course, this is a franchise that has had a computer program that can send Time Lords into a computerized mind world, so fine, I'll go with it. I do wish more had been done with the revelation that the space balls were the heads of the people who went off into Utopia.

Martha has really come off with a lot of superb moments these last severals, so it feels right for her to leave as there would have been no way she could have ever topped what she did in the finale. I do have to say I liked her character a lot more this time around than I did on the first viewings. She's no Rose, but she is able to hold her own when necessary. It also helped that the chemistry between her and Tennant was top notch.

Overall, this season was remarkable. I'm not sure I'm willing to say it was better than Season 2 as the first half was hit or miss in its execution, especially "42," but it does have "Blink," so that definitely gives it an edge. Tennant remains as great as ever.

My rankings of the episodes would go:

1. Blink
2. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords
3. Human Nature/Family of Blood
4. The Shakespear Code
5. Smith and Jones
6. Griclock
7. The Lazarus Experiment
8. Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks
9. 42

[Dr Kain]

We watched the first disc to Torchwood Season 2 today and so far this show is still crap.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - You may have its title, but Shane Black's movie you are not. So nothing about the little adventure Saxon sent them on, huh? In fact, shouldn't they still be on that adventure given that Jack just returns immediately after they defeated the Master? No? Okay, sure, why the hell not! Oh, Gwen and Rhys got engaged in the few days Jack has been gone, cool... I guess. Things didn't seem to great for them at the end of the first season, but okay, sure, why the hell not! And now we have Piccolo coming in as a Time Agent. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. The first thing he does is make out with Jack, so we know he is not to be trusted one bit since that kiss was totally forced. This whole episode felt like one bad predictable cliche after another with another "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" ending. Oh boy, we're off to a great start, aren't we?!

Sleeper - Well I've gotta give credit to the episode title as it lives up to its name. All I wanted to do during this episode was go to sleep. God damn it was so booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring. Yet, it was better than the premier, so there's that, I guess. I feel like this was a 25 minute plot stretched out to 50 minutes. At least the music was pretty cool at times.

To the Last Man - A vast improvement over the two episodes, felt like something out of The Twilight Zone, still, interesting nonetheless. Though, Toshiko really gets the "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" end of the stick, doesn't she? She has not had a single episode where she came out on top. At some point you just have to say ""OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" it" and give up. Anyway, the visuals in the hospital were well done, especially the scene when the nurse starts to yell at Gwen. However, I don't get how tearing down the hospital could cause some time shift, but okay sure, why the hell not! lol I think that is going to be my response to anything and everything that happens from this point forward as there are no rules. I mean, they did just at the end of the last season kill a demon by over feeding it. At that point, anything is possible.

[Dr Kain]

Voyage of the Damned - Ugh, what the hell was that? I mean, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly good either. It felt more like someone decided to take the episode "The Robots of Death," but remove everything that was good about that one and put in this bland lackluster plot. Additionally, what is up with the over the top dumbass villains in these Xmas specials? This guy felt like he came out of an episode of a canceled Futurama episode. There were parts I legitimately liked, such as the couple people kept laughing at and the red spikey dude, but the rest were kind of lame. The cliche selfish "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" dude really should have died. The Doctor should have just walked up to him and smacked his head off with a destroyed Host or something. Not impressed with this one at all and I don't even remember hating it the first time I saw it. How times have changed.

[Dr Kain]

We started the next Torchwood disc but only made it through 2 episodes before we had to stop for the night.

Meat - This one wasn't bad. Probably the best episode of the season thus far. Gwen and Rhys' argument seemed quite realistic as there were times they were both trying to talk over each other, which was nice. The story was interesting and holy "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", that's Matt Ryan!!! I didn't recognize him for a minute without the blonde hair. Owen continues to be a douchebag towards Toshiko. Lastly, I really wanted one of the meat goons to say, "Did any of you take basic math in school?" since everyone kept lying about their numbers.

Adam - Oh my god, this is like hands down the most uninspiring, utter borefest this show has ever produced, and that is saying a lot. The first 20 minutes along felt like an hour had gone by. It was terrible. There were some good aspects such as learning about Jack's past, but ultimately, this is the worst episode thus far in the series. You could cure insomnia with this one.

And that is why we stopped the disc where we did, we were bored out of our minds thanks to that episode. It drained all motivation we had to continue tonight.

[Dr Kain]

Managed to finish the second disc of Torchwood tonight.

Reset - Not a bad episode, but it does fall apart towards the end. I'm not sure if it is the wooden acting from the head scientist dude or what, but everything goes downhill the moment Martha wakes up in the lab. The first half is quite enjoyable though, especially when Martha and Owen have their little quarrels on who is the better doctor.

Dead Man Walking - What is wrong with the music and sound effects in this episode? They sound so low like someone turned my volume down to almost nothing. The episode has some good ideas, I love the camera work used for when Zombie Owen goes into the bar where it's kind of close up on his face, but other than that, it's a pretty mediocre episode. No where near as boring as Adam, but still not all that exciting either. It feels like it is 10 minutes too long.

Ugh, 6 more episodes to go.

[Dr Kain]

We decided to just binge the last 6 episodes to Torchwood Season 2 so we could get it over with.



A Day in the Death - I have no idea what they were trying to go for here. Owen has been the most dispiscable character the entire series thus far and now I'm supposed to feel sorry for him? It doesn't work that way. Now I will admit there were some legitimately good scenes in here, especially when it came to him really wanting to help the old dude, but then other moments were ruined when he starts yelling at Toshiko because he's an "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!". I did love his break in scene though, especially the music used before he found the old man. Oh, and at the end of it all, Martha was utterly useless in all three episodes she appeared in. Agyeman deserved so much better.



Something Borrowed - Not sure how I feel about this one. The entire pregnancy thing was rather stupid and has been done before in many other science fiction shows, so it did nothing new. The cattiness between Rhys' mother and Gwen's mother seemed kind of forced, but okay. It wasn't a terrible episode, just not very great either.



From Out of the Rain - Well that was a quick honeymoon for Rhys and Gwen. She really should have been gone for at least an episode. Nevertheless, this episode was great. Perhaps the best of the season. It was intriguing, creepy, and I loved the concept of a traveling circus group that had to hide in movie films to survive. I could totally see the circus from Something Wicked This Way Comes doing that. The ending was shocking too. It's too bad we haven't gotten any villains are memorable as the Ghostmaker in this show. He was pretty cool.



Adrift - Ugh, this episode was dumb. Don't get me wrong, it did have some emotional aspects to it, especially the scene when all of the people show up for the meeting, but then the whole thing falls apart with how utterly stupid the last act is. Like oh my god that was dumb. All that was missing as Jonah wearing a hockey mask and wielding a machete. In fact, that would have been far better than he just screeches for 20 hours.



Fragments/Exit Wounds - Fragments was well done as I loved getting to see all of these character backstories despite that this should have been done last season. And then Exit Wounds happen, which was even dumber. "I hate you and I'm going to blow up the city because you let go of my hand when we were panicking and fleeing for our lives as kids. " Oh boy "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" who! That has got to be the most pathetic excuse to be a mass murdering villain ever. I would have rathered he'd just been evil because what he went through made him insane and that was it. No bullshit backstory. It also doesn't help that they made it seem like this whole Gray plot was going to actually be something major only for its execution to be nothing more than a fart in the wind. What a crock of "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" this story was. I did like the quick little blurb to connect Toshiko's actress for being in the Aliens in the UK 2 parter of Doctor Who though. It also makes sense as to why she couldn't tell the difference between a pig in a space suit and real alien.



Overall, while this season was an improvement over the first, it still wasn't exactly great. At least the finale felt like it was more connected to the entire season compared to the previous one. The characters were still not exactly mind blowing, especially Jack's, who is very inconsistent at times. I also don't get how Ianto has this suddenly love interest in Jack when he was deeply in love with Lisa last season.



I don't think I can see myself ever revisiting this show again, but who knows, maybe when I get to rewatching Children of Earth or finally seeing Miracle Day I'll change my mind. Until then, it's off to finish Tennant's run of Doctor Who.

[klen7]

^ I can't wait for your review of Miracle Day

[Dr Kain]

We kicked off Season 4 today with the first five episodes.

Partners in Crime - Not as good of a premier as the previous seasons, but the way the Doctor and Donna constantly miss each other and then just meet up is quite funny. The walking fat plot is pretty gross though. Perhaps the grosses thing the show has ever done.

The Fires of Pompeii - This one is fantastic. I just love everything about it from its mystery element to the cool costumes, and then the fire creatures. The dilemma the Doctor ends up facing inside the volcano is pretty neat too. I also forgot that was Capaldi playing the father (well, not really forgot, but since I haven't watched this episode since Smith's run, I never truly comprehended that that was Capaldi). I love the chemistry between Tennant and Tate here, especially when Donna starts asking logical questions about how things work.

Planet of the Ood - Nice to see the Ood return and how "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" up their lives really are. THat's all I really have on this one. Great episode.

The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky - First, I love the call back with "Are you my mommy?" Oh, and when the Doctor states he is unsure as to whether or not he was with UNIT in the 70s or 80s. It was great to see Martha return and I didn't feel like she was wasted the way she was in Torchwood. On the other hand, I'm not sure which is more cringe inducing, the acting for the entitled teen brat or the fact that the Sontarans actually worked with him. That seemed very un-Sontaran, but I'll let it slide. The story itself had some interesting ideas such as an evil GPS (I wish it had been in Glados' voice though) as I always make jokes about what things would be like if the GPS just started trying to kill everyone off. On the other hand, the poison gas stuff was kind of dumb. However, it is Doctor Who, so that's just par for the course.

[Dr Kain]

Finished the third disc today.

The Doctor's Daughter - I totally forgot Martha joined the Doctor and Donna for one last hurrah. This episode had a lot of interesting stuff going on, but then it got kind of wonky with the reveal that they have only been fighting for a week. That seems a little far fetched that some old dude would proclaim it has been centuries as he clearly should have known it was only for that short of a time frame. I'm also curious as to why they never brought Genny back again in a later season, especially for The Day of the Doctor or something.

The Unicorn and the Wasp - A really intriguing episode that fits the murder mystery themes it was conveying on all ends of the spectrum. I also loved Donna's Clue guessing moment. This is another episode I never got around to rewatching after the first viewing a decade ago, so I had totally forgotten who the culprit was, which I do feel really helped the episode.

BTW, is that the same house from The Black Orchid? It looks like it.

[Dr Kain]

Another disc of down.

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead - This two parter is just absolutely amazing on all ends of the spectrum. They go right up there with The Girl in the Fire Place and Blink as far as Tennant's era is concerned, and with the likes of The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Robots of Death, Seeds of Doom, The Brain of Morbius, The War Games, The Happiness Patrol, and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. These episodes are just engrossing to the extreme and so damn tense. Oh my god do they keep you at the edge of your seat. Add on top the entire mystery of River Song and the really horrific imagery of the skull inside the space suits and you've got some of the very best Doctor Who has to offer.

Midnight - Another top notch episode that is full of suspense. Very well done with a monster that comes off as creepy and you don't even know what it actually looks like.

[Rodanex]

Guess I'm late to the party. My girlfriend got me into Doctor Who last Christmas and I've been bingeing the series ever since. We started with the first David Tennant season, and I've watched up to the first Capaldi season. I also went back and watched several episodes from the John Pertwee, Tom Baker, and Chris Eccleston eras as well. Tennant is hands down my favorite doctor, but I also like Pertwee, Baker, and Capaldi. I'm not crazy about Matt Smith, but the writing in his era is still pretty solid, and I really liked Amy and River.

I've been a huge sci-fi fan all my life, I don't know I never got around to watching this show. I remember hearing that the show had been continuously running since the 60s and feeling like the story would be impenetrable; to my suprise, it really didn't matter that I was unfamiliar with the classic era when I started with the Tennant episodes. It's been fun spotting a bunch of Doctor Who references in various other fiction, like X-Men and Transformers comics (Chris Claremont and James Roberts are big Who fans).

[Dr Kain]

And with the spin of another disc, Season 4 comes to an end.

Turn Left - A very dark and depressing episode, but damn does it work so well by showing us what the last two years would have been like had the Doctor not been around. It's also interesting to have an episode that features very little of the Doctor and still work.

The Stolen Earth/Journey's End - What's that you say? The Earth is in peril? Oh, that must mean we're at the Doctor Who season finale. Now don't get me wrong, I definitely feel this finale is stronger than last season's, but it still is not without its quirks and it is quite tiresome having Earth yet again in some sort of huge danger. The whole duplicate Doctor thing and the Doctor being able to reject the regeneration is just... dumb? Interesting? Stupid as hell? All of the above? I don't know, but it just feels... off. I do love how everything from Doctor Who, Torchwood, and even the Sarah Jane Adventures all merge into one great story despite its negatives. It really makes it feel like this is truly the end of an era. In fact, if someone wanted to jump ship, this would be the place to do it as everything feels so complete here.

In some ways, I also wish the next episode was Smith's run with the regeneration energy coming back full blast, but that's not how this works, there's still a whole string of mediocre specials to get through.

Oh wait, I almost forgot, Davros. Oh boy, oh boy, ohhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. Davros is back. The dude that should have never made it past Genesis of the Daleks but then got featured in every single god damn old school Doctor Who Dalek story afterwards. The show just couldn't live without Davros then, and apparently they had this urge to bring him back yet again. It's not bad enough that the Daleks were wiped out, but they weren't, only to go extinct again, but not really, oh yes they are, wait, no they're not, but now to bring Davros back sounds quite frustrating. Fortunately, they actually did a pretty good job here as him being more of a prisoner than a god was a nice change of pace. I'm still not sure why they had to bring him back, however, this is by far his best post-Genesis appearance, so I will give them credit for that. Of course, the ending happens and the Daleks get vaped once more, but in a more cartoonish manner, especially with the way they just burst apart. You really could put some Benny Hill music over the scene and it would fit extremely well.

Nevertheless, I'm willing to overlook those nitpicks because as I said, we get a nice grand finale for all seasons and series prior to this, especially with the return of Rose and even "Former Prime Minister Harriet Jones." It's too bad all of Donna's character development had to be wiped out like the Dalek threat levels. Still, she was a fantastic companion and is certainly one of the best overall.

In the end, this season was absolutely fantastic. It is easily Tennant's best season despite featuring weak episodes such as the Sontaran 2 parter as the entire narrative is just top notch. Not to mention it went for being epic and tying every lingering plot thread together in the finale. My rankings of this season are as follows:

1. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
2. Midnight
3. The Fires of Pompeii
4. Planet of the Ood
5. Turn Left
6. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
7. The Unicorn and the Wasp
8. The Doctor's Daughter
9. The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky
10. Partners in Crime

Next up, the Special season. God I hope these episodes of much better than I remember.

[Dr Kain]

The Next Doctor - You know, this one is kind of stupid, but probably the best of Tennant's Xmas specials. I enjoy the camaraderie between the Doctor and the Not Doctor. The ending is quite touching too. The Cybermen may be my favorite villains in the DW universe, but I find them to be off here. I'm not sure what it is, but it doesn't work for me. Though I must admit, seeing a giant ass Cyberman mecha is pretty badass despite being dumb. The way the Doctor defeats them is... meh, but that's pretty much just par for the course. I never realized until now how many of the stories the Doctor just wins thanks to some macguffin.

BTW, this has nothing to do with the episode itself, but the disc has a concert bonus feature on it and my god is it awesome. I wish companies would do concerts like that to the things we love here in the States. The Star Wars in Concert was nothing like that at all. Anyway...

Planet of the Dead - I actually like this one. The heist opening is pretty neat and gives the first act a different feel compared to other episodes. I also love the chemistry between the Doctor and Christina though you can tell the Doctor is still hurting after Journey's End. The dead planet is a nice change of pace as I always find it interesting when writers come up with reasons as to why a planet is a giant desert. The Fly people are strange, which is of course the point. Unfortunately, things do a get a bit wonky in the last act and I feel like there is a little too much comic relief from Dr Malcom. Oh, and holy "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", that's Daniel Kaluuya. That's so freaking awesome! I had no idea he was featured in an episode of DW.

Overall, not a bad start. We hope to finish Tennant's run tomorrow.

[Dr Kain]

And here it is, the end of an era, but sadly, Tennant does not go out with a bang, rather a whimper.

The Water of Mars - Ugh, I'm not sure what makes this episode bad, it being down right boring or the Doctor being completely out of character. The man goes through all of these different personalties at the drop of a hat and it doesn't make sense. He starts off quite firm on his stance of not helping for like 40 minutes, then suddenly says, "You know what, screw the rules, I'M THE TIME LORD!" and saves the remaining people, only to then go, "Oh "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", I shouldn't have done that." There are no transitions or pacing to that aspect whatsoever. I feel like there should have been an episode between Planet of the Dead and this one to really develop the sudden power trip he gets at the end. And then there should have been another episode to really make him realize the error of his ways instead of one woman committing suicide. It just feels unnatural and forced. Hell, I could have accepted it had he been like, "Sorry, I was going through menopause for a sec, but I got betta."

Of course, like I said, the other half of the problem is that the plot is just so uninteresting. The water monsters have got to be some of the blandest monsters of the entire relaunch, perhaps even the entire series. Once again it felt like they were trying to recapture what made the Satan two parter so good and failed miserably.

The End of Time - When this first aired, I felt something was off, but I chalked it up to it just being due to the commercial interruptions that occurred every 5 minutes. This time around, there was nothing to excuse, this story is just down right terrible. One of Tennant's worst stories in his entire run. First off, yet again, it's utterly boring. It's like they were told they had to stretch out an 80 minute plot into 130 minutes split over two episodes to make it feel "special."

Secondly, the Doctor is a whiny little "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" the entire episode. He comes off more like an entitled brat who was told he could not have that candy bar in the grocery store. I really wish you could take the scene after he says, "But I don't want to go," and put it at the end of Journey's End so you could give him something worthy of regenerating over.

Third, the Master has gone from an evil villain to Saturday morning cartoon villain with super powers. WTF? Simms really took the over-acting to new heights (literally in the case of the Master being able to fly thanks to his lightning abilities).

Fourth, the plot dealing with the Time Lords makes no "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" sense whatsoever. Additionally, Timothy Dalton was wasted on such a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" ass plot that went nowhere. The entire thing was absolutely pointless. Oh, and hey, the Earth is in danger yet again. <slams head against the wall>

Fifth, what was up with Martian Manhunter's ever changing accent? Jesus dude.

Finally, when the hell did Martha marry Mickey? Martha was engaged to Dr Lucifer well before Mickey came back to that Earth. That makes no sense whatsoever.

The best thing about this story was Wilfred. He was the only character I was invested in at all as he was the only one that had any worthwhile dialog during the entire thing.

Overall, Tennant deserved so much better instead of this half-assed crapfest they gave him. I have no idea why they ever bothered to do all of these specials instead of just having him regenerate at the end of Journey's End. That would have been so much better. Instead, we get this boring as hell... whatever this was.

Anyway, if I'm going to rank the specials, it would follow as this:

1. Planet of the Dead
2. The Next Doctor
3. The End of Time
4. The Water of Mars

As for my top 10 favorite episodes from Tennant's entire tenure, it probably goes:

1. The Girl in the Fireplace
2. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
3. Blink
4. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday
5. Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel
6. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
7. Human Nature/Family of Blood
8. Midnight
9. The Fires of Pompeii
10. School Reunion

With that said, the journey is over once more and while Tennant ended his run in garbage, he is without a doubt the best Doctor right behind Tom Baker. So much of his attitude reminded me of Tom and many of Tennant's episodes could rival Tom's. Next up, Matt Smith and I really hope these episodes are as entertaining as I remember, especially his second season.

[Dr Kain]

We kicked off the Matt Smith run today.

The Eleventh Hour - A fantastic premier. Perhaps one of the best regeneration premier stories of the entire series. It's got some great camera work (especially when the Doctor is thinking about the people around him and the camera keeps gliding around), the music is excellent, and the Doctor is just badass when he stands up to the giant eyeball ship.

The Beast Below - Um... okay... sure, why not? Not a bad episode, but it doesn't exactly live up to the premier. The premise comes off a little dumbfounded, especially with how easy the resolution was. Still, entertaining nonetheless.

Victory of the Daleks - Go Go Dalek Rangers. Mighty Morphin Dalek Rangers. Seriously though, jesus, they didn't even waste any time to get another Dalek story out the door this season as if we needed ANOTHER Dalek story. Last season ends with one and now this season has one pratically at the beginning. God damn, get some new ideas. Bring back some other villains that haven't returned in decades. Anyway, this episode is pretty much par for the course. Daleks have yet again managed to survive total destruction, they bring back new Daleks, that are going to build new Daleks, and so on. It's kind of weird that Churchill would just be able to call the Tardis, but hey, this is Doctor Who after all where anything and everything is possible. There are no rules. The guy playing Churchill is okay while the robot scientist dude makes little sense.

Time of the Angels - I have no idea why they chose to break up this two parter across two discs, but they did. As such, the only thing I will say right now about this story is that it has started off really good. In fact, it is down right excellent. We all know who River Song claims to be, but this just keeps the mystery of who she really is going. The return of the Weeping Angels starts off with a bang. I especially love the video screen image.

[Dr Kain]

Flesh and Stone - Just as solid as the first part with a lot of really nice creepy and intense moments from the angels, especially when you actually see them slowly move when they notice Amy is blind. Not much else I can really say other than hell yeah!

Vampires in Venice - An interesting premise that kind of ends on a whimper. The vampire-esque plot was quite interesting and I loved the scene when the Doctor first entered the temple with the mirror. That had a really nice Dracula feel to it.

Amy's Choice - I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The concept is intriguing and I love how Body Snatches-like the town feels. It kind of brings back memories of The Terror of the Zygons. However, the narrative itself is average at best with a twist you saw coming from a mile away. Fortunately, the extremely underrated Tobey Jones brings on a charm that helps you ignore the negatives.

[Dr Kain]

Hungry Earth/Cold Blood - This one is pretty meh overall. I'm not sure if it is the slow as hell pacing, the pointless rebellion towards the end, or how all of the tension is abruptly diminished by an extremely long and drawn out scene with the crack. It felt like The Matrix Revolutions all over again when Trinity got impaled and had this death speech that seemed to go on for 20 minutes. If I'm supposed to feel sad for Amy and Rori, it sure wasn't written that way as I felt more annoyed than anything else. I also can't say I'm a fan of the narration stuff that was going on from the Silurian commander dude as nothing actually came out of it. Lastly, I'm not sure if I like these Silurian designs.

[Dr Kain]

We finished Season 1 of Smith tonight.

Vincent and the Doctor - A damn good episode. Easily the best of the season and the dude they got to play Van Gogh was utterly amazing. The invisible monster was intriguing and Bill Nighy gave a great performance for the small role he had. Just pure excellent all around.

The Lodger - Not my favorite episode, but better than I remember. It has some really funny scenes to it and that's about it.

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang - Now THAT is a finale! It tied in every episode from the season together to make even the subpar ones have some sort of payoff and executed an intriuging concept with the villains of the franchise teaming up to lock up the Doctor. That was just brilliant. It does suffer from some deus ex machina aspects for the Doctor to win because he has to, but at least they felt far more logical than him gaining super powers from people saying his name all at one time. Still, it tied everything up quite nicely and didn't leave off on some big cliffhanger lead in for the Xmas special.

Overall, while he lacks the charisma of Tennant, Smith does have a charm about him that makes his Doctor fun to watch. He's a lot like Peter Davison in that regard. He might not have the strongest stories of the franchise, but he is entertaining. My ranking for the season goes like this:

1. Vincent and the Doctor
2. Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone
3. The Eleventh Hour
4. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
5. Vampires in Venice
6. Amy's Choice
7. The Beast Below
8. The Lodger
9. Victory of the Daleks
10. Hungry Earth/Cold Blood

Looking forward to his next season, especially since it kicks off with my favorite Xmas special of the franchise.