The Official MZ Doctor Who Thread!

[sentaison]

[Dr Kain]

Orphan 55 - Okay, I thought everyone was just exargerating at how bad this episode was since it was just a new Doctor Who episode but hooooooooooooooooolyyyyyyyyy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit was this one bad, really bad. Perhaps one of the worst episodes of the entire series. Almost as bad as The Horns of Nimon, The Twin Dilemma, and Sleep No More. First off, I felt like I was watching an episode that had its beginning cut off because Graham just randomly puts together some box that is lying in the Tardis and they are teleported to some resort place. I was totally lost and thought I missed a prologue before the opening credits or something, but nope there was nothing there. Then the episode has all of these characters in it but doesn't do a thing to get me to give a damn about a single one of them due to how fast paced and rushed everything was. Suddenly it turns out the "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" lady is the mother of the person Ryan made friends with? WHAT?! Oh, and it turns out that humans don't expand into space and the Earth is burned by the sun as has been stated by the show for 15 years, but rather humanity wipes itself out in nuclear war. What the "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!"? No seriously, WHAT THE "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!"?! Who was the dumbass moron that thought any of this episode was a good idea? Lastly, good god was the CGI horrible even for Doctor Who standards.

Nikolai Tesla: Night of Terrors - Thank the gods we're back to a somewhat competently written episode. They got Tesla right and they got the thieving assholery that is Edison correct, so that's good. Though, the dude that got to play Tesla is no David Bowie. Anyway, this episode was doing pretty well until the spider-queen reject from "The Runaway Bride" came in with blackface. Oh wait, my mistake. That was a scorpion queen. My point is, just like the over the top, overacting spider-queen she too was over the top and over acted way too much. And those teeth were utterly ridiculous. Fortunately, the rest of the episode was highly enjoyable, especially when compared to that orphan that should have been aborted with extreme prejudice.

I am a bit disappointed there was no mention of this Timeless Child plot. You would think the Doctor would have been focusing on that at the beginning of Orphan, but nah, who had time for that.

[Dr Kain]

We finished off Pertwee's third season just a few minutes ago.

The Mutants - I don't know what happened with this one, but it was quite subpar. It started off strong with a solid first part, then the second and third episodes dragged on quite immensely, which were followed up by another solid fourth and fifth, only to have thing slow down for the finale. I did like the social commentary on imperialism, but beyond that, everything was extremely predictable as it moved exactly how you would expect it to, and didn't do anything exciting with it. The costumes for the mutants were very well done, though the chroma key effects left a lot to be desired, especially when Not-Conan was knocked into space. Fortunately, Pertwee gave a solid performance here that kept all of his scenes fun to watch.

The Time Monster - Ohhhhhhhhhhh boy, this one makes The Mutants look exciting. Hell, watching a pot boil is more intriguing than this complete and utter borefest. Even Delgado couldn't save this train wreck, which is not only the worst story of Pertwee's since Ambassadors of Death, but is just flat out his worst story thus far. Additonally, it's easily one of the worst stories in the entire franchise. Anyway, I did like the concept of Kronos, however, none of it made any sense and the first four episodes moved at the pace of a snail. I would love to say things got way more interesting once they reached Atlantis, but I would be lying because the novelty of that wore off very quickly. Not to mention the Doctor beat the minotaur in such ridiculous fashion even by Doctor Who standards. Oh, and then there is the whole baby Benton thing and the awkwardness of how this story ended. Who thought THAT was a good way to end the season? I'm not sure if I should be crying in terror of for how embrassing that was. Either way, this was not a good tale by any means. It also did not need to be more than 2 episodes in length.

Overall, I do not know what happened this season as Day of the Daleks was such an incredible story, but then each subsequent tale got progressively worse in each installment. Thus my ranking of this season is simply the order of the stories.

1. Day of the Daleks
2. The Curse of Peladon
3. The Sea Devils
4. The Mutants
5. The Time Monster

I really hope things improve with the next season as this season in the end became a chore to sit through.

[Dr Kain]

The Fugitive of the Judoon - Wow, what a load of horse manure that was. It's like Chibnall's worthless hide said, "Hey, you know what, I feel like throwing 57 years worth of continuity out the window because I'm an "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" and we need ratings!" Talk about giving your entire fanbase the middle finger. God damn I hope they wired that wretched little "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" after this!

Now with that little rant out of the way, the first 2/3rds of the show was enjoyable. Having Jack reappear after so long was great and something I wanted to see happen, it's just too bad they had to go the cliche route when it came to him leaving the Doctor a message. I did love when he got excited after hearing the Doctor was now a woman, his amazement that she has 3 companions, and then when he called Ryan his favorite. I am trying to figure out though why everyone was shocked at there being aliens when they have been invaded by Cybermen, Daleks, and the Sontarans on multiple occassions. Then again, as I just said above, Chibnall doesn't give a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" about continuity, so I guess I shouldn't waste my time asking simple questions. This episode was ruined by this bullshit "plot twist." Ugh. I am so tempted to just quit this show right now. Please BBC, put it on another 15 year hiatus so you can find some quality writers again!

[Dr Kain]

We kicked off Pertwee's fourth season tonight.

The Three Doctors - First off, I need to say that I am very disappointed to see a professionally made show feature flash frames that I try to avoid have happen in my amatuer video reviews and sometimes fail. I have no idea how this show got away with it, but it just goes to show how rushed it was.

Anyway, that minor nitpick aside, I enjoyed this one a lot. It was a blast seeing Troughton back and the bickering between he and his Pertwee counterpart was outstanding. Not to mention I loved nearly every piece of dialog from Stewart. I think my favorite line comes from the beginning of the show when this scientist guy starts to treat the Doctor's lab as his own and Stewart says something along the lines of, "Yes, it's not like we're a top secret organization." God damn Courtney was just awesome in his delivery. The story itself was well paced, well acted, and just entertaining over all. The effects works to make Omega's head disappear was absolutely stunning. One of the best effects of the entire classic series. Whomever worked on that bit really outdid themselves there. Speaking of which, I really liked Omega too. Him being the reason the Time Lords became the god-like beings they are was quite interesting and opens the door for a lot of intriguing mythology that I feel has yet to be tapped. I know he returned in one of Davison's stories, but I don't recall them doing too much with him outside of just being a clone body of the Doctor or something. Overall, while it wasn't as superb as Day of the Daleks, it was a top notch premier and a great celebration for the show's 10th anniversary. It's a shame Hartnell was not able to do more, but they made it work nonetheless. Looking forward to what this season has to offer.

[Dr Kain]

Carnival of Monsters - This was a really interesting story. Not only did it fly by at lightning speed, but I really loved how there were two separate stories going on and you didn't know how they were going to intertwine with each other until the end of the first part. Not only that, but the whole concept with these two colorful entertainers being brought together against a group of monochrome, joyless politicians was very intriguing. Most of all, the fact that there was no huge villain plot also makes it stand out from a lot of the stories Pertwee has done thus far. The Drashigs (Dishrags, really? lol) were a neat idea and they came off terrifying despite the limitations in the budget. I also really loved the 1920s people being stuck in a time loop and how Jo kept getting frustrated that they were always meeting her for the first time over. Very well done. So far this season is on a role, so I hope the remaining three stories are just as enjoyable.

[Dr Kain]

Praxeus - So... um... like... we're not even going to talk about the fact that there is another Doctor out there running around and Jack left a message about Cybermen? No? Alriiiiiiiiiiiiiighty then, carry on as if the last episode didn't happen. Oh, another "We humans suck" type episode. Like who the hell is this message even for? Because it sure as hell can't be for the average person who can only do so much to not pollute the Earth as we have no control over what our corporate owners do. And it sure as hell can't for the corporate owners because they couldn't give two shits about the environment nor what we nobodies think. So who is this plot supposed to be targeting? Other than that, it was mostly an enjoyable episode with some interesting ideas, it just got bogged down in the third act by its environmental bullshit.

Can You Hear Me? - It started out good only to get kind of choppy in the middle, but I can't place my finger on exacty where. Meh, I'll finger it out later. Overall, I loved the development it gave to the companions, especially for Yaz and Graham, but then it had to go and ruin it with an extremely anti-climatic ending that left me pondering, "That's it?" This story deserved to be a two parter as it felt extremely rushed. Not Storm was pretty cool and I wish they had actually done something with her.

[Dr Kain]

Frontier in Space - AKA: The Doctor and Jo Constantly Land on "Go to Jail" While Playing Monopoly. I really wanted to hear Jo scream, "I'M SICK AND TIRED OF GOING TO JAIL!!" by the fifth epsode.

Seriously, my god, they spent around four parts of this story behind bars. Like what the hell? Now don't get me wrong, this story was absolutely fantastic. In fact, it's quite scary how much the political views between the Earthlings and Draconians resemble our current Democrat and Republican parties. It felt like they were just a bunch of children bickering with each other because one was not willing to listen to the other. Nevertheless, while this was a great 6 parter, it could have been an absolutely fantastic 4 parter as there was no need for it to be six episodes due to how much was just fluff. With that said, Delgado was at his absolute finest here. My favorite moment comes from when the Master has the Doctor and Jo locked up and says, "Oh no, the Doctor is reminiscing, my condolences Jo," and then he starts to read War of the Worlds. That was just absolutely fantastic. It's a real shame that this was his final appearance as the Master and now having seen Deglado's entire run I can see why people didn't care for Ainsley as Ainsley really just copied Delgado instead of doing his own thing like Gomez and Simm would do in the new series.

Anyway, the Draconian costumes were outstanding and the entire story was intriguing despite the hilarity of jail time. The ending was surprising as I was not expecting the story to end on a cliffhanger. Hopefully the next tale does more with the political prisoners on the moon since I did feel that was the most useless part of the story.

[Benjamin Haines]

Sadly, as of 2020, Doctor Who is no longer free to stream on Amazon Prime. I'll be waiting longer to start watching Jodie Whittaker's episodes.

On the plus side, for those who don't own it yet, is currently selling Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection on BRD for just $15. That's 14 blu-ray discs with every episode from Series 2, Series 3 and Series 4, all of the specials from Tennant's run plus all of the extra features for barely more than a dollar per disc.

The packaging is cheap (two thick plastic cases inside a loose-fitting cardboard sleeve) but it's more than serviceable and it looks nice. I hope they eventually release discount BRD sets like this for the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi years!

[Dr Kain]

[sentaison]

[Dr Kain]

[sentaison]

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

The Haunting of Villa Diodati - This might be hands down the best episode of Whitaker's entire run. It was suspenseful, atmospheric, and featured some impressive cinematography. The scene where Graham is walking towards the camera and someone is standing in the background behind him as he goes up the stairs, lightning flashes, the figure disappears, and Graham turns the corner on the first floor was just outstandingly superb. The decimated Cyberman was a unique feature and he came off as creepy. I haven't seen a Cyberman effectively used in a horror-esque tale since Troughton's Tomb of the Cybermen. It was fantastic!

[Dr Kain]

The Green Death - Wow, now THIS is how you do a social commentary on how we are destroying our environment. This was absolutely fantastic. It was well plotted, well paced, every character had at least one strong scene, and they managed to make something as ridiculous as maggots a threat. What's even sadder is that the message this episode provided is still in debate nearly 40 years later. What the "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" is wrong with people?

The scene when the Doctor is on Metebolis 3 was great. I loved how when he got back to UNIT HQ he grabbed the phone and said he would talk to anyone. Oh, and then you have Jo's send off, which is hands down one of the best finales for a companion in the entire franchise.

Anyway, the only negatives I really have towards the story are in regards to its excessive, subpar green screen effects. Some of them seemed unnecessary. I get the ones when the Doctor and UNIT were driving past the mountain of maggots, but there were shots of them outside with a green screened background when there was no reason to. The funniest one was the dude on the mine shaft elevator as it looked like he really had to pee more than he was pretending to ride up an elevator. Nevertheless, the story is so great that those effects are nothing but minute nitpicks.

Overall, whereas the last season got progressively worse with each installment, this one improved as it went on. This is without a doubt Pertwee's strongest season of the four I have watched as every story was superb.

My rankings of this season are:

1. The Green Death
2. Planet of the Daleks
3. Frontier in Space
4. Carnival of Monsters
5. The Three Doctors

Can't wait to see what his final season has to offer.

[sentaison]

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

Ascension of the Cybermen - I have no idea what to think of this one. I watched it, stuff happened, and then it ended. I think I've described another episode in the past just like this, but that is really how I felt. It was disorganized, rushed, the scene of the Doctor and gang setting up to defend the peeps from the Cybermen was just a complete waste of time since the equipment didn't even do anything, and I'm still wondering how this connects to the Pre-First Doctor's Doctor. Not to mention there is a seriously lack of Jack. Are they going to cram it all into the final episode? If so, that better be like a 2 hour long adventure. Oh, and that one scene of the Irish kid being old and retiring to him walking outside and being put into some shock therapy bit was just random. I don't get it. At least see updated classic Cybermen heads was cool.

[Dr Kain]

The Timeless Children - Well at least I now know why Timeless is in the title since this episode seems to go on forever. Just when I thought Doctor Who couldn't crank up the stupid anymore Chibnall's untalented "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" ass continues to prove me wrong. Wow, what an absolutely travesty this was. Anyone that defended "Fugitive" should feel like a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" moron now because they were arguing there was nothing stating the Ruth Doctor was indeed pre-Hartnell Doctor and look at that, that is exactly what they did and those of us who aren't blinded my pure fanboyism called it. Oh my god that was awful. Just utterly awful. In fact, it's even worse than I imagined it would be. Not only did they wipe out the Doctor's established history, but they even just retconned what was established in the past with beings likes Omega. Not to mention the Cyberman dude was utterly pointless. This entire thing was just one middle finger after another and I've only been a Doctor Who fan for 11 years, I can only imagine how fans who have grown up with the old show are feeling right now. Let's hope BBC can somehow find a way to fix this dumpster fire as I'm already deciding at what point in Capaldi's run is the best moment to considering the show ended with (I'm thinking with the season finale to his second season).

This season started out so great and just spat all over us. I wish I could say The Haunting of Villa Diodati is my favorite episode from the season, but given that it is Part 1 of 3, I can't do that anymore. As such, I guess my rankings are as follows:

1. Spyfall
2. Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
3. Can You Hear Me?
4. The Haunting of Villa Diodati/Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Child
5. Praxeus
6. The Fugitive of Judoon
7. Orpheon 55

Nevertheless, "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" Whitaker's run as the Doctor and most of all, "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" the worthless piece of "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" Chibnall!!

[superhedorahsaiyan]

season finale of 12 of New Who was ok, but it didn't really jibe with the rest of the lore imo.

[Dr Kain]

[superhedorahsaiyan]