Fifteenth: The Reality War (Part 2)

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Director: Alex Sanjiv Pillar

Producer: Chris May

Series: 15, episode 8

Companions: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson)

Summary: The Rani seeks to resurrect Omega and re-create Gallifrey. Can the Doctor stop her and keep Poppy from being erased from existence?

Review: While I did enjoy this conclusion overall, I didn’t like that Susan had so little to do with it, despite being seen in the previous episodes.

I liked the stakes of this episode. The Fifteenth Doctor wants to save reality, but at the same time preserve Poppy. It was a great twist. It was also great to see Thirteen again.

Now for the moment that seems to have received a lot of negative reaction. I liked seeing Billie Piper again. People forget that actors have taken more than one role before. And Piper is a good actress.

My only real gripe is not knowing when the new series will start. I’m not the least worried about the future of Doctor Who, because it’s too profitable these days. (And yes, I know about the new miniseries coming next year.)

Overall, despite the flaws, this was a good conclusion.

Grade: B

Fifteenth: Wish World

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Director: Alex Sanjiv Pillai

Producer: Chris May

Companions: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson)

Series: 15, episode 7 (part 1)

Summary: The Doctor and Belinda are trapped by The Rani in a world created by Conrad, the podcaster introduced in “Lucky Day”.

Review: I take back my doubts about The Rani’s return. This was a great episode. This is a world that I always hear certain people claim was better. I am always annoyed by this kind of talk. I don’t want to go backward. When I think of the 50’s, I don’t think of Happy Days. I think of women who weren’t encouraged to be more than housewives. I think of Jim Crow. What was so great about that time?

Davies understands what The Rani is about. Her agenda isn’t one that is constrained to ethics. She doesn’t see herself as evil, rather someone who is willing to see things in ways others don’t.

Not a bad start to the finale.

Grade: A

Fifteenth: The Interstellar Song Contest

Writer: Juno Dawson

Director: Ben A. Williams

Producer: Vicki Delow

Companion: Belinda Chandra (Veranda Sethu)

Series: 15, ep. 6

Summary: The Doctor takes Belinda to an intergalactic version of Eurovision, unaware that sabotage is underfoot.

Review: When it was announced that Russell T. Davies was going to come back, I both liked and disliked the idea. I liked it because he’s one of the best writers, but I disliked it because he’s written some bad stories too. Yes, he wrote “Midnight”, but he also wrote “Love and Monsters”.

There were things I liked about this episode. The idea of an intergalactic version of Eurovision sounded like fun, even though I’ve never watched it. The cameos of Rylan Clark (the actual host of Eurovision) and Graham Norton (a talk show host who’s had many actors from Doctor Who guest star) were funny.

But then that final scene came! The Rani, really?! And doing the bigeneration, again, really?! There’s a Looney Tunes short called “Show Biz Bugs” , where Bugs and Daffy are vaudeville performers. Every time Bugs does something the crowd loves him, but Daffy gets only silence. Finally, Daffy gets so desperate that he wolfs down gasoline, nitroglycerin, gunpowder, and Uranium-238, then a lit match. When he explodes, even Bugs is impressed, wanting Daffy to encore. But Daffy is now a ghost and exclaims “I know, I know! But I can only do it once!” The Bigeneration was supposed to be just like that, something you only do once. The Doctor himself told us it was rare! What’s worse, it was done to the Rani. The Rani has become something of a running gag. Every time there’s a mysterious woman, someone will always predict that she’s come back. And now there are TWO Ranis?! No!

I’m not giving up here. I want this to lead up to something good.

Grade: C

Fifteenth: The Story & the Engine

Writer: Inua Ellams

Director: Makalla McPherson

Producer: Vicki Delow

Series: 15, episode 5

Companion: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu)

Summary: The Doctor and Belinda arrive in 2019 Nigeria, where he meets with a barber named Omo, who has an engine powered by stories.

Review: I loved this story’s unique concept. A machine that is powered by stories is a great idea. I like that we learn that Omo has been spreading and telling stories from other countries and cultures. It reminded me of an African folk tale in which the trickster Anansi (specifically from Ghana) is searching for a box that contains all the stories that have been and will be told. My only problem is that it felt rushed at the end. Other than that, I enjoyed it.

Grade: B

Fifteenth: Lucky Day

Writer: Pete McTighe

Director: Peter Hoar

Producer: Vicki Delow

Companions: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave)

Series: 2, episode 4

Summary: Ruby Sunday meets a podcaster named Conrad Clarke, who refuses to believe UNIT is necessary and aliens are real.

Review: When I was growing up, people relied on television for the news. These days, people don’t trust “traditional” media, and instead rely on people like Joe Rogan to tell them what to think. And without even once considering to verify the guests.

Conrad is a skeptic. As a Catholic, I’ve had to listen to people like him for years tell me how stupid I am for believing in a “flying spaghetti monster” or whatever. In fact, part of the reason I helped found my group for autistic Christians like myself is that I got tired of the ridicule. I found him a good villain.

While I’ve grown to like Belinda, it was nice to see Ruby back. I liked her spunk and wonderment. Kate was great in this too, and I loved how she confronted Conrad.

Grade: A

Fifteenth: The Well

Writers: Russell T. Davies and Sharma Angel-Walfall

Director: Amanda Brotchie

Producer: Chris May

Companion: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu)

Series: 15, episode 3

Summary: The Doctor and Belinda arrive on an abandoned mining colony and discover a deaf cook who is connected to an unseen entity, which has killed all the other colonists. But The Doctor discovers that the true culprit is an enemy he’s met before.

Review: I was a bit concerned about this one. I don’t mind seeing villains who were one and done in the past, but I felt that the Midnight entity was a villain who couldn’t be done again without doing anything that had already been done. This is why the Cybermen, Sontarans, and others have worked, because you can do something different. But this episode does do something different because it involves a deaf woman, so she can’t copy people’s words like the entity did the first time. I don’t think there should be more episodes bringing it back, because there’s only so much you can do with invisible villains. (originally they were going to use Orishas, Nigerian spirits who are meant to be helpful, but Davies realized they wouldn’t fit)

Overall, this was a good sequel. Despite the weak start, this is shaping up to be a good series.

Grade: B

Fifteenth: Lux

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Director: Amanda Brotchie

Producer: Chris May

Companion: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu)

Series: 16, episode 2

Summary: Belinda and the Doctor land in the 1950’s and discover a theater where people are disappearing, thanks to a seemingly innocuous cartoon character named Mr. Ring-a-Ding.

Review: Now this is an improvement!

First of all, I love how Mr. Ring-a-Ding operates. He seems like a silly character at first, but the moment he says “Don’t make me laugh!”, you start to realize he’s not what he appears. The fact that he has rules is a cool idea. I especially loved the fact that the Doctor and Belinda had to literally give themselves more depth in order to escape! The changes in animation style were a nice touch.

Overall, one of the best Fifteenth Doctor episodes so far.

Grade: A

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Fifteenth: The Robot Revolution

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Director: Peter Hoar

Producer: Vicki Delow

Companion: Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu)

Series: 15, episode 1

Summary: A woman named Belinda Chandra is kidnapped by robots and taken to another planet named after her, supposedly to be their queen.

Review: Okay, I have to get this off my chest first: did you have to kill the cat, RTD? And no, telling us the cat was irrelevant doesn’t make it better.

Anyway, there were some things I liked. The robots looked neat. I liked how their faces had symbols. I liked the twist with the generator. And then Belinda calling out the Doctor. And how does she know what a TARDIS is?

For the things that I didn’t like. While the robots not paying attention to every ninth word was a good weakness, I’m wondering how the Doctor found it out. Also, I’m growing tired of the “timey-wimey” thing. The phrase has gotten old. And I’m beginning to not care about the mystery around Ms. Flood.

Overall, this was a mixed bag of a premiere. Let’s hope the rest of the series is better.

Grade: C

Tenth Doctor Graphic Novel: Arena of Fear

Writer: Nick Abadzis

Artists: Eleonara Carlibi, Elena Casagrande, Iolanda Zanfardino

Colorists: Avianna Florean, Ron Fernandes, Hi-Fi

Letterers: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

Publisher: Titan Comics

Summary: In the title story, The Doctor and companions enter a race for an extraterrestrial artifact. In “The Wishing Well Witch”, they discover a town infected by a curse.

Review: These were good stories. I liked how the artifact tied into the title. The Wishing Well Witch had a good conspiracy story. The final story was just a setup for the next volume.

Grade: B

Fourth: Warriors’ Gate

Writer: Stephen Gallagher

Directors: Paul Joyce & Graeme Harper (uncredited)

Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Companions: Romana II (Lalla Ward), K-9 (John Leeson), and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse)

Series: 18, ep. 5 (17-20)

Summary: The Doctor and Companions are still trapped in E-Space. They discover a vessel run by Captain Rorvik. The vessel uses the Tharil race as slaves. The Doctor and Companions decide to intervene.

Review: This story is a good way to wrap up what is called the “E-Space Trilogy”. It ends the arc that Romana has been going through since the story started. She doesn’t want to return to Gallifrey, but she has no choice.

This story also works because of Adric. Unlike the previous story, Adric is actually helpful. He doesn’t help the villain, nor does he get duped into helping the villains.

According to Wikipedia, the story hit a few snags. It was originally seen as too comedic and confusing. Too much time was spent on the editing process. There were some scenes that seemed that way, particularly in the middle. The story felt like it could have benefited from a 5th part. 

Other than those problems, I like this story. It’s a good sendoff for Romana and K-9, and a good way to set things up for the next two stories, setting the stage for the finale.

Grade: B