Further Into The Vortex: Specials Scores Please!!!

[Rob McCow]

Partners In Crime 8 - A strong opener, funniest story since... The Runaway Bride, strangely enough.
The Fires Of Pompeii 10 - classic!
Planet Of The Ood 6 - very weak resolution.
The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky 7 - Good reinvention of the Sontarans, shame about the story making sense.
The Doctor's Daughter 4 - What a waste.
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7 - There was too much chatting and not enough murder.
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 8 - Pretty solid, the catchphrases were irritating though.
Midnight 10 - Astounding.
Turn Left 10 - Genius.
The Stolen Earth /Journey's End 10 - Yeah why not.
The Next Doctor 6 - Fun but a bit too ludicrous. And not enough about Miss Hartigan - who the hell is she?

[Larry]

Partners in Crime 8/10
The Fires Of Pompeii 6/10
Planet of the Ood 7/10
The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky 7.5/10
The Doctor's Daughter 5/10
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7/10
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 7/10
Midnight 7/10
Turn Left 8/10
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 8/10
The Next Doctor 8/10

[Dirk Gently]

As far as I remember my 8 for the closing two-parter was a 10 for "The Stolen Earth" being dragged down by a 7 for "Journey's End". I can't remember ever being so dissapointed after such an electric opener.

Si.

I'm of exactly the same mind & score. That makes 3 of us so it must be a fact.

[Jonno]

Partners In Crime 7
The Fires Of Pompeii 8.5
Planet Of The Ood 8
The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky 8.5
The Doctor's Daughter 5
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 7.5
Midnight 8
Turn Left 10
The Stolen Earth /Journey's End 9.5
The Next Doctor 7.5

[Phillip Culley]

Partners in Crime 8/10

A lot of fun, although the 'Doctor/Donna keep on missing each other. I adore the Adipose though!

The Fires of Pompeii 8/10

A Very good episode, but nothing really standout for me.

Planet of the Ood 7/10

See Fires of Pompeii, cause the opinion's the same

The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky 9/10

Although the SONTAR-HA stuff felt very wrong from the Sontarans I know, it was still a lot of fun.

The Doctor's Daughter 3/10

Absolutely dire. Jenny annoys more than entertains, and the whole thing feels dull. Still, it was nice to grab Martha for the one episode - I was surprised when she ended in the TARDIS at the end!

The Unicorn and the Wasp 7/10

A lot of fun, but spoiled by the silly giant wasp - had they played it straight like Black Orchid then it would have been so much better.

Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead 10/10

Moffatt does it again - another brilliant story, with the Vashta Nerada being very creepy. And the whole River Song mystery works well, with enough ambigutiy that you don't actually know who she is...

Midnight 10/10

Proof that great Doctor Who doesn't need fancy special effects - just get a load of people, add in a monster and let the claustrophobia do its work...

Turn Left 10/10

The Doctor-lite stories have always been the highlight of the new series (ironic as it is, since they don't have the title character!), and this one certainly doesn't disappoint.

The Stolen Earth / Journey's End 9/10

They pull out all the stops for the big season finale, and on the whole it works. The unexpected regeneration makes for a very good cliffhanger, and although the resolution is a bit of a cop-out, how many other cliffhangers in the past have done the same thing?

The only other thing that is a bit annoying is that while the inclusion of all the Who series characters feels epic, it means that if you don't watch Torchwood and/or SJA, you run the risk of getting lost.

The Next Doctor 8/10

Another fun lightweight Christmas story that is only really spoiled by the chuffing great big Cybermen at the end, which just looks silly.

[Anthony Williams]

Hurrah!

Well, it's shit! And we seem to be the only ones who think so.

Ant x

[Si Hunt]

It's worse than shit, it's like a headache in visual form! If I wanted to hear lots of unpleasant people talking over each other I'd go to Asda in Harlow on a Saturday afternoon.

We know we're right Ant!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

We know we're right Ant!

Yes, you two can have fun together in your own crazy little world...

[Anthony Williams]

It's worse than shit, it's like a headache in visual form! If I wanted to hear lots of unpleasant people talking over each other I'd go to Asda in Harlow on a Saturday afternoon.

We know we're right Ant!

Plus, it has some of the worst dialogue of the New Series (e.g. the whole "DonnaNobleMarthaJoneRoseTylerTARDIS" rubbish)

just dire.

Ant x

[SiHart]

In your opinions

Si xx

[Jon Masters]

Most of my scores wouldn't change much from those I gave at the time:

Partners In Crime 5 - Only gave it 4 on the original viewing which was a bit harsh, but still too much whimsy and pratting about for my liking.
The Fires Of Pompeii 6 - nice action but for trying to repeat the 'Doctor-wrong-companion right' stuff from Dalek just to make Donna look good.
Planet Of The Ood 5 - too much mindless violence and killing really, and Donna being annoying
The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky Averaged 5.5 - Much better second half despite all the cliches flying about, and the Sontarans came good at the end
The Doctor's Daughter 7 - good ideas but some lousy acting (yes DT you at the end)
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7 - A typcal histo-scifi story that DW does well with some nice touches
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead Averaged 8.5 - Neatly told, nice pace, better alternative life than TL, just a bit too mushy in places.
Midnight 5 - Nice idea, but not enough for a whole episode.
Turn Left 6 - OK, but should be Fathers Day part 2
The Stolen Earth /Journey's End 3 - Averaged 4.5 on my original scores, but that's too high to reflect how awful I thought Journey's End was - all of the problems of the Five Doctors with none of the charm and the final (hopefully) RTD insult to the Daleks by making them so crap. If only my memory of it could be wiped
The Next Doctor 6 - Great first half; poor second half - Cybermen should be much scarier than that.

[Pip Madeley]

I'm going to rewatch a few of these before I put my votes in.

[FlyingBeastie]

1 Partners In Crime- 9/10
2 The Fires Of Pompeii- 7/10
3 Planet Of The Ood-4/10
4 The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky- 8/10
5 The Doctor's Daughter- 3/10
6 The Unicorn And The Wasp-10/10
7 Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead- 10/10
8 Midnight- 6,000,000/10
9 Turn Left- 9/10
10 The Stolen Earth /Journey's End- 7/10, i felt so cheap after the whole regeneration cop-out
11. The Next Doctor- 5/10

[MacNimon]

1 Partners In Crime 6/10
2 The Fires Of Pompeii 7/10
3 Planet Of The Ood 7/10
4 The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky 7/10
5 The Doctor's Daughter 6/10
6 The Unicorn And The Wasp 6/10
7 Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 6/10
8 Midnight 6/10
9 Turn Left 8/10
10 The Stolen Earth /Journey's End 7/10
11 The Next Doctor 6/10

Overall, a pretty good season without any standout stories. I didn't think there was really much to seperate these stories, and unlike Tennant's first two seasons there weren't any duffers. Unfortunately this season had Moffat's poorest story since the series returned, but the finale (not nearly as bad as last years) was really enjoyable for the spectacle. It was great fun to watch (at least the first episode was, but part two was a disappointment) but still wasn't up to the standards of TPOTW & Doomsday.

Catherine Tate was a revelation in this season, and without her performance this could have been a pretty bland season. I'm actually glad that RTD is going (not that he hasn't done a great job in revitalising the series) because much longer and he would have been in danger of wearing out his welcome, like JN-T. The seasons are becoming more predictable in terms of structure, and much of the freshness has left the series and at the moment it's in danger of becoming stale. Perfect timing for new blood, imo.

[Larry]

Partners in Crime 6
The Fires Of Pompeii 7
Planet of the Ood 8
The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky 8
The Doctor's Daughter 4
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 7
Midnight 7
Turn Left 7
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 7
The Next Doctor 7

[MacNimon]

Houston, we have a problem...

I've been feeding the results into the Matrix, and unfortunately there's a problem which not even the mighty Matrix Data Bank can solve on it's own...

Larry, your assistance is required...you have voted twice this year with similar, but not identical, scores for most stories. Can you confirm which scores you'd like to be counted in this round?

Partners in Crime 8/10
The Fires Of Pompeii 6/10
Planet of the Ood 7/10
The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky 7.5/10
The Doctor's Daughter 5/10
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7/10
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 7/10
Midnight 7/10
Turn Left 8/10
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 8/10
The Next Doctor 8/10

and

Partners in Crime 6
The Fires Of Pompeii 7
Planet of the Ood 8
The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky 8
The Doctor's Daughter 4
The Unicorn And The Wasp 7
Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 7
Midnight 7
Turn Left 7
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 7
The Next Doctor 7

And can I just make one last call for any latecomers who'd like to register their votes before I do a final tally? Thanks

[Wayne]

It must the bottom set, because in the top set he's given Partners in Crime an 8. And that can't be right.

[MacNimon]

It's that time of year again. Not much to choose from this time round, Doctor Who-wise. But still, it's time to round off the Tennant era...

So once again, marks out of 10 please everyone, for the

2009/2010 Specials

Planet Of The Dead
The Waters Of Mars
The End of Time pts 1 & 2

And also, now that he's gone...how good was Tennant? How did he compare with the previous incarnations of the Doctor? Marks out of 10 please for Tennant's overall performance over the past for years or so.

[Stuart Wallis]

Planet Of The Dead 6

A fairly average story, wherein nothing much really happened. Thinking about the Swarm again, the effects weren't too bad; they and Lee Evans boosted the score for this one.

The Waters Of Mars 3

Hard to feel anything much for TWOM I feel. Although the method of Adelaide's death came as a surprise - and one not worth thinking about! - its happening at all was inevitable. The deaths of most of the crew were inevitable - we were told that from the start, and by the time the Doctor decided to try to help, he'd done all that he could have done and got out - althought to be fair he did rescue a net two people, and did the one thing he was avoiding doing (alter history) in so doing. Actually, it's just occurred to me that TWOM - here's one for The Chain Of Morbius - is a partial rewrite of The Fires Of Pompeii in a way.

The End Of Time 3

The low score for this is due to the first half of episode one and the last fifteen minutes of episode two, wherein nothing much happened other than the regeneration, the pantomime walk down the stairs that JNT was denied for TTOATL, some closure for Donna and the Master having another improbable back-to-life experience and somehow gaining superpowers. Once it got going the story wasn't too bad, although we've got here RTD's second retelling of Bad Wolf - one side from the Time War comes back from the point of destruction and manifests its forces on Earth. (cf. The Stolen Earth)

RTD could therefore have been a little more exciting and original with his last few episodes then. Anyone want to give him marks out ten since we're giving them to David?

*segue*

The Tenth Doctor 7

Not an especially high score, but a good one; I'd rate him above several other Doctors. He took a little bit of getting used to at the start - they all do! but at least he wasn't an acquired taste. The Time Lord Victorious stuff at the end was a bit - much too selfish a Doctor. He was fun for the most part though, a bit like how the Williams-era fourth Doctor could have been had Tom and Douglas Adams decided to let him take things a little more seriously.

[Andrew Curnow]

Planet of the Dead 7
I really enjoyed this one, a good old romp with nothing pretentious about it, just a bit of fun. The imagery of the Doctor on a bus appealed to me, and maybe it's because he was coming back to it after a break, Tennant seemed to be more full of life & wonder than he had been in The Next Doctor.

The Waters of Mars 7
One of very few episodes that I almost immediately wanted to watch again, which is saying something. I don't think any of the guest cast were particularly 'exciting' which was a shame, because we really needed to care about them more than we did, but for all that it's a nice, tense piece which is directed with a good bit of style. The bit at the end with the Time Lord Victorious was a shock to the system at the time.... but then was never followed up other than a passing comment in TEOT part 1, so strikes me as a wasted opportunity rather than an inspired twist. In hindsight I think we're to assume that Adelaide's suicide shocked him back to his senses, but it doesn't come across like that at all (to me). That moan aside, though, a good solid episode. But not, alas, a Special.

The End of Time 6
It had an epic feel, but... Part 2 was much, much better than Part 1, but Part 1 really is/was a big old mess. I'm a huge fan of RTD, but I do think there should have been somebody on the team who got him to rewrite Part 1, particularly the mess of bringing back the Master. I recall Gareth Roberts writing in DWM once upon a time, saying that stories should have a clear "this is the one about... the Dalek's invading Earth... or the maggots in the mine..." or whatever, and criticising 80s Who for being often too cluttered, to the point where you can't do a one line "this is the one about...". Whether that's true or not, I was reminded of it by TEOT - is it about the Master, or the Naismiths, or the Timelords, or what? There was a lot of build-up to the Timelords, but they didn't actually do much when they appeared did they! Maybe it's a case of, to paraphrase Enlightenment, "You're missing the point Andrew - TEOT isn't the story, it's the choice" but it did disappoint me slightly. Ended well though, and Tennant excellent throughout - Bernard Cribbins too.

The Tenth Doctor 8
After taking almost all his first season to warm to him (I always cite Fear Her as the first time I really accepted him) he rapidly became a real favourite, to the point that when he appears at, for example, the start of The Next Doctor and grins, I was grinning too. I always find it hard to rank Doctors, as they're all good, but in different ways - all I'll say is that Tennant is as good as any, and was the right choice for this time.

[Phillip Culley]

Planet of the Dead 6/10

A quite uneventful story over all - the Doctor is on a bus which goes through a time portal, he fixes it and they go back, and meet some aliens on the way. There would be nothing wrong were this a mid-season story in a regular season, but for the first new Who in 4 months (and then another 7 months until the next story) it's really disappointing

The Waters of Mars 8/10

A much better story, and well worth the long wait after Planet of the Dead.

The End of Time, Part One 3/10

This should have been so much better - the return of the Master, and the Tenth Doctor's finale, and yet it's utter rubbish, saved only by the cafe scene, and the revelation at the end that the Time Lords are back.

The End of Time, Part Two 8/10

Perhaps it's due to the disappointing Part One lowering my expectations, but I enjoyed this a lot more. It's disappointing that he long-awaited Return of the Time Lords was wasted by getting rid of them straight away, but I can let it slide. I even liked the final 20 minutes (although having the Eleventh Doctor crawl out to say 'oh, now it opens' would have been a better regeneration). It would have been nice, though, if they hadn't used the same regeneration effect as Nine/Ten, although I can understand RTD's want to make things consistent.

And the Eleventh Doctor gets a wonderful start, which can't be a bad thing at all!

The Tenth Doctor 9/10
He's not going to get in my top three (it'll take a lot to oust Troughton, Hartnell and Eccleston), however Tennant has done exceptionally well and certainly very high up.
Certainly he's one of the main reasons the series has grown to be the success it is, and it's going to be very tough for Smith to carry on the momentum...

[SiHart]

Planet Of The Dead 5

Enjoyable at the time, but with hindsight this one just seems weaker and weaker. It feels very shallow to me. Fun but undemanding and not a very special special.

The Waters Of Mars 7.5

A good base under siege story, with lots of tension and the great plot we haven't seen for a long time of the Doctor arriving somewhere he knows he shouldn't interfere, and has to walk away... with huge consequences. Again though the way it was sold to us wasn't quite how it turned out but this is a decent effort.

The End of Time pts 1 & 2 7.5

I loved part 2, but found part 1 was awkwardly paced and far, far too maudlin. There are some really silly ideas here- The Master's new blast and jump capabilities being the oddest, and there are characters that were underused to the detriment of the plot (The Naismiths). However that didn't stop the last 20 minutes being rather brilliant and sad.

The Tenth Doctor 7

David Tennant was rather brilliant, but this Doctor was for too much of the time rather unlikeable. I think it was the portrayal of him as a "lonely angel" that got to me and his tendency to proclaim his moral high ground all the time. It's a shame because there are loads and loads of moments where he's loveable, but I don't think I'd have liked to travel with him as much as I would many of his predecessors.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Planet Of The Dead 6

I expect there's lots to re-discover here on future viewings, but Si is right, it wasn't very "special". Some CGI bats and two insect blokes who turned out to be rather dull spaceship mechanics were the best we were getting on the "monster" front this year, and in all I don't remember much about it apart from a load of people in a dessert. Maybe if the money had been spent on a decent, scary, inventive script rather than shipping a bus all the way to Dubai in order to get a bit of sand.

The Waters Of Mars 5

This was even worse for me because it sacrificed the entire story just for a clever ending. The Human Base thing had been done before with "42" but where was the drama? It was hammered into us all the way through that the humans all died, so we couldn't care about them, and the Doctor was never put at risk so we couldn't fret about him either. It was like watching a story you knew the end to.

All for the final five minutes, which were shocking but not worth salvaging the whole production for.

The End of Time pts 1 & 2 8

I agree with Si, Part 2 was great and a bit of a classic, but Part 1 was all over the place. The Doctor spent the early part of the story wandering around a building site with June Whitfield before he found the plot, and it all felt a bit hopeless and aimless.

It made me very much feel that RTD had had his day, not that we would miss him.

The Tenth Doctor 8

Tennant's been everything we could have hoped, and has engaged with the kids brilliantly. I think it's time that the Doctor learned to love life again though, not look like he was telling the world he loves it while moping around in private about how alone he is.

Si.

[Larry]

Planet Of The Dead 6/10

The Waters Of Mars 8/10


The End of Time pts 1 & 2 9/10