Best of Season 7.1

[Alex]

I'm glad someone finally voted for Asylum as I'd probably put it 2nd place (just ahead of Angels).

I'm surprised it hasn't rated higher given how many people enjoyed it at the time, I guess it just goes to show how high the quality of the show was this year.

[brandynigma]

For me:

1. The Power of Three
2. Asylum of the Daleks
3. The Angels Take Manhattan
4. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
5. A Town Called Mercy

[Rob McCow]

Ah Brendan! I see what you've done there, being in Australia and all. Your chart is clearly upside down!

[Darren]

My ranking is

1. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
2. Asylum of the Daleks
3. A Town Called Mercy
4. The Angels Take Manhatten
5. The Power of Three

[brandynigma]

I loved The Power of Three! I also greatly enjoyed A Town Called Mercy.

[Dino]

I still can't decide expect for The Power Of Three. (Maybe need to see it again)
Season 7 really is shaping up to be the best series since it returned. Am I alone in this praise?

[J.R. Southall]

I don't think it's quite scaled the heights of last year yet, but then there's still some way to go - and last year totally surprised me in how much I enjoyed it!

Whatever people made of the arc-heavy nature of the 2011 run, the one thing it had over the previous year's offerings in spades was consistency. In Moffat's first year, hardly anybody seemed to know whether they were supposed to be writing RTD-style Who or something different - and if so, what? But last year almost all the writers displayed a complete understanding of what Moffat's Who is all about, and I just thought that (whether you liked it or not) all the stories seemed to be on the same page at last. This year's a little different: the two Chris Chibnall stories have evoked memories of Davies' Who through the prism of Moffat's, and that's been a delightful but respectful throwback - respectful to both the previous regime and the new one. I get the feeling that this run of episodes is going to be a lot of fun, and perhaps more diverse but at the same time more consistent. Really looking forward to more!

[Perry Vale]

Whatever people made of the arc-heavy nature of the 2011 run, the one thing it had over the previous year's offerings in spades was consistency. In Moffat's first year, hardly anybody seemed to know whether they were supposed to be writing RTD-style Who or something different -

Maybe that's why S5 is still my favourite, we got something different. There was nothing last year that came anywhere close to Amy's Choice or Vincent and the Doctor. Although that might be because they got experienced writers in for the first year....

[brandynigma]

Yeah, who do those Gaiman and Gatiss guys think they are?

[Perry Vale]

Gaiman's script was intended for S5.

Gatiss is a 'safe pair of hands' in my view, 'Victory of the Daleks' being his finest contribution to the show so far. His other three are fairly mediocre to me.

[brandynigma]

Gatiss's writing doesn't really connect with me personally, but he and Gaiman, like Curtis and Nye, are widely respected as writers for their work outside Doctor Who.

[Perry Vale]

That may well be true, but like I said, they were both Series 5 writers. Instead of Curtis, Nye and Gaiman for S5, S6 gave us the likes of Macrae, Whithouse, Thompson and Graham. None of them in the same league, IMHO.

It just looked like a lack of ambition to me, or a result of the License Fee cuts, although I notice that one of those three from S5 has written a forthcoming S7 episode which is promising.

[J.R. Southall]

Tom Macrae, Toby Whithouse, Steve Thompson and Matthew Graham have all had incredible success with various television ventures in the last few years...

[Perry Vale]

I think we may have different interpretations of "incredible success"...

Tom Macrae - Marple, Lewis, Casualty and that classic....Bonekickers

Toby Whithouse - No Angels, Hotel Babylon, Torchwood and Being Human. The latter a critical success, perhaps, but rarely got over 1m viewers.

Stephen Thomspon - Whistleblowers and Sherlock.

Matthew Graham - Eastenders, Byker Grove, This Life, Spooks, Hustle, and Bonekickers. I'll give him Life On Mars as a success.


I'm glad they've got their supporters here, but you're going to have a hard job convincing me they're in the same league. What their credits show to me is a safe pair of hands, and someone who can bring a script in on time, or budget. Although undoubtedly freelance, I can't help thinking they're the equivalent of BBC 'staff writers' of their day.

Gaiman, Curtis and Nye to my mind raised eyebrows when announced, and the S5 line up was the freshest since S1. I want to see more names like those, the only one coming close being the aborted Stephen Fry script from S2/3.

[J.R. Southall]

Three of those four have worked on shows that have equalled or exceeded the viewing figures for Doctor Who, which is no mean feat. The fourth has created a show that has been critically lauded across the board. That's not a bad writing line-up.

Meanwhile Simon Nye's most famous creation is hardly thought of respectfully, Richard Curtis' work is thought of as mawkish and schmaltzy, and Neil Gaiman's last substantial TV was a poorly-performing BBC2 series some considerable years ago.

Two can play at that game! ;-)

[Perry Vale]

Meanwhile Simon Nye's most famous creation is hardly thought of respectfully

That's debateable, but I'd wager more non-fans have heard of it than LoM. A surprise announcement for sure, and he delivered with an unusual episode, imo.

Richard Curtis' work is thought of as mawkish and schmaltzy

Indeed, and that was exactly my opinion of him beforehand. Like I said, his announcement raised eyebrows partly for that reason and he delivered an episode the like of which we hadn't previously seen in Doctor Who.

and Neil Gaiman's last substantial TV was a poorly-performing BBC2 series some considerable years ago.

Oh please. He wasn't signed up for his tv work, as you well know. With a couple of titles that made the New York Best Sellers List, his name is more well known than Doctor Who itself in the US and many other countries.

[J.R. Southall]

Well, quite so. And I wasn't remotely disappointed to find any of these three writers on the roster for Series Five (although I think Amy's Choice was derailed by revealing its hand way too soon, and is perhaps my least favourite episode of the year as a result).

But by the same token, I enjoyed Toby Whithouse and Tom Macrae's contributions to Series Six every bit as much, and Steve Thompson's was very much underrated too. The series as a whole though was far more consistent in its quality, and far more vivid in its spectacle!