For me, the only interesting thing about Fires of Pompei is that a future companion and future Doctor is in the episode.
Three in a sense, as Tracey Childs (the wife) plays a companion in the Big Finish CDs. In real life she's the widow of Tony Anholt from Space 1999 (and, adding this in an edit, in the 1980s soap Howards' Way she played the daughter of Maurice 'Lytton' Colbourne's character. Interconnections!)
Cool, I didn't know Tracey Childs was in Fires of Pompeii. She's a new Liz Shaw type companion, right? I have the last 6 Main Range Releases (starting with Persuasion, which I believe is her introduction?) and Gallifrey Series 6 ready to listen to when I finish my current Audiobook (Also have several of the First 50 discounted Main Range as well)
There are a few more UNIT stories here and there, and three where the Brigadier comes back (The Five Doctors, Mawdryn Undead, and Battlefield). I liked Jenny, too - I wish they'd do another story with her sometime. I wasn't terribly impressed with the Doctor's attitude in that story, though. Of course it's unreasonable to expect him to feel any emotional connection with a daughter created by some superduper-quick cloning-type method, but he didn't need to be so cold about it, either. This reminded me of the TNG episode with the clones; at least Jenny wasn't treated like so much medical waste and destroyed.
"The Doctor's Daughter" features the Tenth Doctor at his most sanctimonious. As the comic I've often posted here says: "Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!" "What about the Vervoids?"
I don't think thats fair to say. I'm not just watching Doctor Who for simple episodes like monster of the day type stories. In fact, three of the episodes that I thought were fairly lame, The Lasarus Experiment, 42 and The Idiot's Lantern were basically simple monster stories. I'd also say that Blink and Human Nature/The family of Blood weren't morality stories. When I think of morality stories, I think of (to use Star Trek as an example) DS9's excellent In The Pale Moonlight. With HN/TFoB, I'll admit that I totally don't care about the Doctor's desire to live a human life, at least in a story told like that. But, I think its unfair to claim that I'm only for mindless action. Simple stories can be done well, but it doesn't make it a type of story I go for over complex stuff. Heck, if we bring films into this, if I was only into simple stories I wouldn't enjoy movies like Memento and Inception as much as I do. It really just depends on the story. I can get into a complex sci fi story or something that questions morality, I just didn't find anything particularly interesting in the HN/TFoB two parter. A lot of that is because the part of the Doctor who wants a normal family is not something that I find particularly interesting. It wasn't too complex, its just fairly boring to me, it basically goes against the whole appeal of The Doctor. That said, they could probably explore that in a way I'd find interesting, I just didn't find an amnesiac Doctor to be a way that interested me. As for Blink, I can't explain that in the same context. I've enjoyed more complex time travel tales, its main failure was in the characters it had. Sally & co just weren't written in a way that made me particularly interested in them, and the time travel elements were fairly boring, too. Nothing was hard to understand, I just thought that it was a bland time travel story that had some cool ideas, like the Angels. I'm all for complex stories, if they can give me good character elements (which Blink didn't) or don't totally go against the appeal of the character the story is about. To continue my modern Doctor Who watching, I saw The Unicorn and the Wasp. This was a fun episode. I don't know much about Agatha Christie, but I knew she was a mystery writer. The whole episode was entertaining. I liked the murder mystery style story, and the fact that I didn't call the eventual conclusion. It also had some funny moments, and was overall a very good episode. Next up is the two part Silence in the Library/The Forest of the dead.
Yes, sort of, she's a scientist, but IIRC... Spoiler: Details about Klein She's a Nazi scientist from a Nazi-ruled timeline wiped out by the 8th Doctor, who then becomes companion to the 7th Doctor without initially realising he's an earlier version of the man who destroyed her native timeline... which she hopes to recreate.
I get the feeling you won't like Steven Moffat's stories. He tends to rely on gimmicks and tricks, such as complex time travel and playing with words rather than morality play and drama. Examples that you would have encountered by now include walking into different times of Renee Antoinette's life in The Girl in the Fireplace, or The Doctor having a conversation through time using DVD extras in Blink. You'll be encountering an example of Moffat playing with words in Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead. And of course the character arc of River Song is another huge Moffat timey wimey trope.
I actually thought that The Girl in the Fireplace was an excellent episode. I thought that the time windows plot device worked very well. I'd probably place it as the second best episode of Series 2 after School Reunion, and probably in my top 5 episodes that I've seen so far in modern Doctor Who. It was an example of a gimmick that was done well, and time travel used effectively. The character stuff was also great. I also thought that the DVD conversation was one of the clever, interesting things about Blink. I don't have any problem with word play (which I don't think has even came up before) or stories with special time travel gimmicks. My problem with Blink wasn't the time travel, it was the character stuff, which to me dragged the episode down. EDIT: I just finished Silence in the Library. Its an excellent episode with a great cliffhanger. It was very creepy, and entertaining throughout. The "ghosting" effect was probably the creepiest thing, which is saying something. The skeleton suit was pretty cool, and Donna's disappearance on the TARDIS and her face appearing was very interesting. Even the stuff with the girl seeing the library in her mind was good and makes me interested to know whats going on. I'm really excited for Forest of the Dead.
There's nothing interesting in Human Nature? Really? One of the most character-driven Doctor Who ever? A story that delves into the Doctor's desires and feelings more than any other? Wow.
Yeah this two parter was pretty average for me, mostly because in the week before part two aird, I figured out the meaning of "Donna Nobel is not in the Library. Donna Nobel has been saved." And knowing the meaning, all that dramatic tension in the cliffhanger just dissipated.
It may have technically been "character driven", but the character was an extremely poorly written british person from the past named John Smith. If the show decides to explore The Doctor's desires and feelings, I'll watch with an open mind. I don't need any action at all if the writing is good. I can even forgive a lackluster overall story if it has good character moments. But, if you're exploring The Doctor's character, I have one requirement. The Doctor must be the focus. Not David Tennant playing (as well as could be done, admittedly) a super boring, bland british guy in a story that spends most of its time being a serious period drama with aliens kind of thrown into it a few times. Back to my modern Doctor who watching, i've gotten through two episodes. Forest of Death was good, although not quite as good as Silence in the Library. I liked the overall story, most of the character moments (like River's sacrifice) and the reveals. What drags it down a bit is that they could have cut a few minutes of Donna's matrix time (I know its not actually called the matrix, but you know what I mean). I've seen several shows and read stories with a person going into a matrix/dream world, having a family, then finding out they weren't real (A good example would be Alan Moore's superman comic story For the Man Who Has everything). Donna's wasn't bad, but I felt it overstayed its welcome. Still, overall it was a a good episode, and a good two part story. Next was Midnight. I liked this episode, although it had a few flaws. I think there could have been a slower build up for the people deciding to kill The Doctor along with the woman. It felt like it came about a little too quickly. All of the screaming when the creature was copying everyone also got a bit grating at times. Overall I thought it was a good episode that was well done. It was definately a successful use of doing a show in basically just one location, it used the enviroment effectively and kept me interested. The passengers were also done fairly well. Next up will be Turn Left. I haven't seen any story spoilers for it, but I do know its a "doctor-lite" episode. Still, its apparently a Donna focused story, and I think she can probably carry a solo story well. Much better than the random people from Blink. I just hope we get writing thats better than Love & Monsters.
If I recall correctly, Midnight was the Donna-Lite Story, and Turn Left, The Doctor-Lite story, so, they were pretty much done at the same time
I've gone through several more episodes. Turn Left was disappointing. I think the actress could easily have held a story by herself, but most of the episode was just Donna running around with temporary amnesia (what is it with series 4 and giving characters amnesia?). Now, I suppose it could be foreshadowing of the finale, but I think thats a stretch. Seeing Rose again was nice, though. The Stolen Earth/The Journey's End was a great finale. It had a lot of great moments, and it was awesome to see so many people return for the special. The Daleks were cool as usual, but Devros stole the show. I'm glad that, in my Fourth Doctor watching, i've gotten past Genesis of the Daleks. I don't know if he appeared after that, although he was apparently in the time war. Still, it added something to seeing him here, and of course thats where he knows Sarah Jane from (and it was cool that he acknowledged that she was there at the beginning of the Daleks). The human Doctor was an interesting idea, and it was nice to see him go with Rose. Seeing the TARDIS towing the Earth was awesome It sucks about what happened to Donna, but I thought it was a decent way to end her time as a companion. After that was the first of the 2009 specials, The Next Doctor. This was a very good episode with an interesting concept. I think that the fake Doctor could probably have made a good real Doctor. The giant Cybermen mech was kind of goofy but cool. Planet of the Dead was the last episode I watched today. It was another good episode. The female thief was an interesting character, if she wasn't so into robbery she'd probably make a good companion. The flying bus was funny. It was cool to see the slightly annoying scientist stand up to the UNIT commander who wanted to strand The Doctor. I mean, I get what she was thinking, but she wasn't think it through. Sure, leaving the wormhole open was a danger, but stranding and killing to Doctor would probably end up leading to the earth being destroyed whenever the Daleks or Cybermen or another threat inevitably came back. Next up will be The Water of Mars, and I'll probably get to The End of Time and the beginning of series 5 as well.
Yup Genesis of and Destiny of for Four Resurrection of for Five Revelation of For Six Remembrance of for Seven
Well, I've finished David tennants run. The Water of Mars was a decent episode. I thought that the water monsters got maybe too much focus, but it didn't ruin the episode or anything. It was an interesting situation for the Doctor to be in. He really wanted to save these peopole, but he felt that he just couldn't. When he went a bit crazy and did it anyway, he seemed to get shown that somethings will just happen, regardless of what he does. The End of Time was a very good story. The Master returns, and we finally learn about the drumming in his head. We also get to see some time lords, and find out that they've basically become corrupted by the war they were fighting, and that they essentially created The Master. The ending was a great send off for the 10th Doctor. We got to see a bunch of his friends and companions, and the final scene with him regenerating was great. "I don't want to go" was a great way to end it, and was a very appropriate thing for him to say. So, next will be the start of Matt Smith's run with The Eleventh Hour. Just to end my talking about watching the 10th Doctor's run, I'll post some thoughts and then a list of favorites/least favorites. Overall, I did really enjoy the 10th Doctor. While he had some stories that I thought were just junk, overall I enjoyed watching his adventures. I don't think he quite beats the 9th Doctor/4th Doctor tie I have for favorite Doctor, but that doesn't take anything away from him. He was a good mix of funny and serious, and he was almost always interesting and entertaining. All of his companions had good things about them. I liked them all, but if I had to rank it I'd go Rose, Donna, and then Martha. Martha wasn't bad, but I thought that Rose and Donna werre more entertaining and interesting characters. For the list below, it was very difficult to pick just five favorite episodes. I did like a lot of them. The Shakespeare Code and Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead were very close to being on the list and there are a bunch of other episodes that I liked but don't make the list because not every good episode can be a favorite. Favorite 10th Doctor Episodes (I can't pick just one, so here are a few, in no particular order): School Reunion, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Unicorn and The Wasp, The Doctor's Daughter Least Favorite episodes: Love & Monsters, Human Nature/The Family of Blood Favorite 10th Doctor Companion: Rose Tyler Favorite Villain: The Daleks Least Favorite Villains: The Abzorbaloff, The Family of Blood Favorite One Shot characters: Jenny(The Doctor's Daughter), Jackson Lake (The Next Doctor) Least Favorite One shot/Minor characters: Elton Pope (Love & Monsters), Martha Jones's Mom, Favorite Moment: The confrontation with Devros, along with all of the characters coming together at the end of The stolen Earth/Journey's End to save the day and fly the TARDIS. A close second is The Doctor's final moment - "I don't want to go". Favorite Series: Series 4, although all series had good and bad things, Series 4 had the least amount of stories I disliked (just two, Turn Left and The Fires of Pompeii). So, next up will be the 11th Doctor. I'm definately excited. I know Steven Moffat takes over for RTD, but i'm not worried. For the 10th Doctor, Moffat wrote one of my favorite episodes, and a two parter that almost made the favorites list (but was held back a bit by the second part). To me he's told about 2 1/2 good stories with the 10th Doctor (the 1/2 being the good ideas in Blink) out of the three he wrote (not counting the excellent Time Crash special), so I don't hold the failure of Blink to be as good as it could have been aganst Moffat. It will be interesting to see what comes next.
Oh we all had high hopes for Moffat. For me I felt his run as producer churned out more average episodes than good episodes. The Eleventh Hour was good, but after that it took him 4 years of average-ness before he wrote what I feel is the best episode of Doctor Who ever, the 50th anniversary special.