Bad title/good episode

[Shatnertage]

Back in my Best title/worst episode thread, a few people commented that the opposite--a good episode with a bad title--was more common. I'd have to say "City of Death" has the highest "awfulness of title to awesomeness of actual episode" ratio, but there are probably a few that I'm not thinking of right now.

So what are your favorites?

And has there every been a "... of Evil" or "...of Death" title that actually worked for you?

 

[Stevil2001]

The Ambassadors of Death is a good title, but only because of that rockin' intro they use.

 

[Bones2]

The Deadly Assassin
Planet of Evil

 

[matthunter]

The Deadly Assassin

Yes, that one is 1) a bit naff and 2) redundant - who cares about a non-deadly assassin?!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

To each their own, but for me, part of the charm of Doctor Who is the titles, naffy, redundant or whatever else.

 

[Lonemagpie]

The Deadly Assassin

Yes, that one is 1) a bit naff and 2) redundant - who cares about a non-deadly assassin?!

Could be worse- the original script was titled The Dangerous Assassin!

 

[23skidoo]

The Talons of Weng-Chiang comes immediately to mind. It's clunky and hard to get through - the title, that is, though some have also said that about this classic story!

I agree that in terms of pure silliness, nothing beats The Deadly Assassin, though the story itself is classic.

I'm also not fond of Kinda from the Davison era. The story is great, but part of the problem is you see that title and most people don't think "KIN-dah" which is how it's said, but rather "KIND-ah" as in "I kinda like this music".

As far as recent stories go, I think it was stupid to use the episode title "Dalek" for the Eccleston story, because it gave away what could have been a great surprise. Back in 2004-2005 we weren't quite as spoiler happy, and those who were were distracted by Eccleston's resignation as well as statements by RTD made early that the Daleks might not appear at all. If the episode had retained its original title, Jubilee, or had been given something else like, say, "Metaltron" it would have been a great reveal.

Alex

 

[Shatnertage]

To each their own, but for me, part of the charm of Doctor Who is the titles, naffy, redundant or whatever else.

Oh yeah, I absolutely agree--it's just something that makes me like the show even more.

For instance, I love that they followed up an episode titled "The Edge of Destruction" with one called "The Brink of Disaster." It just captures that nearly-live aspect of the show at the time.

That being said, wouldn't the Third Doctor's final story feel a little more epic if it was called something besides "Planet of the Spiders?"

 

[Bones2]

That being said, wouldn't the Third Doctor's final story feel a little more epic if it was called something besides "Planet of the Spiders?"

Not really. Wouldn't change the content. And it's better than than "The Parting of the Ways".

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

That being said, wouldn't the Third Doctor's final story feel a little more epic if it was called something besides "Planet of the Spiders?"

Not really. Wouldn't change the content. And it's better than than "The Parting of the Ways".

"The Parting of the Ways" feels a little bit more "final" than "Planet of the Spiders", though, doesn't it? Unless you're suffering from arachnophobia, of course.

 

[Stevil2001]

As far as recent stories go, I think it was stupid to use the episode title "Dalek" for the Eccleston story, because it gave away what could have been a great surprise. Back in 2004-2005 we weren't quite as spoiler happy, and those who were were distracted by Eccleston's resignation as well as statements by RTD made early that the Daleks might not appear at all. If the episode had retained its original title, Jubilee, or had been given something else like, say, "Metaltron" it would have been a great reveal.

The whole point was that it wouldn't be surprise-- RTD didn't lead off with the Daleks, so he could use them later as part of a second publicity push.

 

[23skidoo]

"The Parting of the Ways" feels a little bit more "final" than "Planet of the Spiders", though, doesn't it?

Also, if he hadn't been messed over by the BBC publicity department, RTD had intended for the regeneration to be a surprise, and it appears the game plan was to suggest that Rose was leaving/being killed off before the big reveal.

(Re: Dalek 2005 episode title)

The whole point was that it wouldn't be surprise-- RTD didn't lead off with the Daleks, so he could use them later as part of a second publicity push.

I don't buy that. If you watch the interviews included on the DVD it was made pretty clear that production of the season was well underway before the green light was given to use the Daleks. Shearman was all set to use another creature entirely. The Daleks were never part of the big push for the first half of the season, which is where "Dalek" was placed. Once Dalek aired, then of course the gloves were off and the second half leading to POTW featured the Daleks. Buut for the first half a big deal was made of how the new series wouldn't necessarily fall back onto old monsters, the Autons in the debut notwithstanding. That's why "Dalek", with not only the return of the Daleks, but also the cameo by the Telos Cyberman head, had such an impact. But it would have had more of an impact if it had retained the original Big Finish title of Jubilee, or used something else, and then hit viewers with the reveal.

Alex

 

[Bones2]

That being said, wouldn't the Third Doctor's final story feel a little more epic if it was called something besides "Planet of the Spiders?"

Not really. Wouldn't change the content. And it's better than than "The Parting of the Ways".

"The Parting of the Ways" feels a little bit more "final" than "Planet of the Spiders", though, doesn't it? Unless you're suffering from arachnophobia, of course.

Well to be honest, it's just a title. But I think gearing it towards specifically being about the regeneration in that way diminishes the rest of the story (though in the case of TPOTW, the regeneration helpfully distracted from the godawful resolution we'd just witnessed). After all, Caves of Androzani is a better story than pretty much all the regeneration stories put together, and its strengths aren't in the fact the Doctor regenerates at the end.