Series 9 Overall Review

[TommyR01D]

Though I can't say I find the new look particularly pleasing, it does have the upside that I have now regained the ability to post new threads, which mysteriously disappeared after I launched my first back in 2011.

In the thread for Hell Bent I asked

"Will there be a thread now for discussing this series on the whole, or are we waiting until after the Christmas special?"

...to which Dimesdan replied:

"I always find these questions rather strange, like when a review thread hasn't been created and people ask if there will be one and not make one themself."

Now that we are well into the new year (and now that the thread for the Christmas special seems to have run out of steam) I have used my newly recovered powers to do just that.

I will here reiterate what I posted at Christmas - the comparative scores of each episode in the series according to the polls on their respective grading and discussion threads.

Heaven +0.58
Familiar +0.51
Apprentice +0.43
Lake +0.38
Inversion +0.23
Hell +0.19
Husbands +0.14
Raven +0.09
Flood +0.04
Lived -0.25
Died -0.28
Invasion -0.48
Sleep -1.58

Have at it!

 

[kirk55555]

I thought it was a decent season, and A LOT better than Series 8. My favorite episode was Heaven Sent, which was probably (in my opinion) the best Capaldi episode so far and ranks highly in NuWho in general. The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar was also very good. The Husbands of River Song had problems, but overall it was pretty good and definitely the best Capaldi Christmas Special. Hell Bent was ok, even though I wish it had an ending with a bit more teeth and hadn't retracted Face the Raven's ending. The Girl Who lived two parter and the Under the Lake two parter were ok, although they weren't anything special. Sleep No More was just stupid. The Zygon Invasion/Inversion were definitely the worst episodes, and the only ones I'd call outright terrible. Not quite as bad as the worst of Series 8, but still very bad. Face the Raven was bad, but not on the Zygon two parter's level.

Overall (comparing it just to Moffat's other Series), its a big step up from Series 8 and 7B, but nowhere near as strong as Series 5, 6 or 7A.

 

[Mr Light]

I was not a huge fan of this season. I went into it super excited; no more Danny Pink! Constant two parters! But the stories themselves were generally very subpar. Season 8 had a lot more good stories so I rank it higher, even with the presence of Danny Pink :-p

Great: Davros two parter, Zygon two parter, Heaven / Hell (but Heaven has zero rewatch value and I'm still pissed how Hell quickly dropped the Time Lords)

Not So Great: Under the Lake two parter, Girl Who Lived two parter, Sleep No More, Face the Raven

Having 6 subpar episodes is a terrible ratio for me. In Season 8 the only episode I truly hated was Forest. All the others were good to some degree. And in Season 7 the only one I didn't like was Hide.

 

[Green Lantern]

A very good a strong season, sadly it was let down by some lesser episodes but there were some fantastic ones in here too.

Magician's Apprentice/Witches' Familiar: I think it may well be my favourite Capaldi story. I like the dark side of it, the acting from everyone was great, kept me engaged throughout and is a fine addition to the series history!
Under the Lake/Before the Flood: Good standard base under siege episodes, nothing special but nothing catastrophic. However Before the Flood wasn't as good as Under the Lake.
The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived: In my opinion two pretty weak episodes, wasn't keen at all.
The Zygon Invasion/Inversion: On part with the MA/WF, fantastic two parter which was intelligent and enjoyable.
Sleep No More: Underrated, not as terrible as everyone makes out but by no means is it very good either.
Face the Raven: Surprisingly good, I was prepared for a lacklustre filler episode but it turned out to be very strong and very emotional!
Heaven Sent: I'm going against the grain here but I really didn't like it, found it boring and a bit silly. Should probably re-watch but overall not at all a fan. Could well be my least favourite of the series. Eh, I'll reserve that spot for the Massie Williams two parter.
Hell Bent: Great episode which made up for every minute of Heaven Sent, very enjoyable and a good finale!

 

[Overgeeked]

I really did not like Series 9. Like at all. The best bits were when Clara died. The worst bits were when she came back to life. The two-parters thing really drained the energy out of the series and it had what was one of the best episodes and cliffhangers (Under the Lake) followed by one of the worst episodes (Before the Flood). It also had a lot of meh episodes and some thoroughly atrocious stories, like Sleep No More. For me it was one of the worst series the new show's done.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I liked Witches' Familiar but I stopped watching after The Girl Who Died. Face The Raven was so meh.

 

[MickJo1701]

The Magician's Apprentice/The Witches' Familiar - Best series opening story since The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, excellent two-part story and a welcome return for Davros and Skaro.
Under the Lake/Before the Flood - Nothing spectacular and the shift from under siege water base to timey wimey was a bit jarring between episodes. Fisher King, such a daft name but looked great.
The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived - Another lacklustre combination of episodes with another shift of setting between episodes going from comical to dour and a bit dull.
The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion - Excellent return to form, Doctor Who riffing off what Star Trek does well by commenting on current issues with a Science Fiction setting.
Sleep No More - Re-watched this just last week, still a mixed bag with a forgettable guest cast and story lacking substance. The direction and experimental visual style was interesting however.
Face the Raven - Interesting concepts and a great send off for Coleman, Capaldi was equally fantastic especially when threatening Ashildr.
Heaven Sent - 10/10 Best episode of Series 9 by far! Fascinating concept with an excellent script, Capaldi owned the screen for 53 minutes superbly. Great direction and Murray Gold was on top form.
Hell Bent - Gallifrey. What I've wanted to see since 2005. An episode I hoped would tell of the struggle of The Doctor against Rassilon for his 4 billion year incarceration resulting in re-establishment of the Time Lords to their previous status of power minus the corruption. And from the off it was never going to happen. It became an episode about trying to save Clara, she was dead! leave well enough alone. From the Extraction Chamber scene onward it took a noise dive that it never recovered from. Gallifrey was just the setting, its return to our universe was completely glanced over with a throw-away line. The course of this episode and a lack of resolution to this plot-line has, for me, tarnished that amazing final scene in the Day of the Doctor. Most disappointing finale series since Journey's End.
The Husbands of River Song - Typical Christmas Special with an oddly exceptional final 15 minutes wrapping up River Song's character for the foreseeable future.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

Magician's Apprentice and the Witch's Familiar were pretty fantastic. A great series opener and a great use of Davros as a character.

Under the Lake / Before the Flood is probably my favorite Doctor Who base under siege story ever.

Heaven Sent is probably going to be in every top ten list of Doctor Who for now until forever. It's at least top-three for Nu-Who for me. Hellbent was also pretty awesome, and I thought Face the Raven had a cool dark urban fantasy feeling going for it.

I think the Husbands of River Song was a master piece, based soley on the acting of Capaldi and Kingston. There was dialogue to convey their insecurities about their love to the kiddies, but the depth of emotions the two actors managed to convey with just their faces told an even bigger story to me. I'm a romantic at heart, so this appealed to me. And I liked the design of the robot guy's armor.

The rest of the season were pretty meh. The Zygon two-parter was essentially a set up for one brilliant speech...and it was brilliant! But I'll probably skip the episodes and youtube the speech from here on out. Sleep No More had a cute twist at the end, but was mostly dull. The Ashilder two parter was a pretty mixed bag for me.

Overall, though, the highs of the season took me higher than most seasons of Doctor Who. Doctor Who can't be perfect every week, after all. Before this season I put season five as my favorite year of Nu-Who, but I'm tempted to put this one first. I'll have to do a re-watch before I make a final decision on that though.

 

[DS9Continuing]

I liked some parts and I disliked some parts, but overall it felt strangely meandering and aimless.

The themes of death and resurrection that were woven into every episode started off nice as a clear thematic set-up for the big character death that we knew was coming. But by the time we got there, all the gossamer hints had added up to an anvil and I just wanted it over with. The character arc of Clara becoming more and more reckless was pleasant but not as clear and focused as the previous year's character work. I did like how the theme of Clara 'becoming' the Doctor was taken to its logical extreme, but the 'hybrid' plot was so half-hearted as to be meaningless.

The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar - a good opening salvo. Lots of surprises, a bit too much wackiness in Magician but leavened by two-guys-in-a-room in Witch, which is one of my favourite storytelling tropes. I only recently realised that the entire season's storyline and character arc is basically told in those first two episode titles. Clara is constantly learning to be more like the Doctor, but as far as Missy is concerned, she's only a tool by which she can drive the Doctor further off the reservation.

Under the Lake / Before the Flood - eh, it was okay. I liked the diversity of the guest characters and that not only was the deaf woman the boss but her very deafness was necessary to the plot. It didn't feel like it was an important enough story to build a two-parter around though. Previously most two-parters have felt like major events, something that needed the extra room. This was more like The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People in that there just wasn't enough story to warrant the screen time.

The Girl Who Died / The Woman Who Lived - a two-parter in name only, really two completely separate episodes connected only by Ashildr. And since I never warmed to Ashildr in any of her appearances, my reaction is another 'eh'. Just some pleasant and inoffensive period pieces whose character work could have been done in a much more exciting way.

The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion - here you go, a two-parter that actually feels like a two-parter, like the Cybermen or Dalek two-parters of old. A nice acting showcase for both Coleman and Capaldi, and some good issue metaphor work that would make Roddenberry proud. And that speech - my god, when one man talking can have me on the edge of my seat and wanting utter silence around me so I can hear every inflection and nuance, that's some good writing and acting.

Sleep No More - I don't loathe it quite so viscerally as others, but I do definitely give it a shrug. It was another base-under-siege story in a season that already had one, with some interesting and innovative concepts that they really didn't pull off successfully.

Face the Raven - a solid hour, with a bit too much of the 'okay, I guess I'll go along with it even though it's a bit woolly' about it. I don't object to the death scene or the preceding speech at all - I think she earned them both. It's another logical extrapolation of Clara's character. The concept of the Trap Street where alien refugees hide would have been better if it didn't have the utterly bland Ashildr in it.

Heaven Sent - I believe this is what they mean when they say 'masterpiece'. Another off-format experiment that worked enormously, like 'Blink', 'Midnight' or 'Listen'. Absolutely spellbinding performance from Capaldi who commands the screen all to himself for nearly an hour. I'm not sure how many other Doctors could have done this so successfully.

Hell Bent - a weirdly mixed bag. It was a bit of a disappointment that such a huge event as the reappearance of Gallifrey was played down to such an extent and done with in minutes. But it also perfectly fits the Doctor's character - for all his guilt over killing his own people, he really doesn't have much use for them beyond what they can do for him and his friends. And I think it was actually the most uplifting and non-heartbreaking companion departure we've ever had in nuWho - she really did become the Doctor.

The Husbands of River Song - the rest of the season had been rather dour and lacking in fun. This brought that back with a vengeance, and then punched us in the feels for good measure. Certainly one of the best River stories. Feck all to do with Christmas, but that's completely fine with me.

So all in all it comes out at middling. Not one of my favourite seasons (those would be 3 and 8), but not one of the worst either (which would be 2 and 5). A solid C.

.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Loved season 8 to bit's, yet season 9 for some reason did nothing for me, was totally uninterested in any of the characters or stories through the whole season, with only the first two episodes holding my attention.
A rare miss for me.

 

[TommyR01D]

Here I have compiled a list of my personal ratings of all the episodes from the Moffat era.

Series 5 was easily the best, with the story arcs rather derailing from Let's Kill Hitler onwards and Series 7 rather slumping in quality. Series 8 and 9 look like the first steps of a gradual recovery.

What I will say about the most recent series is that it didn't have as many "MOFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" moments as its predecessor. 2014 had Clara quite aggressively overemphasised, very often eclipsing The Doctor, and a lot of moments (like her face in Death in Heaven's opening titles or her talking to the young Doctor) felt purposely designed to offend any fans who weren't on board. If you didn't care for Clara, then Series 8 was one you largely endured rather than enjoyed. Series 9 still had that problem occasionally (most of it concentrated into Hell Bent) but in general Clara's influence was dialled down and we got to see Capaldi finally become the star.

Though I don't have much of an opinion on Chris Chibnall, I am glad that Moffat is on the way out. He was fantastic in small doses during the Davies era and made a great job of Series 5 but after that his talent seemed to run out, and the latter half of the Smith era was a bit of a mess in terms of story arcs. He also is rather gung-ho about screwing with continuity and canon in irreparable ways which will leave a shaky ground for his successors.

Series Five/Flarg (Season 31)

1. The Eleventh Hour - 7
2. The Beast Below - 5
3. Victory of the Daleks - 6
4. The Time of Angels - 10
5. Flesh and Stone - 10
6. The Vampires of Venice - 8
7. Amy's Choice - 8
8. The Hungry Earth - 6
9. Cold Blood - 6
10. Vincent and The Doctor - 6
11. The Lodger - 5
12. The Pandorica Opens - 9
13. The Big Bang - 9
14. A Christmas Carol - 6

Series Average Score: 7.2

Series Six (Season 32)

1. The Impossible Astronaut - 7
2. Day of the Moon - 8
3. The Curse of the Black Spot - 3
4. The Doctor's Wife - 10
5. The Rebel Flesh - 6
6. The Almost People - 5
7. A Good Man Goes to War - 7
8. Let's Kill Hitler - 5
9. Night Terrors - 7
10. The Girl Who Waited - 8
11. The God Complex - 6
12. Closing Time - 4
13. The Wedding of River Song - 5
14. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe - 3

Series Average Score: 6.0

Series Seven (Season 33)

1. Asylum of the Daleks - 3
2. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - 5
3. A Town Called Mercy - 5
4. The Power of Three - 5
5. The Angels Take Manhattan - 2
6. The Snowmen - 3
7. The Bells of Saint John - 5
8. The Rings of Akhaten - 4
9. Cold War - 9
10. Hide - 5
11. The Crimson Horror - 8
12. Nightmare in Silver - 6
13. The Name of The Doctor - 5
14. The Day of The Doctor - 10
15. The Time of The Doctor - 4

Series Average Score: 5.3 (4.9 if excluding TDODT)

Series Eight (Season 34)

1. Deep Breath - 7
2. Into the Dalek - 7
3. Robot of Sherwood - 5
4. Listen - 4
5. Time Heist - 7
6. The Caretaker - 7
7. Kill the Moon - 1
8. Mummy on the Orient Express - 8
9. Flatline - 7
10. In the Forest of the Night - 3
11. Dark Water - 6
12. Death in Heaven - 4
13. Last Christmas - 7

Series Average Score: 5.6

Series Nine (Season 35)

1. The Magician's Apprentice - 5
2. The Witch's Familiar - 7
3. Under the Lake - 6
4. Before the Flood - 5
5. The Girl Who Died - 5
6. The Woman Who Lived - 6
7. The Zygon Invasion - 7
8. The Zygon Inversion - 7
9. Sleep No More - 3
10. Face the Raven - 7
11. Heaven Sent - 8
12. Hell Bent - 5
13. The Husbands of River Song - 6

Series Average Score: 5.9

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I rewatched it lately, and I must admit, I really, really liked it. I enjoyed it a bit more this time, and even enjoyed Alshidir this time around. The Hybrid arc still didn't work for me, though, and while I didn't quite hate Hell Bent like I did last time, I still find it spectacularly badly thought-out and lazily constructed. Just like the arc itself.

Because it seems very clear to me that Moffat knew that he wanted to "kill" a new companion and have the Doctor spent billions of years to find her/him. He just didn't know it'd be Clara and that it'd be because of the Time Lords.

Its also very obvious that Clara sorta came in late into the scripts. This Clara is ostensibly different from the strongly opinionated school teacher from series 7 and 8. She's a lot more impulsive, reckless and sometimes straight-on dumb. They try to explain it in Face the Raven by saying she's been on high since Danny's death, but that's BS really. Its an almost different character to me. I didn't dislike her, because Jenna Coleman can do no wrong (yeah, I might've developed a crush there), but she works well with Capaldi, and that's what matters.

Capaldi of course, is brilliant. He's so unlike Matt Smith, its wonderful. He's like Merlin on crack, but its still Merlin, so you get a vastly different reaction. I could type for hours, but I won't Perfect.

That being said, it's not a perfect season. The Alshidir storyline never paid off, satisfactorily, and it never delivered on the promise of the anti-hero that her second episode promised it'd set up. She should've been the Hybrid, and the two-parter should've been about her misguided villainy. It'd probably mean that we'd have lost Heaven Sent, so I don't know what to think there.

 

[The Wormhole]

The Alshidir storyline never paid off, satisfactorily, and it never delivered on the promise of the anti-hero that her second episode promised it'd set up. She should've been the Hybrid,

Actually, if anything she should have been the War Minister that got name-dropped in the sea base story. The name Ashildr means "battle god," a name that can easily shift over to "War Minister" no problem.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Actually, if anything she should have been the War Minister that got name-dropped in the sea base story. The name Ashildr means "battle god," a name that can easily shift over to "War Minister" no problem.

The Hybrid, as the War Minister! Tan-tan!

Seriously, its Moffat's laziest year, in terms of long-term arc planning (series 10, as decent as it may be too, showcases that very laziness, too). As if he thought he'd get some inspiration about it on the way. Probably because of his work with Sherlock, but I do think he didn't quite care as much, only putting strength in occassional efforts, like Heaven Sent. So you have Hell Bent, which is a lot of nonsense and non-comittals, and we really don't know why did the Time Lords want the Doctor to ask about the Hybrid, anyway - why did they suddenly care about the Hybrid? Does anyone know why? Also, are the Sisterhood and the Time Lords chummy now? Like best friends or something? Why does Rassilon allow for them to enter their situation room, when from our perspective, they were literally moments away from expunging all of existence? What the hell is going on in Hell Bent?

Ultimately, there was nothing going on, and that is what drives me nuts. If the Time Lords had a real reason why they wanted to find out about the Hybrid from the Doctor, then it'd be tolerable. But as it is... wait, why would the Doctor know about it? Moreover, why was the Doctor afraid of it? But then, he brushed it off, saying it didn't matter. But wait, if the Doctor figured out the Hybrid was nothing serious, why didn't the Time Lords? But what is the Hybrid, come to think of it? Well, I don't know. Do you?

Of course, we all know the meta explanation for it: Its the Doctor, and Clara. Because the complete one another.

Yeah.

Fuck off, Moffat.

PS: Damn, this turned into a rant about Hell Bent, huh? Sorry about that. I really liked the season, despite that!

 

[The Wormhole]

Also, are the Sisterhood and the Time Lords chummy now? Like best friends or something? Why does Rassilon allow for them to enter their situation room, when from our perspective, they were literally moments away from expunging all of existence?

Well, Rassilon does raise some objection to the Sisterhood's presence ("The Sisterhood of Karn has no place in these chambers or on this planet") but I agree, it is odd he let them stay anyway.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Well, Rassilon does raise some objection to the Sisterhood's presence ("The Sisterhood of Karn has no place in these chambers or on this planet") but I agree, it is odd he let them stay anyway.

Also, they're present in the opening story of the season, and they look like they didn't age at all - all the way from the EIghth Doctor's time onward - so... what the hell is up with that, too?

 

[The Wormhole]

Oh, yeah, suddenly revealing they were still around in the premiere was a bit of a WTF that should have been expanded upon. I mean, they are Gallifreyan in origin, so why hasn't the Doctor looked them up long before now?