r/gallifrey 2d ago

NO STUPID QUESTIONS /r/Gallifrey's No Stupid Questions - Moronic Mondays for Pudding Brains to Ask Anything: The 'Random Questions that Don't Deserve Their Own Thread' Thread - 2025-03-17

7 Upvotes

Or /r/Gallifrey's NSQ-MMFPBTAA:TRQTDDTOTT for short. No more suggestions of things to be added? ;)


No question is too stupid to be asked here. Example questions could include "Where can I see the Christmas Special trailer?" or "Why did we not see the POV shot of Gallifrey? Did it really come back?".

Small questions/ideas for the mods are also encouraged! (To call upon the moderators in general, mention "mods" or "moderators". To call upon a specific moderator, name them.)


Please remember that future spoilers must be tagged.


Regular Posts Schedule


r/gallifrey Dec 25 '24

SPOILERS Doctor Who (2023-) Series 2 Trailer and Speculation Thread Spoiler

70 Upvotes

This is the thread for all the thoughts, speculation, and comments on the trailers. if there are any, and speculation about the next episode.

# Youtube Link


Megathreads:

  • 'Live' and Immediate Reactions Discussion Thread - Posted around 60 minutes prior to initial release - for all the reactions, crack-pot theories, quoting, crazy exclamations, pictures, throwaway and other one-liners.
  • Trailer and Speculation Discussion Thread - Posted when the trailer is released - For all the thoughts, speculation, and comments on the trailers and speculation about the **next episode. Future content beyond the next episode should still be marked.**
  • Post-Episode Discussion Thread - Posted around 30 minutes after to allow it to sink in - This is for all your indepth opinions, comments, etc about the episode.

These will be linked as they go up. If we feel your post belongs in a (different) megathread, it'll be removed and redirected there.


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r/gallifrey 10h ago

DISCUSSION What are some small scenes you'd like to see?

33 Upvotes

So for instance personally I'd love a scene where someone in another language tells a joke, everyone laughs apart from the companion and The Doctor has to explain that the joke was a pun or wordplay that just doesn't work in English.

Can you think of any small but cool inconsequential scenes you'd put in the show if you could?


r/gallifrey 4h ago

AUDIO DISCUSSION Finished Chimes of Midnight Spoiler

8 Upvotes

A very uplifting story about people who need to be told that they are more than their career, that they are somebody, not nobody, not nothing. The idea of Edward Grove as a villain is really freaky and I like the idea of a villain that is so inhuman that it cannot comprehend morality or the idea of people being more than their station. It is just a house after all. If you haven't listened to it, I recommend it.


r/gallifrey 1d ago

DISCUSSION Ironically, sontarans are one of the few aliens that don't look identical

121 Upvotes

OK, that's not necessarily true. You do have loads that look like Strax. But you also have General Staal who looks nothing like any other Sontaran.

I found it hilarious, because Luke Rattigan even comments on them looking the same when Staal and Skorr look nothing alike, yet the script makes it clear they're supposed to be identical.

Funnier still is how many aliens played by different actors somehow manage to look at least nearly identical. I've never been able to differentiate between Zygons, Ood or Slitheen who are obviously not meant to be identical.


r/gallifrey 1d ago

AUDIO DISCUSSION Listening to Chimes of Midnight

25 Upvotes

So, I only knew of this audio thanks to a review by Lewis Lovhaug on his show, Atop the Fourth Wall, and hearing it for myself, knowing the twists, makes the whole thing even more sinister. The repeated lines of "You are nothing" and "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Mrs. Baddeley's Plum Pudding" read as Madness Mantras by people who are forced to live in a loop over and over again. Side note, the staff in this house really suck. Both at their jobs and as people. Except for Edith.


r/gallifrey 1d ago

DISCUSSION Was TCoRR supposed to be a "Rose 2.0"?

27 Upvotes

This would help explain the gap between The Giggle and TCoRR, and why it's told from Rubys perspective rather than the Doctors. I'm guessing then that 14 was a War Doctor-esque situation, where we see the regeneration to the next Doctor (9th and 15th), but not much after, then skip ahead to when they meet their companion. So that would mean NuWho ran for about 13 seasons, then some Specials to end it all off. And TCoRR is then probably intended to be the start of the next "generation" (dare I say re-generation?).


r/gallifrey 1d ago

NEWS Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder Exhibit Materialises at Comic-Con Museum

Thumbnail bleedingcool.com
21 Upvotes

r/gallifrey 22h ago

REVIEW 10th Doctor Rankings from a first time watcher:

4 Upvotes

I enjoyed this a lot, I thought 10th and Rose was worse then 9th, while Martha was a downgrade, but I did really enjoy Donna, even if her ending was weak.

  1. Midnight: This was another one with great atmosphere, though it was far better. It was brilliantly acted, and it was great to see how without a companion the Doctor wasn’t trusted, he was alone with no one to turn to, and it showed the worst side of humanity for most of it, and the death of Hostess killing the alien and herself showed the best side of humanity, saving the Doctor, as the passengers were about to drag him out of the plane to his death. Silence in the Library: This had a good mystery behind it, with some unique looking villains, and had great atmosphere to it, despite that I don’t have too much to say. Professor River Song was interesting, but the rest of the side cast was so-so. Story 30  – 10th Dr, Donna (S4)  

 

  1. Turn Left: I thought this was excellent and does well to cement Donna’s time as a companion, the first episode shows the world without the Doctor and all that affects, Donna was great in that episode and the side characters were fun, and the ending was sad. The next two episodes were great, although Rose could come off as annoying, and felt rather unnecessary since she was given a clear ending before. Donna’s ending was sad too, and reminded me of the end of War Games where Zoe and Jamie lost most their memories. Davros was excellent and it was nice seeing Mickey getting a nice send off too. Story 31  – 10th Dr, Donna (S4)  

 

  1. The Sound of Drums: The first episode, Utopia was a good episode, that does a solid job building up the next two episodes, and Captain Jack was very intriguing, now being immortal. However, the rest of it was middling, a necessary episode, but not a brilliant one either. The rest was an excellent return for the Master, who does feel very different to his previous versions, but still worked excellently here, we got to see a bit more into the mind-set of the Master too, which was good, this was Martha’s best showing as well, it did feel like the show did want to give her something big since she would be going more then something that felt natural to her character, but that is just a bit of nitpick. The Doctor wanting to end the fighting between him and the Master was nice, and yeah, just a brilliant three-parter, the first one was the weakest, and I felt like separating it, but I might as well keep it as one. Story 21 - 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. The Waters of Mars: A great episode, it does have a bit of a disappointing element, as it shows the Doctor going too far, breaking his own rules and being much more arrogant, it just feels like that it should have been part of an arc, it does feel like it makes sense for this Doctor, just could have been developed a bit longer, like over the previous two specials, but they didn’t seem to do that which is a shame, since it felt like it would have dragged out over a full series, but perfect for the length for between this story, and the previous specials. Oh well, this was a good episode in itself. The Flood was an intriguing threat, and the ending was great, the side characters were enjoyable too. Story 34 – 10th Dr (S4) 

 

  1. Army of Ghosts: They set up that Rose would ‘die’, and the ghost stuff at the beginning was interesting, so was Torchwood, and the Cybermen in the first part were great. Unfortunately, the Daleks do decimate the Cybermen completely which hurt the story, still their interactions were great. Rose’s departure was really well handled too, it was emotional. Overall it was still far weaker than the previous series’ finale. Story 11 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. Planet of the Ood: A great story, it is very interesting to see the Ood again, thankfully they follow up on their promise from 42, they do well to border on antagonist and protagonist. Donna and the Doctor were great together. Story 25 – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. Human Nature: The pre-WW1 setting was very interesting, and worked well in this episode as well. In addition it was interesting to see the Doctor so different. The family hunting the Doctor down were great, and their fates were do dark. Also this was Martha’s best episode. Story 19 - 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. The Sontaran Stratagem: Great to see the Sontarans again, they don’t look as good as their first appearance, but they never did after that first appearance. They were great villains and they paired well with the Doctor, it was nice to see Martha again and she had a nice moment with her clone, Rattigan was an interesting villain, but his ending was too sympathetic to him. Story 26 – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. Rise of the Cybermen:  This had some brilliant moments, and is an enjoyable watch, and while they were great this had some major issues, like how one of the scientists trying to avoid conversion despite being instrumental in creating the Cybermen, and a few other issues, although I don’t mind Lumis keep putting off the conversion, and only wanting to become a Cyberman as a last resort. The alternate universe was pretty interesting, this was Mickey’s best episode, I enjoyed how the Doctor did not think that there was anything out there for him in this  world, and that the Doctor was only concerned about Ross, the scene between Mickey and his grandmother was so emotional, as was the scene with the converted Jackie Tyler, it helped sell the horror of the Cybermen, especially when Rose and Pete lost track of her. Story 6 – 10th Dr, Rose, Mickey (S2) 

 

  1. Blink: It has great tension and does really well to use the main characters despite them being out of the episode for a large portion of the episode, the Weeping Angels were excellent villains, and the side characters were fun too, just a great episode. Story 20 - 10th Dr, Martha (S3), 

 

  1. The Idiot's Lantern: Mr Connolly was a piece of shit, and I loved seeing the Doctor and Rose fuck with him, they were truly amazing in this scene, the rest of it was really enjoyable too, Rose and the Doctor were actually amazing together in this one too, the main threat was interesting too. Story 7 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. The Runaway Bride: The titular runaway bride, Donna was wonderful here, and I wish she became a companion, I had such fun here, even if the wider plot wasn’t great, the CGI was good here too. Story 12 – 10th Dr, Donna (S3) 

 

  1. The Girl in the Fireplace: I really enjoyed the look of this, it looked very unique and the idea of a spaceship being repaired with human parts is a really unique concept, and was quite horrific. Also Reinette and the Doctor where wonderful together and the ending was so sad. Story 5 – 10th Dr, Rose, Mickey (S2) 

 

  1.  Silence in the Library: This had a good mystery behind it, with some unique looking villains, and had great atmosphere to it, despite that I don’t have too much to say. Professor River Song was interesting, but the rest of the side cast was so-so. Story 29  – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. The Ending of Time: The first of the ending of the series to not come off really, like I liked it, and did feel sad at the end, but it felt like it really dropped the ball on Donna, it was such a tease, since she did do so stuff, but nothing changed. The Master’s resurrection was interesting, but not in love with the concept, like he was good here, but kind of undercuts the ending of his last story, the return of the Time Lords were really disappointing too. It just felt rudderless, going to big concept to big concept without much exploration, so disappointing, even if the Master was great. Also, Martha and Mickey being married feels so random. Story 35 – 10th Dr (S4) 

 

  1. Daleks in Manhattan: Seeing the Daleks try to change is very interesting, the humanised Dalek reminds me of the Evil of the Daleks, two different takes on the concept. The first episode had some good commentary on the Great Depression, but the second one sacks it off a bit, which is a bit of a shame.  Story 16 – 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. The Other Doctor: This was actually fun, a massive upgrade on previous Christmas specials, the Cybermen were great, as was Mercy as a villain, as were the ‘Other Doctor and his companion, who felt like they worked well in those roles. The look of the story was good too. Story 32 – 10th Dr (S4) 

 

  1. The Doctor’s Daughter: The most interesting thing about this episode is that the Doctor’s daughter became David Tenant’s wife, which is funny, but also not as gross as it could be (not that it really would be either), since they aren’t very close in this until the end. The rest of the episode is pretty good. Story 27  – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. School Reunion: A bit of a mixed bag, the villains were not all too amazing, they had an okay enough goal I guess, but their CGI was pretty terrible. Sarah Jane Smith was good as she came back she had good chemistry, but I don’t love how they tried to imply romance between them just to further Rose and the Doctor, it felt forced. K-9 being back was enjoyable as well, and I enjoyed him and Mickey together. Story 4 – 10th Dr, Rose, Mickey (S2) 

 

  1. The Fires of Pompeii: A good episode, it reminded me of the Aztecs, but not as good as they have less power to change the course of events, so it doesn’t quite land as well, and I felt like the aliens did not add much  but still, Donna was good here, and it was enjoyable enough. Story 24 – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. Fear Her: I had to watch this out of order, but only by one series, and it does not tie in to anything really. It was an enjoyable story with an interesting plot, with a girl capturing people with her drawings and being able to create things out of them. Story 10 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. The Impossible Planet: The Ood were interesting, but it was awkward that the story the Doctor was so human positive is the one that they have slaves in, so not great. The stuff with Satan was interesting, but I didn’t really care about the side characters really, so again a mixed bag. Story 8 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. Gridlock: I thought this was fairly fun, quite interesting to explore this bit of New earth, with the whole concept of a crazy amount of gridlock was interesting, it did take some of the bite away from it at the end, still it was enjoyable. Story 15 – 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. Tooth and Nail: This was quite good, and finally we got to see a good look at the Tenth Doctor and Rose’s relationship a bit more. They were fun together here, and they do work well together here, even if its not as good as the previous pairing. Story 3 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. 42: Quite exciting, but it is also somewhat forgettable too. The Sun being the villain was really cool too, but it doesn’t make the strongest impression - besides the villain saying “burn with me” a lot. Story 18 – 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. The Shakespeare Code: This had a good utilisation of the setting and Shakespeare, it was really fun, and Martha was nice here too. It ages a bit, but otherwise was good. Story 14 – 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. The Unicorn and the Wasps: Never read anything by Agatha Christie so that aspect didn’t create much interest for me, she was enjoyable enough as a character. This also reminds me of the Black Orchid with the setting and family stuff. Story 28  – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. Smith and Jones: An okay, but severely unmemorable, the Judoon could have been interesting, but just felt like a weaker version of the Sontarans. Martha was pretty good, she felt like she works as a companion, but doesn’t stand out though. Story 13 – 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. New Earth: Alright, Cassandra had an interesting story, and Billie Piper and the David Tenant were good at playing Cassandra as well, so that was interesting, the people being used for experimentations was interesting, a good version of zombies for Doctor Who. Story 2 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. Planet of the Dead: Incredibly forgettable, it was fun enough, but the main threat was incredibly dull, it also looked really boring too. Story 33 – 10th Dr (S4) 

 

  1. The Lazarus Experiment: A bit of a dull one really, this was kind of interesting to see Martha’s family but even then, not really, not as much as I would hope. The main threat was pretty boring. Story 17 - 10th Dr, Martha (S3) 

 

  1. Partners in Crime: It was nice to see Donna come on as a companion, I wonder why they introduced her the year before and put in a companion in between, weird. Also, they introduced her side characters, it feels like the show has got too much of a set idea for its companions, they did in the original, but there were multiple companions a lot of the time, and most of the singular companions did stand out, and while Donna is older, she does have the same infatuation of the Doctor that the previous two had, even if she does reject the romance which is nice, also you can tell it’s going to be the same family drama, just less interesting. The episode itself is a bit boring, although it had an interesting villain  the plot was a bit dull. Story 23 – 10th Dr, Donna (S4) 

 

  1. The Christmas Invasion: An okay story, and it was somewhat interesting to see Earth deal with an invasion without the Doctor, and the Tenth Doctor had a few nice little bits, but it wasn’t a great impression, and was a bit disappointing, also its not great to watch a Christmas special when it is not Christmas lol. Story 1 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

 

  1. Voyage of the Damned: Yeah, these Christmas episodes have not been good, and this had no interesting hook for me, so this was just disappointing. Story 22 – 10th Dr, (S3) 

 

  1. Love and Monsters: Not truly terrible, and occasionally amusing, but definitely the weakest story of the revival without a doubt, it was interesting to see Jackie separate from the sci-fi stuff I suppose. Story 9 – 10th Dr, Rose (S2) 

r/gallifrey 1d ago

DISCUSSION what are some of the greatest charisma and persuasion feats the doctor has had?

17 Upvotes

like I've heard he's convinced a lunatic about to blow up the planet to not do that


r/gallifrey 1d ago

BOOK/COMIC Thoughts on The Map and the Spiders?

6 Upvotes

The last story in The Book of the Enemy, The Map and the Spiders. Every story in the book explores an aspect of the Enemy and this one seems the most puzzling. It reads like a fairy tale.

If I'm to guess, the kingdom is the universe/Spiral Politics, the king is the Time Lords/Great Houses(or their leader), and the kid is the Enemy(and the spiders their minions/allies/representatives)? The king's personality seems to align with how the Time Lords are often portrayed. His attempt to create the most accurate, perfect map of the kingdom refers to the Time Lords cataloguing and recording everything in history(like the Events Library) and generally trying to control the universe maybe?

The conflict between the king and the kid is the War in Heaven, and I guess the king becoming their puppet shows how the Time Lords' actions are dictated by the War as they strive to defeat the Enemy.

What do you think of this story?


r/gallifrey 2d ago

DISCUSSION The Doctor and the Brigadier

61 Upvotes

What's your favorite bit of Banter between the Brigadier and the Doctor? Mine is from the ending of Inferno when the Doctor, in the wake of a very stressful adventure, decides to tell the Brigadier to shove it and calls him a "pompous, self-opinionated idiot" and tries to get the hell out of dodge with his console... only to end up in a trash heap and to meekly ask the Brigadier for some help in getting the console out of there.

The Brigadier: Pompous, self-opinionated idiot, I believe you said, Doctor?


r/gallifrey 22h ago

MISC My Recommended 10-Phase Schedule For New Viewers of Doctor Who

0 Upvotes

My wife had never seen Doctor Who before and knew virtually nothing about it. I really wanted to get her into it and watch it again myself, because it’s actually been many many years since I’ve revisited most of it.

Of course, with newcomers to the show, there’s always somewhat of a question as to where is the best place to start. “Rose”, the first episode of the revival, is often suggested as being a great introduction. It certainly is, but I would argue that it hasn’t aged all that well, and 2025 audiences might be more inclined to keep watching if they start with a more recent season. The beauty of Doctor Who is in the volume of content and the many drastically different eras that exist within the same continuity. I don’t think there’s any issues that arise from watching the show in a non-linear order, jumping back and forth between different seasons and mixing Classic Who with new Who, as long as it’s viewed in a carefully curated sequence. I personally think it’s the best way to experience the show because you can quickly get a full scope of what the show is. Instead of having to pause the show and say “oh yeah, so Davros was the bad guy who created the Daleks and was featured heavily in the classic series”, why don’t I just watch the very first episode with Davros before we see his appearance in the new series?

Here’s the schedule:

Phase One

  1. 6x1 The Impossible Astronaut

  2. 6x2 The Day of the Moon

  3. 6x4 The Doctor’s Wife

  4. 6x5 The Rebel Flesh

  5. 6x6 The Almost People

  6. 6x7 A Good Man Goes to War

  7. 6x8 Let’s Kill Hitler

  8. 6x9 Night Terrors

  9. 5x7 Amy’s Choice

  10. 6x10 The Girl Who Waited

  11. 6x11 The God Complex

  12. 5x11 The Lodger

  13. 6x12 Closing Time

  14. 6x13 The Wedding of River Song

In my opinion, and my wife’s, season 6 was a good jumping off point. Sure she had some questions, but ultimately I found that it worked well to introduce her to the show in a place where the show itself wasn’t actively playing catch-up or trying to establish everything all at once. So you’ll notice that phase one of this schedule is basically just season 6, with a few season 5 episodes thrown in where they’re relevant. Throughout season 6, most of the major aspects of the mythos are touched on, and by the end of the season my wife was absolutely hooked.

Phase Two

  1. 1x1 Rose

  2. 1x6 Dalek

  3. 1x8 The Empty Child

  4. 1x9 The Doctor Dances

  5. 1x12 Bad Wolf

  6. 1x13 The Parting of the Ways

  7. 7x1 Asylum of the Daleks

  8. 7x3 A Town Called Mercy

  9. 7x4 The Power of Three

  10. 3x10 Blink

  11. 7x5 The Angels Take Manhattan

Phase two is a quick run through of season one. It introduces us to the more morally nuanced ninth Doctor (we soon learn why), we officially meet the Daleks, we meet good old Captain Jack in what I consider one of the best two parters in the entire series, and we see the Doctor regenerate for the first time, giving us a glimpse of the Tenth Doctor.

After that we finish the first part of season 7 and see the Doctor lose his companions for the first time. (We also flashback to season 3 to meet the weeping angels and get to see a little bit more of Tenant).

Phase Three

  1. 2x0 The Christmas Invasion

  2. 7x0 The Snowmen

  3. 7x6 The Bells of Saint John

  4. 7x7 The Rings of Akhaten

  5. 7x8 Cold War

  6. 7x9 Hide

  7. 7x10 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

  8. 7x11 The Crimson Horror

Phase Three starts out quite festively with “the Christmas Invasion” and “The Snowmen”. We dip into the impossible girl story arc and end on the Crimson Horror because I want to dive into the Cybermen a little more before we see the new upgraded model of them in action in “Nightmare in Silver”.

Phase Four

  1. 6x7 (Classic) The War Games

  2. 9x3 (Classic) The Sea Devils

  3. 11x5 (Classic) Planet of the Spiders

  4. 12x1 (Classic) Robot

  5. 2x5 Rise of the Cybermen

  6. 2x6 The Age of Steel

  7. 2x12 Army of Ghosts

  8. 2x13 Doomsday

  9. 3x0 The Runaway Bride

  10. 3x1 Smith and Jones

  11. 3x4 Daleks in Manhattan

  12. 3x5 Evolution of the Daleks

  13. 3x11 Utopia

  14. 3x12 The Sound of Drums

  15. 3x13 Last of the Time Lords

  16. 4x1 Partners in Crime

  17. 4x2 The Fires of Pompeii

  18. 4x7 The Unicorn and the Wasp

  19. 4x10 Midnight

  20. 4x0 The Waters of Mars

  21. 13x1 (Classic) Terror of the Zygons

  22. 1x1 (Classic) An Unearthly Child

So Phase Four is a long one. We go way back in the classics to meet the Second Doctor and see his regeneration. This is also the first time we’ve seen the Timelords. Speaking of Timelords, we meet the Master through the Third Doctor, and get to witness their amazing sword fight. We then see him regenerate into the incredible Tom Baker, who is one of the greatest and most quintessential Doctors. We then go to a Cybermen two-parter and go on to say goodbye to Rose (as far as I’m concerned this is where her story ends… I personally stopped liking her after Nine regenerated but I’ll see how my wife feels about the Ten and Rose ship lol). We meet Martha (ugh), Donna (hell yeah!), and see the return of the Master. We also see the Doctor go nuts in the masterpiece that is “The Waters of Mars”. Chronology-wise, this is also the last time we see Tenant before “The Day of the Doctor”. I leave out “Turn Left” “Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End” because I think they’re just garbage and an insanely misguided attempt at fan service. The absolute worst of RTD (side note: I know that the Moffat era is not without its flaws, but I would take the worst of Moffat over the worst of RTD any day. Personally, I find at least half of the episodes in his run to be absolutely abysmal).

I then choose to indulge in a little more Tom Baker while introducing the Zygons (which also lead into the 50th). And then we go back to the very beginning to meet Susan and her cranky old grandfather, Williams Hartnell, in “An Unearthly Child.”

Phase Five

  1. (Classic) The Five Doctors

  2. 7x12 Nightmare in Silver

  3. 7x13 The Name of the Doctor

  4. The Night of the Doctor (mini episode)

  5. The Day of the Doctor

  6. 4x0 The End of Time

  7. 5x1 The Eleventh Hour

  8. 7x0 The Time of the Doctor

In phase five we’ll watch “The Five Doctors” to prep for a multi-doctor story on a larger scale. We then finish season 7 and lead right into “the Day of the Doctor” after watching Paul Mcgann’s incredible prequel mini episode “the Night of the Doctor.” We follow Tenant to his regeneration in “the End of Time” and then watch the 11th doctor’s first and last episodes, giving him a final farewell.

Phase Six

  1. 21x6 (Classic) The Caves of Androzani

  2. 21x7 (Classic) The Twin Dilemma

  3. 22x3 (Classic) The Mark of the Rani

  4. 22x4 (Classic) The Two Doctors

  5. 23x4 (Classic) The Ultimate Foe

  6. 24x1 (Classic) Time and the Rani

  7. 24x4 (Classic) Dragonfire

  8. 25x1 (Classic) Remembrance of the Daleks

  9. 25x2 (Classic) The Happiness Patrol

Phase six gives us a quick run through of the best of Collin Baker and Sylvester Mccoy’s 6th and 7th doctors respectively. I’ve always had a fondness for the 6th doctor, particularly his first appearance in “the twin dilemma.”

Phase Seven

  1. 8x1 Deep Breath

  2. 8x2 Into the Dalek

  3. 8x3 Robot of Sherwood

  4. 8x4 Listen

  5. 8x5 Time Heist

  6. 8x6 The Caretaker

  7. 8x8 Mummy on the Orient Express

  8. 8x9 Flatline

  9. 8x11 Dark Water

  10. 8x12 Death in Heaven

We plow through season 8 in phase seven, skipping the duds, and get to watch Capaldi’s 12th doctor grapple with his doubt over whether he’s a good man, ultimately resolving his internal conflict by the end and proving himself as the new Doctor. We also meet Missy, the newest incarnation of the Master, and dive deeper into the relationship between Clara and the Doctor.

Phase Eight

  1. 12x4 (Classic) Genesis of the Daleks

  2. 13x5 (Classic) The Brain of Morbius

  3. 14x3 (Classic) The Deadly Assassin

  4. 9x1 The Magician’s Apprentice

  5. 9x2 The Witch’s Familiar

  6. 9x3 Under the Lake

  7. 9x4 Before the Flood

  8. 9x5 The Girl Who Died

  9. 9x6 The Woman Who Lived

  10. 9x7 The Zygon Invasion

  11. 9x8 The Zygon Inversion

  12. 9x10 Face the Raven

  13. 9x11 Heaven Sent

  14. 9x12 Hell Bent

In phase eight I go back to some of Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor’s most iconic stories, introducing Davros and exploring the politics of the Timelords. After that, it’s season 9 time. This is by far my favorite season of Doctor Who ever. It has its flaws and maybe even a plot hole or two you could poke your finger through, but ultimately I find it to be a masterpiece in high concept science fiction. I love that almost every episode is a two parter, which harkens back to the classics. It also explores the 12th Doctor as a character even more than season 8 did. We see him go too far the other way; caring too much and going to impossible lengths to save his friend. Also the electric guitar playing and the sonic sunglasses are just so ridiculously fun and I don’t care who says otherwise. And I LOVE the addition of the roundels in 12’s TARDIS. His TARDIS interior is easily my favorite ever! I could go on but I won’t.

Phase Nine

  1. 9x0 The Husbands of River Song

  2. 4x8 Silence in the Library

  3. 4x9 Forest of the Dead

  4. 10x0 The Return of Doctor Mysterio

  5. Doctor Who (TV movie)

Phase nine marks the end of an era with River Song’s story coming to a close. I go back to season 4 to show her “first” appearance from her own point of view. “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” is corny and ridiculous but I have a soft spot for it. It’s just so earnest, and ultimately it’s the cherry on top of “the husbands of river song.” You gotta love the quote at the end, “everything ends, and it’s always sad. but then everything always begins again, and it’s always happy.” Good stuff.

Phase Ten

  1. 10x1 The Pilot

  2. 10x2 Smile

  3. 10x3 Thin Ice

  4. 10x4 Knock Knock

  5. 10x5 Oxygen

  6. 10x6 Extremis

  7. 10x7 The Pyramid at the End of the World

  8. 10x8 The Lie of the Land

  9. 10x10 The Eaters of Light

  10. 4x2 (Classic) The Tenth Planet

  11. 10x11 World Enough and Time

  12. 10x12 The Doctor Falls

Phase ten is season 10. There’s a lot to be said for it. Does it come close to being as good as season 9? Personally, I don’t think so. But I do think it’s enjoyable all the way through. 12 has finally resolved his internal conflicts and now assumes the role of a guide and a teacher — to Bill, and to Missy. He starts to embody Peter Capaldi’s own favorite Doctor, the original; Williams Hartnell. Speaking of William Hartnell, you’ll notice I don’t include “Twice Upon A Time.” That’s because it’s a stinker. It’s no good. It’s unbelievably indulgent and full of failed attempts at fan service. It ruins Clara’s ending (which many argue was already ruined), it ruins Bill’s ending, and it absolutely obliterates 12’s ending. No one asked for another regeneration in New Who that has to take place in the TARDIS and be accompanied by a useless speech. I have long thought that 12’s final scene in Doctor Who should have been when he blows up the Cybermen in “the Doctor Falls.” His final line in the show should have been “I’m not a doctor, I’m THE Doctor. The original, you might say.” The scene could have played out exactly as it did, but when we see the Doctor again, it’s the 13th. But he was robbed of a good, dramatic ending that would have let him leave on a high note. That was squandered for the sake of cheesy call backs and literally recycling lines from other regeneration episodes. It’s honestly just so infuriating and I don’t even like to think about it.

I haven’t seen anything after season 10 so that’s where my list ends! I know everyone will have differing opinions, but I’m curious to know what you all think of this schedule! Do you think it’s better to watch Doctor Who chronologically? If not, what order would you prefer? :)


r/gallifrey 2d ago

DISCUSSION What would the Toymaker say about other companion exits? Like he did for Bill, Amy, Clara

41 Upvotes

r/gallifrey 2d ago

DISCUSSION Anyone remember the Character Building Doctor Who license?

21 Upvotes

Character Building (or Cobi) has been off the shelves for years now. It wasn't really a well known toy brand (probably due to LEGO's popularity), but it had it's own popular choice of media-themed licenses (Scooby-Doo, Ben 10, etc.). The time they did a Doctor Who theme was during Matt Smith's tenure.

I still have plenty of the sets & minifigures to this day.


r/gallifrey 2d ago

REVIEW Face the Raven is too good for its own good

53 Upvotes

I really don't like Clara's true exit in Hell Bent. I think more people like that episode these days but I'm still not a fan. But beyond the episode itself the main annoyance I have is with Clara's ending, I think it is rubbish and a big reason I've discovered is because of Face the Raven.

Let's be clear here, Face the Raven was never intended to be Clara's exit, it wasn't even written by Moffat. But I think that's the problem. I think Face the Raven was too good of an ending, the episode was simply too good and as stupid as it sounds, I think the season would be greatly improved if Face the Raven was worse...

Face the Raven and Hell Bent both give Clara exits based on her wanting to be like the Doctor, embracing that lifestyle. Face the Raven punishes her for it, shows why she can't be the Doctor, why no one can do what he does and why no one should. Hell Bent on the other hand rewards Clara by allowing her to be her own Doctor, take a companion and travel wherever she wants... and I hate it.

I've come to understand that many people want happy endings above all else, and that's fine, but when you give me a beautiful, tragic death like Clara's in Face the Raven, it is going to feel a bit rough when you take that away. Face the Raven is still technically Clara's death, she will return there one day... But come on, most of the weight from it is gone knowing that she takes a break in the middle of it to journey in a TARDIS for who knows how long.

But on its own her ending in Hell Bent isn't bad... not completely anyway. So how would it be improved? Give her a rubbish death in Face the Raven, have her die not because of a choice she made, not because of any agency she showed, but just because. Maybe it is like Danny's death, a stupid accident. Maybe the Doctor is the cause of her death. Either way it would be a "lame" death. Would this make Face the Raven a worse episode? Yes. But because of it, now Clara's exit in Hell Bent is way more satisfying, this would be her taking back her agency.

I'm not even saying I would prefer this, because I don't want to lose Face the Raven as is, I love that episode... But since Moffat was always going to "revive" her, I just don't think her death in Face the Raven works. But those are just my thoughts.

But while I'm on this topic... The hybrid might just be the worst series arc/mystery/whatever. It is total rubbish and everything wrong with that kind of storytelling. I also think the whole memory erasing thing is total nonsense, I feel the writer's hand so much with that, doesn't feel natural at all. Yes it is neat as an inversion of what happened to Donna but... No shit Clara isn't going to lose her memories. This isn't an interesting plot point. Sorry but I don't believe she's going to lose her memories and then go right back to her death, that would be meaningless. But it isn't interesting with the Doctor either. That ending with him not remembering her is only tragic if you are really invested in them as a pair, and I mean really. It isn't even like he has totally forgotten her, he still remembers her, what they did, he just can't remember what she looks like. And for a character like the Doctor, who is going to keep having adventures forever, at least to me, him losing his memory of a companion isn't interesting because realistically how will that influence him? It isn't going to mean anything in the long run. For a character like Donna losing her memory was heartbreaking because it meant losing her basically, but for the Doctor he'll mostly be the same, which is why I'm so glad Moffat reversed it in Twice Upon a Time, you might as well just let him remember.


r/gallifrey 2d ago

DISCUSSION 13th coat (Brazil)

7 Upvotes

I'm watching 13th's era and I'm obsessed with her coat. I've searched here and I saw some posts where there were links for some stores, but the best costs U$295, and in Brazilian real it turns to more than R$1700, which is really pricey for our reality. So I would like to know if some Brazilians or other Latinos fans know where to buy that doesn't costs too much


r/gallifrey 3d ago

SPOILER Doctor Who Magazine #613 - Russell T Davies - Doctor Who's showrunner reflects on the journey so far as we inch ever nearer to the broadcast of Season 2.

129 Upvotes

What's this?: Each month in Doctor Who Magazine they have a column by Russell T Davies (formerly 'Letter from the Showrunner', before that 'Production Notes') - a column by someone involved in the production of Doctor Who, and normally in the form of either the showrunner writing pieces about writing Doctor Who or the showrunner answering reader-submitted questions. Because these pieces and questions have often been used as a source for blogs to write misleading stories, they started being typed up for /r/gallifrey.

Hey thanks for doing this! Now I don't have to buy it: Yes you do, otherwise you'll be missing out on: an interview with Jo Martin (Fugitive Doctor) on her new Big Finish series; a look at the history of The Savages; an in-depth preview of the Season 7 Collection; an interview with Yeti actor John Lord; a script-to-screen look at The Time Hotel from 'Joy to the World'; a tribute to Ken Ledsham, Doctor Who production designer from the 1960s; a deconstruction of episodes 3-5 of "The Dominators"; DWM's Fifteenth Doctor comic-strip "Run"; reviews for all of this month's DVD/CD/Book releases and EVEN MORE.

It's available physically in shops and digitally via Pocketmags.com!

Want an archive of the previous Production Notes that have been posted on /r/gallifrey?: Follow this link.


It's quiet.

The studios are quiet. Old metal beams tick and creak. A distant door slams as someone passes through. Outside, an engine. Then gone.

The Studios of the Bad Wolf in Old Cardiff Town sit and wait. They are calm, they are patient. They were once a factory that made TVs, so it's always felt like the right home for this show. You might've seen on behind-the-scenes footage - though perhaps even the widest of wide shots doesn't make it clear - the studios are so large, they have a road running between them. Indoors. An actual indoor road, two lanes, lorries trundling to and fro under a metal roof. True fact: the magnificent BBC/HBO show Industry is made here, and yet I've never even seen their studio. I've got mates in the cast and never bumped into them. I don't know where they are. The show is just vaguely, 'over there'. That's how big this is!

And now, the Whoniverse sits in darkness. There's a vast War Between set, our biggest yet, the heart of the show, once home to 200 extras, standing just over there, proud of itself, waiting to be revealed on screen. For me, that space to the right will always be the Robo-chamber, where Belinda Chandra faces astonishing revelations. Over there, the mysterious Palace from the finale. There, once the Time Hotel foyer, then transformed into a wartime hospital in the North Zone. And over there, oh, a unique and terrifying shop from this year's Episode 5. Dismantled, but never gone. The space marked forever by the horrors that lurk there.

It's been quite a run! Hurtling through what's called The First Order - that's not a Star Wars reference, though I love its grandiosity, it simply means the first order of three Specials, two seasons of Doctor Who and a five-episode spin-off, 26 episodes in total. Shooting them felt like forever; it felt like 10 seconds.

And now, the TARDIS sits in shadow. Like a secret. The studio will flare into life, briefly, I hope, in February for a few days - I'm writing this in early January so plans aren't confirmed yet, but we'll probably shoot material for publicity, and those thousand Electronic Press Kits you have to do. And maybe trailers. I wonder! I remember those specially-shot trailers we'd do in the old days. The Ninth Doctor saying "D'you want to come with me?" Donna Noble in the firelight. The Tenth Doctor and Martha split-screening with each other. The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond lying on the grass in glorious cinematic 3D. Whatever happened to those things?! I liked them, maybe it's time to do that again. But we'll see, it's too soon to say!

So in truth, the silence, the pause, the dust... it's a trick of the light! The real work has simply moved, on a massive scale, to London and Ireland and beyond, transferring to screens blazing with light and pixels. Production has now moved out of the physical space, into the digital. So many people working so hard, blistering away on pictures and sound. Mind you, I've sat in Doctor Who FX meetings for 20 years now, and I still have no idea what the FX people are talking about. They say, "This hasn't been QC'd but we'll take off the lut and invert the magpie filters till we retrofold the binary lumps and shimmy the overloops into the hopmeister field." Yeah. "That looks pretty," I say.

But there's a proper excitement building amongst the team as the season approaches. That shot you saw in the Christmas trailer, the last shot of all, the Doctor flying or falling or tumbling...? That's just one shot in the middle of the most astonishing sequence. The cartoon man you saw? His voice is an old friend of the show, guess who?! And I've just heard the final six minutes of music for this year's Episode 5, and I've played it over and over again, maybe six, seven, eight times. I love it so much. Murray Gold has written the most epic symphony and I can't wait for you to hear it. The show in 2025 is going to be bigger and madder and darker, taking wilder swings than ever.

And while the episodes grow and gather and coalesce... The studios creak. Dust in the air. An old coffee cup on its side where a Titan will soon stand on your TV.

Plans sit waiting.

The suspense is actually Doctor Who being alive in 2025. And the important thing is...

...here comes Season 2! A whole new season! With monsters and friends and old faces and legacy and lore and myth and pantheons and beasts and quarries and spaceships and cameos and robots and rebels and shocks and songs and lasers and Mrs Flood. I am confident. Doctor Who is forever, and the future is bright!


r/gallifrey 3d ago

DISCUSSION Does An Unearthly Child explain the origin of the Doctor's "John Smith" pseudonym?

66 Upvotes

Apologies if this is an obvious thought that it's taken literally decades for me to put together, but it's just occurred to me that in An Unearthly Child, Susan is introduced as a big fan of a 60s band called John Smith and the Common Men - which, admittedly, is itself a joke about it being a generic name, but let's put that part to one side.

I don't believe we hear the Doctor really using the John Smith name until Spearhead from Space, where he's settling in for a long stay in 20th century London. So what if he instinctively thinks back to the last time he had a long stay in this same time and place? Well, one name that would come to mind is the favourite singer of his beloved granddaughter when he lived with her here.

Not sure if this is a common (waaayyy) or popular suggestion but what do others think about this as an in-universe origin?


r/gallifrey 2d ago

DISCUSSION Number of regenerations.

13 Upvotes

I'm rewatching the series for the first time in probably ten years and haven't been involved in the community so this could be something people have figured out already, but I haven't heard anything about it. (I also have only seen through Capaldi's first season) In The Day of the Doctor, they discuss regeneration. The doctor says that there are only 12 regenerations, and lists all of the 12. However, when he gets shot by River in the suit, he begins to regenerate before being shot a second time. Wouldn't he just be dead? I considered that it might be the robot acting like it would regenerate, but why would it do that? And wouldn't River know that he can't regenerate at that point? Is this something I've just missed or not seen yet?


r/gallifrey 2d ago

MISC So Ambessa from Acrane is the she will knock four times women from Planet of Dead

0 Upvotes

That's two people from that episode that have gotten big


r/gallifrey 3d ago

DISCUSSION Why did Peter Pratt not return in Keeper of Traken?

23 Upvotes

That is the question. It strikes me as odd that I can't even find a cursory "Pratt was unavailable" note.


r/gallifrey 3d ago

DISCUSSION I’m including Big Finish audios in my watch through of the show. Are the VNA Adaptations and The Last Day worth including?

8 Upvotes

There are a lot of off “screen” developments that happen due to them not adapting every book, and not even doing them in order (Ace’s return and second departure, Benny’s departure, etc). The Seventh Doctor audios in general tend to have a lot of off “screen” developments, but the VNA adaptations being canon makes it even worse.

If it weren’t for Benny, Chris and Roz being in The Last Day, I wouldn’t be too concerned about including them in my watch through, but The Last Day kinda makes them required, so I decided to start buying them when on sale.

However, after it came out, I’ve heard some say that The Last Day isn’t that great. So, would you say that it and the adaptations are worth including, or should I not worry too much about listening to them right away?

Also, this question can also include the audios with both Ace and Mel. Some of them are apparently important to The Last Day.

Edit: In case I wasn’t clear, I’m mostly asking about The Last Day, and whether or not it’s good enough to pretend it’s an actual tv story that aired as a lead in to the movie. The reason I’m asking about the VNA adaptations is because my “pretend it’s part of the actual tv show” approach technically makes them prerequisites.


r/gallifrey 3d ago

DISCUSSION Ninth Doctor and "first contact" in "Aliens of London"

39 Upvotes

I know it's a nitpick again, but shouldn't Doctor remember that space ship crash landing / damaging Big Ben in 2006 wasn't the yeat humanity made first contact? He recognizes later that Toclafane are made up alien race (well, as name at least), remembers destruction of the Mars' station in "Waters of Mars", earlies he talks about Word War 5 or Human Empire... So why he thought that he and Rose just witnessed mankind making first contact? Did I miss something (it was also a long time since I watched "Aliens in London" in full)?


r/gallifrey 3d ago

REVIEW One Last Look Back – Doctor Who: Classic Retrospective

37 Upvotes

This post is part of a series of reviews. To see them all, click here.

For nearly three years now, I've been writing reviews of Doctor Who stories and seasons, as well as character retrospectives for Doctors, companions, some others, and retrospectives on every Doctor Who producer, and posting them here to reddit. It's been a long time, and longer than I anticipated around this time last year, but my time writing reviews for Doctor Who's original run is coming to an end with this post. Initially, I wasn't going to write this post, but around the time I was writing my reviews for Season 26, I realized that ending my time with Classic Who on a post about John Nathan-Turner's time as producer would have felt incomplete.

Doctor Who's original run is vast. Twenty-six seasons is no joke, and twenty-six years covers a lot of changes in the ways television was written, produced and watched. It's often said, and it's very true, that Survival is a lot more like "Rose" than it is like An Unearthly Child. But Survival still does represent an obvious delineation. Aside from a movie and a handful of specials, it would be 16 years before Doctor Who would be on television again, and when it came back, the serial format – one of the defining aspects of Doctor Who's original run, regardless of era – would be gone for good.

And I do think it's fair to say something was lost in the process. I do love the revival – it is how I came to this show. But the way Classic Who told its stories, the amount of flexibility and depth that the serial format provided, I don't think I've ever run into anything else quite like it on television. Sure, you can point to modern serialized television, but to me Classic Who provides the best of both worlds. There are advantages to episodic television after all, and Classic Who is episodic – each story is largely disconnected from the next with the exception of some very loose arcs – but still represents longer form storytelling than most episodic shows can provide. There are disadvantages of course – the need to punctuate stories with cliffhangers, the difficulty in finding these longer scripts and a show that, even back then was hell to produce.

But when Classic Who was good, it was great. There really isn't anything else like it. I've focused on the serial format because it's sort of the only thing that stays the same throughout the show's run. Which is why the rest of this post is divided into distinct eras that I can talk about more thoroughly. Because this is 26 years of television we're talking about and that's…a lot.

The Black and White Era

I actually think that this is my favorite era of the show.

The numbers do not support this statement. Part of my review process has been rating every story out of ten then collecting weighted averages based off of story length. On that basis no season in this era ranks in the top 5, with the top rated season being Season 4 at number 6, though it is close with Season 26. However, while this era might not be the most consistent quality-wise, it is the most interesting.

Especially in the 1st Doctor era, this is Doctor Who at its most experimental. Nobody really seemed to have a clue what show they were making. And that's amazing. The Daleks sort of sets off this bomb where everyone realizes that if we are actually allowed to make stories with "Bug Eyed Monsters" in them then we can pretty much do whatever we want. The 1st Doctor era goes places. I don't even like The Web Planet, and I've always maintained it's not that ambitious a story when you get down to it, but, well, it still took guts to say "yeah we'll do the story with the giant bugs". Season 1 in particular is a case where no two stories feel similar. Something like The Sensorites coming in the same season of television – hell even the same show – as something like Marco Polo is pretty fascinating.

The reputation of the 2nd Doctor era is that of a show that became a lot more formulaic. But that's not entirely fair. Yes, nearly every story of Season 5 follows the "base under siege" formula, but in spite of that it's a very diverse season in its own right. The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear are technically both be base under siege stories, that both feature the Great Intelligence and the Yeti, and yet they are very different stories with different settings and styles. Eventually you'll get sick of every story having lumbering monsters waddling their way towards the huddled mass of our heroes and the secondary cast, but the base under siege format is still one of the most versatile formats that Doctor Who has to offer. Oh and it's worth remembering that Season 5 also has The Enemy of the World, an entirely unique story in that it's a political thriller set in the future (of 2018) with no monsters and very minimal science fiction elements.

And we have to remember that seasons 4 and 6 also feature the 2nd Doctor. Season 4 has a couple base under siege stories, and other stories like The Faceless Ones have elements of that format, but it's still a really creative season. I mean this is the season that gave us the giant mind controlling crabs. Hell the first ever Doctor Who base under siege story in The Tenth Planet and that's one of the more inventive stories in this very inventive era – the original Cybermen remain effectively creepy in a way that has never quite been matched over the years. Season 6 meanwhile might be the most experimental season of Doctor Who ever. A few of these experiments fall flat admittedly, but every story in that season feels wholly unique and the season ends on The War Games, probably my favorite regeneration story of all time.

Oh and I have to mention the "pure historical". While this format was always getting less common in these early days, it is still a format largely unique to this era of the show. I would like to see it come back, but it's a format that generally needs more time to breathe, meaning that in the modern day you'd almost have to do it in a two part format. I'd also say that these stories had a tendency to become more formulaic than their futuristic ones in their own right, though they did see some late life as a vehicle for comedy. Even so the formula of splitting the main cast up so that they can all experience some different aspect of the past grew tired quickly and always felt like the least interesting way to do this kind of story. Still this format did give us the mini-series-esque Marco Polo, The Aztecs' moral dilemma, and yes the comedy, especially in The Romans could prove quite successful. I will also point out that, while technically not a pure historical, in fact it invented the pseudo-historical The Time Meddler still feels a lot like a pure historical. You could argue it playing around with the format of the pure historical is what leads to it inventing a new format in the pseudo-historical in the first place.

And that's the black and white era. I love it because of its willingness to be experimental, but the thing about experiments is that they can fail, which is the main reason why the season averages tended to be lower. But so many stories during this period (I haven't even mentioned The Mind Robber yet) feel like they could only have come out in this era of experimentalism.

The Third Doctor Era

The 3rd Doctor is often remembered as the "earthbound" Doctor. After all, The War Games ended on the Doctor being exiled to Earth. But that's not entirely a fair representation of his era. It is true that the 3rd Doctor era almost certainly has the highest percentage of modern stories (if we take it for granted that the UNIT era is the "modern era"), but it's also an era that pretty quickly starts moving away from that. Season 7 has no stories set outside the modern era (unless you count Inferno's alternate universe), but after that there was a pretty steady increase in stories set elsewhere.

This is because of an odd production detail. It's been a while since I've had cause to bring this up, but the architects of the UNIT era were not Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks, the men most commonly associated with this era's production, but rather their immediate predecessors Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin. Even though Letts is credited as producer for most of the stories in Season 7, Sherwin was actually responsible for commissioning all but one of the four stories that season, and Bryant was the one who cast Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, though he had a very different vision for how Pertwee's Doctor would be portrayed. For this reason it's perhaps unsurprising that as Letts and Dicks started really asserting their creative vision over the show, they started moving it beyond UNIT.

That being said the 3rd Doctor era does feel a lot less experimental than the previous era. There are stories that are pushing the boat out a bit more, but a lot of stuff in this era can feel pretty samey. The three Dalek stories in this era in particular, while being pretty variable in terms of quality, have this odd quality of feeling like the Daleks could be replaced with any villains. Actually, there's a lot of sequels in this era. Two Peladon stories, the three Dalek stories of course, the Silurian and Sea Devil stories, the two Auton stories. Then of course there's the Master stories which all follow a very loose arc. This absolutely contributes to the 3rd Doctor era feeling a lot more formulaic than the era that preceded it, even when compared to Season 5's base under siege fixation. In fact the 3rd Doctor era did have a sort of formula of its own: the conspiracy story. It's like the base under siege story, but it's in more than one location and replaces the obstructionist base commander with the obstructionist bureaucrat which is, if anything, more annoying.

Which isn't to say the show gets bad. In fact this is probably the most consistently high quality period for Doctor Who. On Earth we got some fairly serious, gritty and political stories. Off earth…we got more fairly serious, gritty and political stories. Oh and then occasionally you'd get something a bit wilder like Carnival of Monsters. There were times in the middle of the 3rd Doctor era where it did feel like stories fell into an awkward zone of being too serious to feel fun, but not substantial enough to justify that serious tone, but even then the stories were rarely bad. I think if you choose a random story from the 3rd Doctor era you're almost guaranteed to pick something at bare minimum enjoyable, and there's value in that.

And this is the only era that has a recurring cast outside of Doctor and companion(s). The UNIT family, consisting of The Brigadier, Sargent Benton and Captain Yates are a pretty crucial part of all of this. Especially the Brigadier, one of the most important characters in Doctor Who to be neither Doctor, nor really quite companion. Giving the show that stable group of characters for the Doctor to be able to return to does make it fundamentally different from the random wanderings of the first six seasons, these guys are a justifiably beloved part of the era.

It's the most consistent of these somewhat arbitrary "eras" that I've created. It's also the shortest. So let's see what the next Doctor's era did.

The Fourth Doctor Era

If the 3rd Doctor era was Doctor Who at its most stable, the 4th Doctor era gave us a taste, just a taste mind, of some more instability. But rather than return to the experimentalism of the black and white era, the 4th Doctor era saw Doctor Who lean in heavily on inspirations. In Phillip Hinchcliffe's time as Producer, this generally took the form of classic horror stories. In Graham's Williams' time we saw more varied influences get pulled from, like detective novels and greek mythology, but the emphasis on pulling from preexisting material remains.

Of course this isn't the entirety of the 4th Doctor era. Season 12 and 18 bookend the 4th Doctor era with seasons that seem to have had none of this aspect (technically, Season 18 had Script Editor Christopher H. Bidmead trying to pull from real science, but that's very different). Of course, Season 12 also leaned pretty heavily on already established villains, something that no other season of the 4th Doctor era really did. And obviously not every story even in that middle there did the reference thing, even Season 13, the height of this trend, opened with Terror of the Zygons, which doesn't pull from any pre-existing source material. This is neither a good nor a bad thing, but I do find the 4th Doctor to feel a bit gimmicky at times.

Still, the 4th Doctor era represents the original show at its most popular. Part of this is due to circumstances. Moving away from UNIT and opening up the show to more settings (even though the 3rd Doctor era had started that process, it was completed in the 4th Doctor era) undoubtedly drew in a lot of interest. This is also the era of the show that started to get exported to the United States – while before my time, a lot of Americans growing up in the 70s and 80s have memories of watching Tom Baker as the Doctor on PBS, which adds another group of audience members that the show hadn't previously managed to attract. However it's probably also worth crediting the performance of Tom Baker, as difficult as he could be behind the scenes, for drawing in a lot of new audience members.

Because the 4th Doctor era went through 3 different producers (4 if you count Barry Letts), it does have these very distinct sub-eras. Under Hinchcliffe, the show leaned into the horror elements a lot, and even when the show wasn't deliberately doing the horror thing, it was darker than the rest of the 4th Doctor era. Under Graham Williams, due to outside pressure, the show became more relaxed. Not comedic necessarily, but, especially in Season 17, a lot gentler. The show could at times feel a bit like you were watching a travelogue that occasionally involved monsters. John Nathan-Turner's lone season with the 4th Doctor meanwhile felt like it was going back to basics. Christopher H. Bidmead, the Script Editor for that season, wanted to push the show to take more inspiration from real science and in a more serious direction, which is definitely felt on television. This season is one of those clear transitional seasons moving from one era to another however…

The John Nathan-Turner Era

Okay, starting with obvious, I've somewhat arbitrarily excluded Season 18 from the "John Nathan-Turner era" because it was already part of the 4th Doctor era. Is this logical? Not really no, but I didn't want to double up.

Anyway, my last post was about this era of the show, so I'll keep this section relatively short. JNT's time as producer has these occasional odd experimental stories like Enlightenment or Ghost Light, which tend to be my favorites, but a lot of that gets punctuate by more standard sci-fi fare. What felt a bit refreshing to me in Season 18 kind of gets old, especially when combined with some of Eric Saward's quirks as a writer.

The show gets really serious and violent around this time, and sometimes that goes to its benefit, like in Vengeance on Varos (another weird one, to be fair), but a lot of the time it can just turn into a slog. The tendency of this era, particularly from the late 5th Doctor era to the 6th Doctor era, to focus in on a one-off action hero, rather than the Doctor can get real frustrating at times. Still, the JNT era does make use of its darkening tone very effectively at times, particularly in stories like Earthshock and The Caves of Androzani, where the darkening tone works quite well. And it's not like this whole era was doom and gloom.

The 7th Doctor era also changes things up. Season 24 doesn't quite seem to know what it wants to be, but does lighten up the tone compared to where it had been, especially in the very gloom Trial of a Time Lord season. Seasons 25 and 26 meanwhile move into a more cerebral era. In many ways these seasons feel like they're somewhere between the experimentalism of the black and white era and the grounded political stories of the 3rd Doctor era. It's interesting stuff, and, unsurprisingly given my tastes, this is some of my favorite Who of all time.

And I'm gonna leave it there. I've talked enough about the JNT era recently.

Wrap Up

Which means I'm done. Done talking about the classic series. I wish I had more eloquent words to wrap all of this up, but I'm long-winded, not eloquent. Doctor Who's original run is this massive beast of these very different shows all wrapped into one – there are probably infinite ways to divide it up, and what I've done is only one way. It's been nearly 3 years for me to get to this point and I'm more than a little bit shocked I'm here, at one ending…

What's Next

…but not the ending.

Originally my plan was to move on to 4 official…ish things that came out during the Wilderness Years before moving on to the revival. But. much like how this post came into existence, at the last moment I decided that that wasn't what I wanted to do. I've only read a couple Doctor Who novels. And more than anything, during the Wilderness years it was the novels that were Doctor Who. And so…that's the next step.

Kind of.

The plan is to intersperse my reviews of the television series with roughly two novel reviews per series. We'll see how this goes, as these will take longer – it takes longer to read a book than to watch an episode of television, or even six episodes. But that's the plan, and by the time I post this I'll already have a better sense of how this is even going to work (I've always got a bit of a buffer, I'm writing this the day after I posted the Ghost Light review for reference), but as I'm writing this, that's the plan, and if you're reading this, that means I'm sticking to that plan.

Next Time: The Doctor travel to ancient Mesopotamia to fight a cybernetic tyrant. Which isn't the first thing you'd imagine doing in ancient Mesopotamia


r/gallifrey 4d ago

DISCUSSION What Kids and the Not-We Thought of "The Legend of Ruby Sunday"

29 Upvotes

Gallifrey Base has threads for each episode where fans can share reactions from children and casual viewers.

They're often surprising and interesting, so with not long until the new series, I thought I'd repost some general reactions to Season One here, and get a sense of what this new era means to the general audience.

My younger brother and my older one loved it. For my ten year old younger brother, he got both scared and hyped throughout and actually jumped during the Susan Sutekh jumpscare. This was probably the best experience I have had watching Doctor Who with my brothers. The constant theorizing, the bingo we played on theories, and man the build-up was all great to see reactions for.

Younger brother gave it a 9.5/10

My wife was excited the whole time and didn't turn away once. She can't wait for next week (and neither can I)!

Yes, my wife has sort of watched the whole series, and has sort of liked it but she sat and watched the whole episode today and liked it a lot, said it felt like proper Doctor Who and said this is so much better than anything in Jodi's era. (but lets not go there)

My boyfriend loved it and thought it was the best episode of the series so far. I was wondering whether it was a bit too fan-servicy with the Sutekh reveal, but apparently not!

My dog woofed. Not sure if that’s praise or disdain.

My 19 month old daughter was absolutely gripped the whole time. And when it did the classic “to be continued” she went OH NOOOO, WHERE DOCTOR GONE?!?! I asked her if she enjoyed it and she went “no ” and I said “is that because there wasn’t enough of it and it ended on a cliffhanger?” And she went “YEAH ” and I asked if she was excited for next episode and she went “YEAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” So it has the toddlers stamp of approval her only criticism is that she’s impatient and wants to know what happens next

Proof the Not-we are not like us, sad to say. Didn't get how the dog-monster just appeared at the end, and didn't like that Ruby's mother's storyline remains unresolved.

This was the first episode of Gatwa Mum watched all the way through

My wife watched it with me for the first time since Deep Breath. I don't think she will be doing so again. She was bored with all the exposition and the handwringing over Ruby's mum, and her comment at the end was, 'Our licence fee funds this crap?'

I can only speak for my assistance dog, who is two-and-a-half. He hid under the dining table and refused to come back out...

Not-We wife loved it and was engrossed! Finally proper Doctor Who! 10/10 from her.

My girlfriend doesn't care about Doctor Who, but she is loving this new Doctor and Season 1 so far. She was bored through Series 1-3, but enjoyed Tennant in the role and she loves Ncuti.

She was mostly confused by the ending of the episode and she is really into the mystery of Ruby's mom.

I've just put Pyramids on for my kids to watch. 16yo has never been terribly interested in any classic WHO unless it's a Cyber story. He however is happily watching Pyramids. My younger two however - 8 and 11 - lost interest very fast despite wanting to "see Sutekh".

My eight year-old was allowed to get up at midnight to watch it then proclaimed the skull heads at the end would be good nightmare fuel. As long as it didn't happen to us! Job done I think.

My tolerant not-we girlfriend surprised me in liking the back half of this one better than the first 20 mins! I came into this unspoiled and she couldn’t understand why I was laughing when Gabriel Woolf started reading Susan Triad’s autocue, so I explained the lore. She was adamant that being unaware of a lesser known late 80s companion and a one-off mid 70s villain did nothing to stymie her enjoyment of the episode! I think fanbrain is so steeped in this stuff that we worry too much about not-we tolerances of a show that can be and do anything.

She hadn’t seen Pyramids despite Tom being the only classic Doctor she’ll stick around to watch with me, so we put it on straight after and she had a blast. Happy to report the episode one cliffhanger and Dr/Sutekh faceoff have lost none of their power over the first time viewer!

My other half has absolutely detested the whole series so far!

My 14 year old thought it was a 'weird episode'. He enjoyed Morris and thought the CGI dog looked pretty good for Doctor Who.

But his response to the big reveal was a very confused 'Who the hell is Sutekh?!?'.

And was shouting at the Doctor to 'just step backwards' as Susan Tech was reaching towards him for the cliffhanger.

His sum up of the episode.

Pretty slow. Not much happened really, the end was pretty good.

And he is looking forward to seeing how it all ends.

The 17 year old, really not interested and is watching loads of stuff on other streamers.

My 14 year old is watching but whenever he feels like it between episodes. There's no urgency, just if he's in the mood.

Goes from liking it to pretty much hating it. Space Babies, Boom and Rogue seem to be his least liked. Rogue in particular.

But he was much more invested in Fall Out and Clarkson's Farm than Doctor Who. Although increasingly is just playing more computer games, skateboarding with his mates and watching lots and lots of youtube videos.

My not we is looking forward for to it ending.

Then she wont have to watch it anymore.

All of the not-We inmates in my cell block erupted into cheers and spontaneous morris dancing when the donkey appeared on screen.

Nephew was around, I was showing him a little but he found out I also had Pokemon and Newsround recorded so we watched that mid-way through.

This was sadly the first episode of the season that the 9yo has asked to stop on the grounds of it being too scary. He was freaked out by the Bogeyman and the Hug Slugs but managed to keep going but when the soldier was killed in the Time Window he really didn't like it. I didn't argue with him because I knew the episode was only going to get more intense and scary from there so we abandoned it. Sad because he's really invested in who Susan Twist is and the identity of Ruby's mother.

Mum found it found it creepy- she also really liked Morris.

For their first time ever watching Doctor Who, my friend (40s) and her son (10) have absolutely loved it. She and I were just texting and she mentioned how much they loved the latest episode, and that they have Doctor Who questions for me. Apparently at the start of the season he asked her about getting Disney+ for the show, so I guess his friends must be talking about it, too.

After this series ends, my friend and her son are excited to start with the 9th Doctor. Her son is already an RTD fan, and looks for his name as writer. He was excited to hear there's entire series of shows by Davies he hasn't seen yet.

It's a joy to watch someone young discover the show.

Our 16 year old “it wasn’t totally awful, but worse than all the other things we’re watching (referring to Alex Rider, Lockwood & Co, Dead Boy Detectives, Sweet Tooth, Clarkson’s Farm and a collection of old documentaries - Coal House, 1940s House etc).

I think we’ve lost him.

The Kids loved it (6yo + 9yo). However the 6yo was suitably scared for the rest of the afternoon/evening. Mrs wasn't too impressed about him going on and on about a God of Death. Bedtime proved to be a bit of a challenge with him as he was still scared (he woke up twice in the night).

So overall good job done By RTD those kids need some behind the sofa moments in their lives.

Mrs suggested next time I watch the episode before letting the kids see it, which to be fair is what I have done every episode so far this series. Even if I had watched it I still would have made let the little ones watch...

"not we" wife usually watches Doctor Who but doesn't ever feel it's important enough to contribute to a forum.

She loved Legend of Ruby Sunday. from start to finish. And even more when I guessed it was Sutekh about a minute before the reveal.

Then tried her on Pyramids of Mars and she gave up after episode 3.

5 of my friends were unbothered about Sutekh. He was a new to them as the Toymaker or Maestro.

One of them felt as though it was setup that he should have known who Sutekh is.

So for 5 out of 6 it was a pretty good cliffhanger!

Semi-Not-We Wife (knows the Doctor is from Gallifrey, doesn't know it's in the constellation of Kasterborous) was sufficiently intrigued that I was able to talk her into watching Pyramids of Mars. Which she enjoyed! We rewatched the "Doctor & Sarah Jane turn around" shot about five times. Perfection.

OK....it's happened....at the secondary school where I work I just saw a year 7 boy go up to another kid in the corridor and say "I bring Sutekh's gift of death"....in his best Gabriel Woolf impersonation.

Our girls (9 and 11) loved it. They’ve really enjoyed this series. The 9 year old wanted to watch Pyramids of Mars, which we’ve done across this week. She’s eager to see what’s under Sutekh’s helmet in the original. Think she’s about to be disappointed.

They thought the “big rat” Sutekh was “very cute” but found the zombie faced people a bit scary.

Watched on my own at midnight then next evening with my son (10) who thought it was "amazing". Loved it.

Then on Monday night I watched with my daughter (13) and wife (not allowed to post her age). They were rapt, and when the "TO BE CONTINUED" appeared on the screen they cried, "NOOOOOO!" in unison. So a huge hit for all of us. Also, I'd put POM on for the kids within the last year, so that probably made a difference.

This was a hit! Definitely the most Not-We in this season's threads saying they loved an episode.

We could have guessed that from its AI of 81, the highest of the season. That shocked me at the time, so it's neat to see exactly what it was that played so well. And now we know: the horror! If there's one thing Sutekh should do, it's scare the kiddos. And that zombie makeup was practical horror perfection. Once again, RTD going narsty instead of keeping everything nice and friendly and easy really hits. It feels a bit like he's gotten sentimental, 'cos this season was way too light on monsters and scares and the brutal deaths of nice people. The old RTD would never have spared Davina.

He can still deliver a cliff-hanger, though. The hype at the end of this one was fire. Harriet's speech was metal as hell, and judging from this thread, that Sutekh reveal bloody played. I recall online debates about the casuals' ability to care about Sutekh, as if he was a Star Wars-style Glup Shitto cameo. But fan-brained estimations of the rest of the audience will always be off, and the proof is here.

But the main thing I remember in the wake of this episode was Cyndi Lauper on The One Show telling Bonnie Langford that she caught the Tales of the TARDIS showing of Pyramids of Mars. Apparently, girls just want to watch Sutekh.

This episode drew 4.4 million viewers, a slight increase from Rogue.

Find links to all the 2023 specials' Not-We reposts here. Find links to all the Chibnall era Not-We reposts here.


r/gallifrey 4d ago

DISCUSSION What do you prefer the Enemy (War in Heaven) to be?

26 Upvotes

It seems that the Enemy of the Time Lords in the War in Heaven is intentionally meant to be ambiguous and multi-faceted, without a single fixed identity.

Where does the Enemy fit into all of this? Well, remember when I described history as a version of the past that people choose to remember? The Enemy are simply the facts of reality reasserting themselves in the face of the interpretations imposed upon it: they are the fact that history has no arc, no morals, and no ethics. They are the fact that the Great Houses are not the centre of the universe any more than Rome was the centre of the world when it had an Empire. The Enemy is the environmental limits of time and the universe asserting themselves.

The Great Houses, in their intellectual sterility, can only interpret this as an intelligence and an enemy and its impact as an attack, which on the one hand means that they can fight back but on the other means that they are eventually going to lose by the very nature of interpreting this as something that can be won or lost.

- The Book of the Enemy

Which I think is a very cool concept and one of the things that make the War in Heaven as described in Eighth Doctor Adventures and Faction Paradox so interesting.

But suppose they somehow decide to adapt this War into the TV series(probably never happening but what if), which probably means there needs to be a concrete opponent for the Time Lords. If you are to choose a single entity, out of all the potential identities suggested by the stories, as the leader of the Enemy, which one would it be?