Top 10 Saddest Who Episodes 2005-present (Part 2)

5. The Angels Take Manhattan

 Another episode where we had to witness more beloved companions leave. Amy and Rory were perhaps my favourite companions, I loved the connection between them and the Doctor - it was like family. The episode it self was quite good, I enjoyed the return of River Song and the weeping angels. There were a few sad parts such as when Amy and Rory jumped off the roof and of course when they got zapped back in time.

 

4. The Family of Blood

 In a previous article I reviewed the two-parter: Human Nature/ The Family of Blood. In this article I explained how tear jerking this episode is and focused on two key parts of the episode: when John Smith has to turn back to the Doctor and he doesn't want to and the end at the war memorial. The setting and the time period of this episode made the story feel very real and captivated the audience. I love this episode because we get to see a completely different side to the Doctor - a human side.

 

 

 

3. The Forest of the Dead

 

 In this episode we were introduced to a major character in the Doctor's life, at the time we maybe didn't get the emotional impact of this episode but having seen her in Matt Smith's tenure we understand how hard it was for River. It was hard for her to look into the Doctor's eyes and see no recognition. It was not hard though for her to give her life to save the Doctor.

 

 

2. Doomsday

 

 Just beaten to the top spot. Doomsday is the saddest companion departure episode in my opinion because Rose was the first companion I, and many other fans, saw. Her connection with the Doctor was brilliant and they really had something very special. The episode was very sad at the end when the Doctor and Rose thought that they would never see each other again.

 



1. The End of Time

 So the number one spot goes to the departure episode of David Tennant. I really enjoyed the two part episode, the story was good and I was really happy to see the return of the Master. I like how the Doctor said farewell to all his companions and friends without them actually knowing what is happening. But the saddest part is where he had to regenerate alone. I will always remember those final words, "I don't wanna go." This is the saddest Who episode.







Top 10 Saddest Who Episodes 2005-present (Part 1)

10. The Doctor Dances

 Some people may disagree here but I not only thoroughly enjoyed this episode, I found it very moving. When you see Nancy's interaction throughout both parts of the story you can tell that there is a very special connection.
 The end scene of this episode was very powerful too. When the child and the mother reunite it's a very special moment.

 

 

 9.  Planet of the Ood

 Despite being comical, this episode has very sad parts to it. Firstly there is the Ood in the prison cell holding their brains; what's great about this scene is Donna's emotion - she realises that these creatures want to be free and the song they are singing is an extremely sad one. Also there is the part where the Ood are freed and can join each other in their telepathic web.

 

 

 



8. Vincent and the Doctor

 I really love this episode because it sums up not only Vincent Van Gogh but also Amy Pond really well. Amy shows such sympathy and compassion towards Vincent and he shows love to her also. The final scene in the gallery is tear jerking too when the tour guide explains why Van Gogh is 'The Greatest Painter Who Ever Lived.'

 Then there's the creature they are fighting. It isn't until the very end when you see how scared and lost it is do you realise that it only wants to get back to it's family. It's for these reasons that I have put this episode at the number 8 spot.

 

 

 

 

7. Cold Blood

 

 The second of three Matt Smith episodes in my list. I thought the first 40 minutes of this episode were quite standard to be honest until that shocking twist at the end where the crack in time took Rory from the world. I was completely mortified when Amy forgot him - it was painful to watch.

 

 

 

6. Journey's End

 

 In the final episode of series four we said goodbye to Donna, hello to Rose and then 45 minutes later we said goodbye to Rose. Unlike Martha and Rose before her, there was no love interest from Donna towards the Doctor but this in some ways made saying goodbye to her even harder. After the Doctor-Donna was born, the audience knew it was the end for Donna because no human could have that sort of DNA in them. What made her leaving even worse though was the fact that she couldn't remember a thing.

 Then there's Rose. She returned to the Doctor's life much to the delight of the Whoniverse, but after the human Doctor was created she needed to make him better and that meant going back to the parallel universe. It did end happily for her though as she was able to spend her life with the human doctor. The person who the episode was hardest on though was the Doctor - he was left with nobody.

 

 

 

Come back tomorrow for Part 2 where the saddest episode will be revealed...



2013 Christmas Special - What to Expect

So, in the series 7 finale we got a glimpse of Trenzalore where, according to Dorium, the eleventh doctor will fall. Now that we know that the eleventh doctor will regenerate at Christmas we have to assume that the episode will take place at Trenzalore at a considerably earlier time than when he visited in The Name of the Doctor. But what can we expect from Matt Smith's finale?

A Battle

In The Name of the Doctor we saw the surface of Trenzalore, it was full of graves and barbed wire indicating that a lot of people had lost their lives there. Perhaps the Doctor will rally his troops to fight the enemy. But who will the enemy be?

The Silence

We still have many unanswered questions about the Silence for example: Was it them that took control of the TARDIS? or What does 'Silence Will Fall' actually mean? Expect Steven Moffat to answer and ask questions in this episode.

A Longer Episode

David Tennant's final episode took place over two-parts but because Moffat doesn't like two-parters but maybe a longer episode will be on the cards, whether that is an hour or an hour and a half remains to be seen.

Emotion

David Tennant's final episode was a tear jerker. I guarantee that you will start welling up at the end of the Christmas episode.

NO POSTS FROM 14th OF AUGUST UNTIL 26th OF AUGUST

Story Review: Human Nature/ Family of Blood

Human Nature/ Family of Blood is a two-part adventure from series 3 and I have often thought that it was just an episode like any other (I was only 8 when it first aired), but watching it again recently I have found that actually it is one of my favourite Who stories. I think it would quite easily make my top 5 stories.

Many regard series 3 as a whole to be quite ordinary, perhaps this is because Martha had been introduced after replacing Rose Tyler who is widely regarded as Tennant's main companion. I think there is more to series 3 though and this double episode holds such a special place in my heart.

I love this story because we get to see a completely different side to the Doctor - a human side; the Doctor being human is something that had never been explored before so it was great that they took 90 minutes to do just that. Paul Cornell, the writer of the episodes, had actually written a novel in 1995 called Human Nature  which was the same storyline but for the Seventh Doctor. Russell T Davies read the novel and was instantly hooked so in 2007 he asked Cornell to adapt the story for Tennant's Doctor and make it into a two-part episode.

I think one thing that worked in Cornell's episode really well was that there were so many characters that were brilliant; there was Joan Redfern, Baines, Latimer, Jenny and of course Martha and The Doctor/ John Smith. I have only welled up five times in Doctor Who: When Rose said farewell to the Doctor in Doomsday, when David Tennant said his final words "I don't want to go" in The End of Time, when Amy and  Rory got zapped by the angels in Angels Take Manhattan and the remaining two were in Family of Blood. The first was when John Smith was seeing his potential life with Joan and the second when Latimer was at the war memorial and saw The Doctor and Martha. 

I believe that this story will never be forgotten and I see it as maybe David Tennant's greatest hour (and a half) because we saw in this episode just how good an actor he is.

What did you think of this episode? Leave a comment...

Doctor Who vs. Sherlock - The Moffat Era

Two Heroes. Two Programmes. One Show Runner.

Steven Moffat.

Steven Moffat is a busy man, not only does he have one hit BBC show to run, but two. Juggling two shows like that must be hard, this is perhaps evident in the fact that there have only been six episodes of Sherlock and Doctor Who now has a bigger gap between series, but which show is better.

Sherlock

In 2008, Moffat gave himself a very difficult task, even by his standards - recreate England's favourite detective. After three 90 minute episodes Sherlock had become a fan's favourite, Moffat and co-creator Mark Gatiss (who also plays Mycroft, Sherlock's older brother) had achieved the impossible. After that series 2 was commissioned, confirming the show's popularity.

Despite being in it's modern day setting, Sherlock still maintains a lot of the traditional style and values of Conan Doyle's classics. Moffat and Gatiss were very successful in bringing in a brilliant cast with the likes of Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs and Benedict Cumberbatch. Something that has been done very well in Sherlock is the visuals, for example in A Study in Pink when he examines the pink lady's body and what he's thinking appears as single words on the screen. Overall, I have really enjoyed Sherlock and I can't wait for series 3. 

Doctor Who

Also in 2010: Moffat took the reigns of Doctor Who and had 47 years of history to compete with. I have to say that I think the 5th series was the best of the three Moffat has done; I did enjoy the other two and Asylum of the Daleks is one of my favourite episode of Moffat's tenure. Like Sherlock, Moffat gets 10/10 for casting with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Jenna Louise-Coleman. 

                                                                    

 

Unlike Sherlock, Doctor Who has taken a different turn to the original series with the bad guys becoming more unconventional and the Doctor becoming a different man completely. What I have really enjoyed about Doctor Who in recent years is the ethical sides of different episodes and how it touches on issues in our world. I think that Doctor Who just edges it over Sherlock - this is maybe because there are a lot more episodes for us to judge the success on. I think that Moffat is a brilliant runner for both shows and I look forward to more of the programmes I love.

River Song's Timeline

A question often asked by who fans is: What order does River experience events in?
Today I shall answer this question using TV episodes and minisodes.

River's Timeline:

TV: A Good Man Goes to War

As a baby.
TV: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon

As a little girl in 1969 and 1970.
TV: Let's Kill Hitler

Set decades after Day of the Moon, but resolves the final scene of that story. River enrolls at Luna University.
TV: Closing Time
TV: The Wedding of River Song
TV: The Impossible Astronaut

The Wedding of River Song directly follows Closing Time. Her scenes from The Wedding of River Song at 2011 Lake Silencio take place near her future self. The Impossible Astronaut overlaps these events. River is imprisoned at Stormcage following The Wedding of River Song.
MINISODE: First Night
MINISODE: Last Night

In First Night and Last Night we see multiple River Songs from different points in her time stream. One River is from early in her timeline, on the first night of her imprisonment in Stormcage. The second River has been in Stormcage for not less than 5 years and not more then 6. The second River comments on the dress that the Doctor brings for the first River and asks him "does anyone agree to wear that dress?" River goes on to wear the dress in question first during the events of Day of the Moon and later for her date with the Doctor in Darillium. This places the events of The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon as more than five years into her prison sentence.
TV: A Good Man Goes to War

In A Good Man Goes to War we see River speak to Rory at Stormcage, and we later see River show up at the end of the Battle of Demon's Run. The River who speaks to Rory at Stormcage is likely an older River then the River at Demon's Run, as she knows when she appears and is able to reference Demon's Run in her diary.
TV: The Impossible Astronaut
TV: The Wedding of River Song

The Impossible Astronaut features the older River who sees her past self at the lakeside in 2011. The Wedding of River Song overlaps with these events.
TV: Day of the Moon

Part two of The Impossible Astronaut.
TV: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
TV: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone

River is not yet a professor. She refers to the events of The Pandorica Opens to the Eleventh Doctor, who hasn't yet witnessed them.

TV: The Wedding of River Song 

(final scene)Immediately follows the events of Flesh and Stone.
TV: The Angels Take Manhattan

River has been pardoned from Stormcage and is now a professor.
MINISODE: Last Night

In Last Night we see multiple River Songs and multiple Eleventh Doctors from different points in their respective time streams. One of the Doctors is taking River to the Singing Towers of Darillium, which is the last time River sees the Doctor before Silence in the Library.
TV: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead

River dies in the Library, but has her data ghost uploaded to the computer.
TV: The Name of The Doctor

The River in this episode is the River stored in the Library's computer. This is the first appearance of River in her timeline after her death.

Handy Chart:

For a handy chart, please follow the link:

http://thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/doctor-who--river-song-timeline-series-4--7_51e5d9a638874.png

Peter Who?

Background

Peter Capaldi: The Twelfth Doctor

So, after weeks of speculation and rumours, we finally have our 12th Doctor. The special programme revealed the identity of the next actor to take to the blue box. Many Doctor Who fans will be asking the question: Peter who?

Peter Capaldi, 55, is perhaps most well-known for his role as a spin doctor in BBC's The Thick of It and it's subsequent film In the Loop. The eagle-eyed DW fans will notice that Capaldi has actually appeared in the show before in the 2008 episode The Fires of Pompeii as Caecilius. Peter, who is Scottish, is also a film director.

The right choice? 

I am a huge fan of Matt Smith, he is probably my favourite Doctor because he controls every scene and brings a funny and serious image to the programme that millions of fans over the world love and to be able to do all of that at such a young age is truly remarkable. Bringing someone 25 years older into the frame to play the Doctor is extremely risky because the Doctors have been getting gradually younger over time. I believe that the one thing we will miss the most, that both Matt and David before him brought to the show, is a younger actor's physicality. If you focus on the paralinguistics of Matt Smith in the role of the Doctor you can see that he never stays still, he's always running, jumping, spinning, clapping and fixing his hair. With the Whovians getting used to a more active Doctor there is a lingering question: Can Capaldi keep up? And it may be even harder for him because Jenna Coleman, 27, will be playing the Doctor's companion for another series - is the age gap just too big?

However, you should never judge a book by it's cover and I really need to see Peter in the role before I make a conclusive judgement about him. For the sake of the show, I hope he proves me wrong. 

Final Thought: Remember we still have at least 2 hours of Matt Smith before he leaves the show, so don't cry until the 25th of December.

REMINDER: 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL - 23RD OF NOVEMBER.