In fairness, you’ve got Resurrection, Revelation, and Remembrance.
That’s three “Rs of the Daleks” back to back. Easy to get them mixed up.
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Sorry to butt in here, but I realized I hadn’t given my thoughts on the latest series (even though I finished watching it like 4 months ago)
Kinda hate how cyberman and the master are now basically always the final villain of even-numbered series (as this has happened three times in a row now and they’ve all been two-parters). Also, I really want to see Daleks in regular stories, not as holiday special villains every other year.
Can’t really give my thoughts on the current discussion as I believe the only one I’ve seen is Remembrance of the Daleks
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It’s fine. This is the Doctor Who topic.
From a behind the scenes perspective, it makes sense to have your three most popular villains team up. Allying with the daleks might be out of character for a post-time war Master, so they default to cybermen.
But yeah, the Master is weirdly obsessed with cybermen now.
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Lol yeah. They should’ve called 9’s Dalek episode “Return of the Daleks” to add to the confusion. 
Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.
John Smith got me into this show and now I cannot escape. But let me clarify: not the new show. I’ve found myself more gravitated toward the classic Doctor Who. “Caves of Adrozani” was what Jogn had me watch first (I didn’t like it at first, but I think if I revisited it I would like it). Then I watched the episode “Terror of the Autons” and I grew to really like the Third Doctor.
This went to me watching “Spearhead in Space”, “Inferno”, “The Three Doctors”, and some Fourth Doctor episodes. Gonna configure my schedule and finish the Third Doctor and watch in order from after Spearhead from Space so I can experience the classic Doctor full on.
(Might try to sneak in some 2nd and 1st Doctor episodes in there. Funnily enough Jogn felt I’d hate the pacing of Three but I find myself able to handle it just fine.)
Also out of all the Doctors I have watched, I have liked 3 the best. He’s kind of an anti-social grouch, but I like his style, and once you pierce through his anti-socialness he has a heart of gold. I also like how heroic he is.
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Rewatch report: I’ve finally finished watching all of classic Doctor Who!
Well, most of it, anyway. Skipped Trial of a Timelord and jumped back in for Dragonfire, so there goes two seasons.
And I’ve been watching it through BritBox, which excludes most missing or incomplete serials, though I have purchased DVDs with animated reconstructions. Some fans have made reconstructions of missing episodes, but… I don’t know. It feels like I’m missing out on some classic stories, but I don’t think I’ll be able to watch through static slideshows and only half-tell what’s going on.
Also, no TV Movie with Paul McGann on britbox. So, time to spend +$40 on a DVD… with terminator-snakeghost-Master. Not the wisest purchase in my life.
Now that I’ve watched it, I kind of see what you mean, but I still overall enjoyed it. The last two seasons might not have reached the heights it once had, but they were (mostly) fun stories.
My perspective has changed on Survival. It was one of the first classic stories I watched. Didn’t like it at the time, but had fun with it on the rewatch. Being The Final Story, I built it up to be something that it wasn’t.
Plus, I’ve seen it in its wider context now. Like, I remember thinking the catpeople costumes looked silly, but when you’ve seen monsters literally made of bubblewrap, anything’s an improvement. It’s disappointing as The Final Story, but a decent serial overall.
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If you’re gonna skip, that’s the place to skip. Those are easily the two worst seasons in all of DW imo. Paradise Towers is worth a watch, though.
Yeah, I’m intimidated by recons lol. Fwiw, the BBC recently announced two new animations: Evil of the Daleks and The Abominable Snowmen. After those come out, the only significant incomplete 2nd Doctor stories will be The Highlanders and The Wheel in Space. (There’s also The Web of Fear, but that’s only missing one episode.) I think there are fan animations as well, though I don’t know if any are any good.
Ouch
Oh, yeah, don’t get me wrong, they’re a huge improvement over seasons 23 and 24. I’m quite fond of Remembrance of the Daleks, Battlefield, and Ghost Light, myself. But it’s common to see people online touting seasons 25 and 26 as the peak of DW, or at least one of the absolute best eras. I just don’t get that.
What did you think of Curse of Fenric? I had a lot of hype backlash when I watched that one. There were interesting elements, but overall it seemed like a mess–it came across like the writer was throwing every hot-button issue he could think of in there, whether or not it fit or was able to be explored with any depth. I also wasn’t fond of the tacit approval of Communism, but I don’t want to get political lol.
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Curse of Fenric was one of the weaker ones IMO. Beit Sutekh or The Beast from New Who, other stories have done the “Embodiment of Evil” trope better. I too was a bit taken back at how pro-communist it was. But I generally don’t mind stories with different political stances than mine, so as long as the main story is good.
Also saw the twist with the baby coming a mile a way.
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There have been a lot of similar stories over the years, haven’t there? To be clear, I don’t hate Fenric; it’s just, as you say, one of the weaker stories from its period. I wouldn’t bother mentioning it if I hadn’t heard it touted as the definitive Doctor Who story a million times. XD
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John just wants his Doctor to not be a filthy red boi.
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In fairness, Doctor Who’s political subtext has a long history of being as subtle as a sledgehammer. I’m somewhat of an environmentalist myself, but even The Green Death had me rolling my eyes at how overt it was. Though, me being American, and classic Who being so old, some of the references go over my head.
Had a similar experience with Pyramids of Mars. While Sutekh is a great villain, people hyped it up too much for me.
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Oh yeah, the 3rd Doctor era especially is blatantly political. (In addition to the environmental themes, the Peladon stories are pro-EU parables.) But while it was quite loud about what it supported, I don’t think it ever took positions as extreme as some of 7’s stories.
I’m sorry Pyramids didn’t live up to the hype for you! That was actually one of the stories that convinced me to watch the classic series.
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Jo Martin is a better Doctor than Jodie Whittaker, not going to lie. Would have liked their roles to have been reversed.
So, thoughts, anticipations for the 60th anniversary specials / RTD2?
While I am eager to see RTD take the helm again, I do worry that he’s going to rely too heavily on early New Who nostalgia. It’ll bring people who jumped ship back but the show cannot rely on nostalgia forever.
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I mean, while he’s leaning back on some of his work on the series, he’s also bringing back stuff from all across Doctor who, Beep the Memphis from the comics, and the Celestial Toymaker from the first doctor’s run. I think for the anniversary specials, we can indulge in a little fanservice, but I imagine that when we get back to the show proper with the 15th doctor it’ll try to stand more on it’s own two feet.
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