The five worst episodes of the RTD era?

[Deleted]

1. The Idiot's Latern 
2. The End of the World 
3. Fear Her
4. Partners in Crime
5.  Love and Monsters

[iank]

New Earth
Voyage of the Damned
Partners in Crime
The Fires of Pompeii
Journeys End

[Monster X]

1) Fear Her
2) The Next Doctor
3) Voyage Of the Damned
4) The End Of The World
5) Rose

[burrunjor]

What Monster X, The Next Doctor? That's a classic. Pure entertainment with a great turn from David Morrissey, a cool twist, and the Victorian setting has never looked more visually stunning too. Way more so than in any Moffat or even Classic Who story. I know the giant Cyber king is a bit daft, but as a sucker for giant monsters I can't help but love it, and at least it's earnest in its attempts at being a campy sci fi adventure. (Unlike the other crap from that era that's almost ashamed to be sci fi and is just a soap.)

Meanwhile I'd say the 5 worst are.

1/ Love and Monsters: Stupid, boring and incredibly mean spirited towards Ian Levine. Granted I probably like Ian more than most, but regardless this is a man who has devoted his life to preserving this show and speaking as a 90s baby were it not for him I wouldn't be able to see the Daleks. To therefore make him a joke within its universe is really nasty and spiteful. Also the way it mocks him, going on about his weight, making him a big fat ugly monster. It's utterly pathetic and it's not even like Ian had ever done anything to Russell either? It's literally let's laugh at the clown in fandom because it's trendy too. Then there are also the blowjob jokes, and as a final reason to hate it, the few fans this episode has are obnoxious and act like it's too cerebral for the rest of fandom who just want stupid stories. Seriously that's what's written on its tv tropes page! Yeah I'm definitely too thick to get jokes about DW fans being sad nerds, middle aged women being too flirty, (personally I LOVE it when that happens in real life LOL) blow job jokes and "Hahahahaha look how fat that guy is".

2/ New Earth: This manages to be dreary and depressing like Lady Cassandra's death, and camp and stupid and boring all at the same time. Any pathos of her death is ruined by the fact that she is a leaf woman made out of the skin of her arse, who goes on about Billie Pipers big tits, whilst any fun is ruined by the dreary crap, and the story is bland as can be. The fact that this episode got praised by the same critics and panel show c*nts who said gems like Remembrance of the Daleks, Curse of Fenric, Ghostlight and Greatest Show in the Galaxy brought shame to DW, shows what pathetic shills they are.

3/The Last of The Time Lords: The Jesus Doctor is one of the most laughable bits in any story, but beyond that everything is far too OTT. From Simm's performance, to the Scissor sisters dance, to the dialogue "he never walketh upon the earth" to John Barrowman's gun acting, and what's worse is that it ruins what could have been an excellent story. The first two parts are great, and there is the germ of a good idea in there. The twist is horrifying and a great idea, but it's buried under all the stupidity.It shows how important a script editor is as with some touches this could have been a classic, but RTD's self indulgence is on full display.

4/ The Slitheen two parter: Sorry Maxil, this is boring, padded, disgusting and again nasty against fat people. (All of RTD's worst hallmarks.) This was the one that really killed the revival for me.

5/ The End of Time: A turgid ego fest, and possibly the worst send off for any Doctor. It also f*cks up the concept of regeneration and makes Tennant seem like a narcissistic petulant child "IT'S NOT FAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIRRRRRR." Also again much like New Earth it's BORING, campy and dreary and depressing too. Also don't get me started on the goodbye tour.

[zarius]

1. Love & Monsters- Sometimes I concede the fans have it coming, but it still doesn't make blatant digs at them like this the sensible thing to do when you're tasked with entertaining the masses. The masses won't be there for
the show when the chips are down, so getting a pop from the cheap seats isn't going to be as loud as you think.

2. Planet of the Dead- New Earth took this position a few years ago, but I did a rewatch of this and just find it lifeless, Meg Ryan is hot, but I'd rather have seen her do more cat burglar stuff on Earth at that museum. The behind the scenes stories of what happened to that Bus are hilarious though.

3. Unicorn and the Wasp: Love the direction by Harper but just couldn't get into it all that much, and I barely retain any memory of it other than the wasp and the twist at the end. I recall really liking the deleted scenes and wish they'd been included though.

4. Partners In Crime- More fat shaming from RTD and a dire reintroduction to Donna saved only by Cribbons' contributions.

5. New Earth- Digs at Chavs aside (an honest critique of his own creation), and the beutiful ending aside, this is just another runaround with multiple plots going on that don't adhere to one important narrative. 

[Deleted]

Jul 22, 2023 8:58:24 GMT burrunjor said:

What Monster X, The Next Doctor? That's a classic. Pure entertainment with a great turn from David Morrissey, a cool twist, and the Victorian setting has never looked more visually stunning too. Way more so than in any Moffat or even Classic Who story. I know the giant Cyber king is a bit daft, but as a sucker for giant monsters I can't help but love it, and at least it's earnest in its attempts at being a campy sci fi adventure. (Unlike the other crap from that era that's almost ashamed to be sci fi and is just a soap.)

Meanwhile I'd say the 5 worst are.

1/ Love and Monsters: Stupid, boring and incredibly mean spirited towards Ian Levine. Granted I probably like Ian more than most, but regardless this is a man who has devoted his life to preserving this show and speaking as a 90s baby were it not for him I wouldn't be able to see the Daleks. To therefore make him a joke within its universe is really nasty and spiteful. Also the way it mocks him, going on about his weight, making him a big fat ugly monster. It's utterly pathetic and it's not even like Ian had ever done anything to Russell either? It's literally let's laugh at the clown in fandom because it's trendy too. Then there are also the blowjob jokes, and as a final reason to hate it, the few fans this episode has are obnoxious and act like it's too cerebral for the rest of fandom who just want stupid stories. Seriously that's what's written on its tv tropes page! Yeah I'm definitely too thick to get jokes about DW fans being sad nerds, middle aged women being too flirty, (personally I LOVE it when that happens in real life LOL) blow job jokes and "Hahahahaha look how fat that guy is".

2/ New Earth: This manages to be dreary and depressing like Lady Cassandra's death, and camp and stupid and boring all at the same time. Any pathos of her death is ruined by the fact that she is a leaf woman made out of the skin of her arse, who goes on about Billie Pipers big tits, whilst any fun is ruined by the dreary crap, and the story is bland as can be. The fact that this episode got praised by the same critics and panel show c*nts who said gems like Remembrance of the Daleks, Curse of Fenric, Ghostlight and Greatest Show in the Galaxy brought shame to DW, shows what pathetic shills they are.

3/The Last of The Time Lords: The Jesus Doctor is one of the most laughable bits in any story, but beyond that everything is far too OTT. From Simm's performance, to the Scissor sisters dance, to the dialogue "he never walketh upon the earth" to John Barrowman's gun acting, and what's worse is that it ruins what could have been an excellent story. The first two parts are great, and there is the germ of a good idea in there. The twist is horrifying and a great idea, but it's buried under all the stupidity.It shows how important a script editor is as with some touches this could have been a classic, but RTD's self indulgence is on full display.

4/ The Slitheen two parter: Sorry Maxil, this is boring, padded, disgusting and again nasty against fat people. (All of RTD's worst hallmarks.) This was the one that really killed the revival for me.

5/ The End of Time: A turgid ego fest, and possibly the worst send off for any Doctor. It also f*cks up the concept of regeneration and makes Tennant seem like a narcissistic petulant child "IT'S NOT FAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIRRRRRR." Also again much like New Earth it's BORING, campy and dreary and depressing too. Also don't get me started on the goodbye tour.

Na, I completely get why Aliens of London is disliked. To be fair though, I'd rather watch some silly runaround with green aliens than mawkish crap like Dalek. 

"The End of Time"

Rushy's coming for you...

[Monster X]

Jul 22, 2023 8:58:24 GMT burrunjor said:

What Monster X, The Next Doctor? That's a classic. Pure entertainment with a great turn from David Morrissey, a cool twist, and the Victorian setting has never looked more visually stunning too. Way more so than in any Moffat or even Classic Who story. I know the giant Cyber king is a bit daft, but as a sucker for giant monsters I can't help but love it, and at least it's earnest in its attempts at being a campy sci fi adventure. (Unlike the other crap from that era that's almost ashamed to be sci fi and is just a soap.)

Meanwhile I'd say the 5 worst are.

1/ Love and Monsters: Stupid, boring and incredibly mean spirited towards Ian Levine. Granted I probably like Ian more than most, but regardless this is a man who has devoted his life to preserving this show and speaking as a 90s baby were it not for him I wouldn't be able to see the Daleks. To therefore make him a joke within its universe is really nasty and spiteful. Also the way it mocks him, going on about his weight, making him a big fat ugly monster. It's utterly pathetic and it's not even like Ian had ever done anything to Russell either? It's literally let's laugh at the clown in fandom because it's trendy too. Then there are also the blowjob jokes, and as a final reason to hate it, the few fans this episode has are obnoxious and act like it's too cerebral for the rest of fandom who just want stupid stories. Seriously that's what's written on its tv tropes page! Yeah I'm definitely too thick to get jokes about DW fans being sad nerds, middle aged women being too flirty, (personally I LOVE it when that happens in real life LOL) blow job jokes and "Hahahahaha look how fat that guy is".

2/ New Earth: This manages to be dreary and depressing like Lady Cassandra's death, and camp and stupid and boring all at the same time. Any pathos of her death is ruined by the fact that she is a leaf woman made out of the skin of her arse, who goes on about Billie Pipers big tits, whilst any fun is ruined by the dreary crap, and the story is bland as can be. The fact that this episode got praised by the same critics and panel show c*nts who said gems like Remembrance of the Daleks, Curse of Fenric, Ghostlight and Greatest Show in the Galaxy brought shame to DW, shows what pathetic shills they are.

3/The Last of The Time Lords: The Jesus Doctor is one of the most laughable bits in any story, but beyond that everything is far too OTT. From Simm's performance, to the Scissor sisters dance, to the dialogue "he never walketh upon the earth" to John Barrowman's gun acting, and what's worse is that it ruins what could have been an excellent story. The first two parts are great, and there is the germ of a good idea in there. The twist is horrifying and a great idea, but it's buried under all the stupidity.It shows how important a script editor is as with some touches this could have been a classic, but RTD's self indulgence is on full display.

4/ The Slitheen two parter: Sorry Maxil, this is boring, padded, disgusting and again nasty against fat people. (All of RTD's worst hallmarks.) This was the one that really killed the revival for me.

5/ The End of Time: A turgid ego fest, and possibly the worst send off for any Doctor. It also f*cks up the concept of regeneration and makes Tennant seem like a narcissistic petulant child "IT'S NOT FAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIRRRRRR." Also again much like New Earth it's BORING, campy and dreary and depressing too. Also don't get me started on the goodbye tour.

'The Next Doctor' - Think about it - Cybermen in Victorian London - it should have been absolutely smashing but...
I thought David Morrissey was cool (he certainly looked and acted more Doctor-ish than Tennant!) and I've always loved stories set in Victorian times but I was absolutely sick of the sights of DT by this stage.  I also wanted Morrissey to actually be the next Doctor and replace Tennant.  The giant, stomping Cyber King looked ridiculous, the ending was mawkish beyond belief and the following bit of dialogue was too much, even at Christmas:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I know that man, that Doctor on high. And I know that he has done this deed a thousand times. But not once. No, sir, not once, not ever, has he ever been thanked. But no more. For I say to you, on this Christmas morn, bravo, sir! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo, sir!
Bravo, Doctor."
No doubt about it, NuWho was always at it's worst during Christmas.

But I'm glad you enjoyed it, burrunjor.   And I agree, The End Of Time is abysmal - self-indulgent, bloated and cloying.

[rushy]

New Earth
The Idiot's Lantern
Love & Monsters
Fear Her
The Unicorn and the Wasp

[rushy]

End of Time haters can get in line, I'll grab my scythe...

I not only do not hate it, but it's my second favourite DW story, right behind The War Games.

[cyberhat]

Haven't watched most since they were first broadcast. What's the point? So episode titles are getting a bit vague. I think I'll go with

1 Last Of The Time Lords - The nadir of television.
2 Mark Gatiss scripts. Can't write for toffee, quite like his acting though. Ever see his Malcolm McClaren in that Boy George biopic. Crazy but very fun interpretation. What were we talking about again?

[cyberhat]

One of the things about the RTD era is that it makes think differently about critiques. Like most folk I thought of criticism as a non personal thing, in the "I'm sure you're a lovely person, but your script sucks" kind of way. But in the writing of that era, I can definitely detect genuine flaws of it's creators that come shining through the pages. Shallowness, egotism, sometimes outright narcissistic personality disorder. I can't keep saying I'm sure you're a lovely person when your script rather insists that you're not.

[iank]

Gatiss is a bit mixed for me. I'd have rather had him as showrunner than Chinballs but he can suck on occasion though I like that he's a bit more old school and less obsessed with being pwogrwessive than other hacks. I genuinely rather like Night Terrors, Sleep No More isn't bad and I love The Crimson Horror. On the other hand Idiot's Lantern is utter pants and Cold War completely wastes a neat premise.

[cyberhat]

His writing always seems a bit thin to me. Can't remember the excitement after one of his Who's was broadcast matching the excitement beforehand. And that Dalek one with Bill Patterson is astonishingly poor. The emotional bits are about as bad as Nupoo gets.

[iank]

Oh yeah I forgot Victory of the Daleks. That one is shit.

[rushy]

Empress of Mars deserves a lot more love. Aside from the Missy bits (which very much seem like Moffat add-ons), it's a fantastic little episode where the Doctor has to negotiate between two sides, just like the old days. It feels so much more like Doctor Who than the episodes around it, and Capaldi suits that role very well. Bonus points for the Alpha Centauri cameo