Favourite episodes from the Capaldi era

[Deleted]

Listen
Heaven Sent
The Pilot
Lie of the Land
World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

[rushy]

Robot of Sherwood
Mummy on the Orient Express
Heaven Sent
The Husbands of River Song
The Pilot
Smile
Extremis
Empress of Mars
World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

[zarius]

Heaven Sent
Face the Raven
Hell Bent
Flatline
Mummy on the Orient Express
Empress of Mars
World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls
Listen
The Zygon Invasion/Inversion
The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar

[burrunjor]

Into the Dalek
Flatline
Heaven Sent
Mummy on the Orient Express
Face the Raven
The Ghost two parter
The Zygon two parter
Empress of Mars
Robots of Sherwood
The Pilot
The Zombie episode
World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

[Deleted]

World Enough and Time, I enjoyed the actual concept but that's just because I like 60s Cybermen. Really it should have been expanded to 3 parts and set on Mondas.
Mummy on the Orient Express
Flatline, haven't watched since it aired but I remember it being good
Heaven Sent, obviously
Under the Lake/Before the Flood
Time Heist, again I like the concept but it mostly falls flat because Moffat can't write believable human beings

[mott1]

Mummy On The Orient Express, Into The Dalek and Sleep No More.

Heaven Sent & Flatline had great concepts but too many jarring or annoying characters/elements chucked in for no good reason, and how surprised am I to see Robot Of Sherwood get so much love here? So bad I needed regression therapy to forget it! lol

[Brian MK.II]

Sleep No More. One of the few post Series 8 stories I've seen and probably the only story of the lot that I'd say is actually quite good but then again that was mainly because it felt more like an episode of Inside No. 9 than Doctor Who.

There's only really Into The Dalek that is alright but even at it's core is a fairly generic Dalek story and the opening part of Listen which starts off interesting with Capaldi monologing which seems to flirt with the idea of a more darker classic style story as well as continuing the more complex science fiction formula of Series 5 and 6 had as opposed to the domesticated RTD inspired Series 7 but it gradually becomes more like a parody of Moffat's tropes (Mundane thing made scary that turns out to be irrelevant anyways, pointless explanations on why the Doctor is who he is, pointless love interest for the companion etcetera).

[medicusitic]

I dont think they are really any good episodes of NuWho. Other than maybe Blink, but that episode could be apart of another show with basically no changes (its not exactly "Doctor Who"). What I will at least give this era is that it tried to actual be Dr.Who, it was in the same genre. Russel and parts of the early Moffat years were not the Science Fiction/Historical show real (1963-1989) Doctor Who was it was an different genre. This era at the very least tried to actually be Doctor Who (at times) don't necessarily think all of the episodes below are good, but they are very least "Dr.Who". Also Heaven Sent isn't that good its made to seem deep so people like it to feel smart. Face the Raven is atrocious and Hell Bent is atrocious given how its a trilogy I don't see how Heaven Sent can be a master piece. Its probably in the top 5% of NuWho, but its not that great.

Robots of Sherwood - A generic puesdo historical that is basically a worse version of the Time Warrior, not really good but I can recognize it as Dr.Who.

The Pyramid/Monk Episodes (the three parter) - An clever idea with some proper twists. This is a story that actually takes the premise of classic who and modernizes it by telling a story that you could not have told in the 70s/80s due to technological limitations. It is bogged down by the companion and the way Moffat writes what he calls the Doctor. But if told this story using a classic doctor it would be a good trilogy.

Into the Dalek - I dont like this one, but its probably better than the rest of this era. Positives are that daleks actually get blown up by lasers (from the human soilders) which is better than them being indestructible in the RTD era unless tennich pressed some buttons (which magically killed them) or Rose deleting them with golden CGI magic. I don't like the monologue with the sappy music, its not Doctor Who and is a large problem with all of NuWho. But another positive is that unlike nearly every other new who episode the ending is makes some sense. As opposed to waving the magic wand (screwdriver) or rose opening a panel and unlocking admin powers (series 1), or tennich mashing buttons, or people wishing the doctor wins so the doctor unlocks flight admin powers, and makes the enemy cry (series 3). The Doctor defeats the daleks without magic admin powers or button mashing he blows them up. The same way they were dealt with in most of their appearances in the classic series. Having cause and effect and having an ending that isnt a complete deus ex machina puts it in the top 10% of NuWho episodes.

[medicusitic]

Nov 3, 2023 17:11:49 GMT @theyakemperor said:

World Enough and Time, I enjoyed the actual concept but that's just because I like 60s Cybermen. Really it should have been expanded to 3 parts and set on Mondas.
Mummy on the Orient Express
Flatline, haven't watched since it aired but I remember it being good
Heaven Sent, obviously
Under the Lake/Before the Flood
Time Heist, again I like the concept but it mostly falls flat because Moffat can't write believable human beings

I watched Time Heist and for NuWho it was fairly good better than anything in the previous 7 series. Its a good concept and the main weak points are the two assisting robbers. Moffat really ruins his series with the over bearing music and these puesdo dramatic moments. The entire bit were the Doctor is talking to shape changing woman in the vents and she decides to use the "exit plan" is laughable same. He uses that same track again when the hacker guy starts screaming about feelings and "when your life flashes before your eyes at least you have memories thing". He could have just run from the creature it was just stupid for him to stand in the middle of a corridor and let it slowly walk towards him. Maybe have him run and get to a dead end? Cut down his speech to a few lines. All these characters are very sappy and talk like students at some bougie university getting a BA. The hacking robber guy does not come across as one.  If those two moments were cut this story would be vastly better. If you sidelined the two side characters and instead out the focus more towards the plot it would be better. RTD and Moffat cant write believable humans for the life of them, classic who was far better at this even in stories not set on Earth. So focus on plot AND THE DOCTOR those are the best things about the episode by far, Clara isn't particularly bad in this episode she could be swapped out with many other companions and the story would be unchanged (which is a positive in this case). The plot suffers in this episode because of the sappy moments. It is hard to believe they can have these sappy moments in the middle of the most secure bank without being gunned down by the guards we see all through out the episode (yet for some reason they only have the mind reading alien go after them). Does no one hear hacker man yell what ever he says? But everything with Calpadi was good and this was a good use of time travel. A good mystery and not overly complicated with loose ends that never get resolved and ever changing plots/narratives (Series 5/6/7). 

Series 8 is probably the strongest season in NuWho. I would say if you removed all the returning villain episodes, and all the season enders (Face the Raven, Hell Bent, Dark Water/Death in Heaven, The Doctor Falls/World Enough Time) this era is okay. Still not as good as the worst seasons of classic Who, but its still passable.

So here are the episodes I will say are passable for the Calpadi Era.

Robots of Sherwood
The Monk Story
Time Heist
Mummy of the Orient Express
Under the lake/Before the flood

It is a bit predictable if you watched NuWho in some parts (the fake out deaths), but the twist of what is in the private vault is fairly unpredictable.

[ClockworkOcean]

• Heaven Sent
• World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls
• Mummy on the Orient Express
• Oxygen
• Under the Lake/Before the Flood
• Flatline
• Smile
• Extremis
• Into the Dalek
• The Pilot

The tragic thing about the Capaldi era is what a missed opportunity it was. When it's good, it's easily on par with the Smith era. When it's bad, it's destructive to the very fabric of the show on a fundamental level. The road towards the unsalvageable state the show is in today began here. The gender-bending regenerations, anti-male dialogue and subtext, retconning Clara into every single aspect of the Doctor's history, deconstructing and desecrating icons like the Master, the Brigadier, the First Doctor, and Davros. Why did you have to bugger it up, Moffat?

[Monster X]

Heaven Sent
The Pilot
Under The Lake
Into The Dalek
Oxygen
Extremis
The Pyramid At The End Of The World
The Lie Of The Land
World Enough And Time
Sleep No More

I particularly like Capaldi in Series 8 - he was frequently unpleasant and there was no bloody electric guitar.  Some of the episodes listed above are the closest NuWho ever got to feeling like proper Who.