Great stories that were ruined

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

World Enough & Time/The Doctor Falls is good television. It could have been exceptional had it dispersed with all that misguided "I hope the future is all female" crap which felt nothing like  genuine feminism but rather blunt foreshadowing of Jodie. Take away the silly Bacon sandwich moral highground comment and a needless reference to Donald Trump and you've got an effectively sad and powerful finale. 

[Ludders II]

It was one of the better stories, but there are very few (if any) NuWho stories that aren't touched by stupidity to greater or lesser extent.

[burrunjor]

I agree. Cut out Missy, which leaves more room for the Cybermen plot to be developed. I'd say cut out the Master too. However IF they had to have the Master, then it would have been better to make that his first appearance in the Capaldi era and to keep it a surprise. Imagine people's shock when the Simm Master showed up? It could have rivalled Earthshock.

[The Yak Emperor]

May 2, 2024 12:28:06 GMT Cherry Pepsi Maxil said:

World Enough & Time/The Doctor Falls is good television. It could have been exceptional had it dispersed with all that misguided "I hope the future is all female" crap which felt nothing like  genuine feminism but rather blunt foreshadowing of Jodie. Take away the silly Bacon sandwich moral highground comment and a needless reference to Donald Trump and you've got an effectively sad and powerful finale. 

The Doctor Falls is a disgusting piece of television. Disgustingly written, disgustingly shot, disgustingly edited.

[rushy]

(Only counting New Who here, due to the placement of the thread)

*Aliens of London - a tense and wonderful invasion storyline that's become a laughingstock due to the fart jokes

*School Reunion - It's lovely to see Sarah Jane again, and Tennant's genuine delight at working with Sladen shines through. The villain's great too. But it's all let down by the Doctor and Rose being dicks to Mickey, and the weird competition between Sarah and Rose (ironically the part that feels the most like 1970s TV writing)

*Daleks in Manhattan - I can't take the pig things seriously. Couldn't they just bring back the Robomen?

*The Lazarus Experiment - Phenomenally shit CGI.

*The Next Doctor - The kid playing Jackson Lake's son is so comatose, it takes me out of the episode every time.

*Victory of the Daleks - Used to really enjoy this one, can't see past the Skittle Daleks now. How proudly they're presented!

*A Good Man Goes to War - The plot twist at the end is very dark, and I enjoy the idea of the Doctor uniting all his friends to save Amy. But the writing trying to present him and Rory as badasses was so laughable. Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill are not intimidating actors. The whole 'Colonel Runaway' speech nearly put me off watching because of how tryhard it was. I kept expecting the soldier to just deck him, out of spite alone if nothing else. And idgaf if Rory is wearing his Roman outfit and trying to get his wife back, he's still wet as Adric. He will never be cool.

*The Girl Who Waited - The episode should have ended when the doors locked between Old Amy and Rory. That's it. They get young Amy back and leave immediately. No drawn-out goodbye.

*The God Complex - That stupid rhino thing.

*Listen - There has to be a better way to resolve this than to randomly end up on Gallifrey (!!!) and then have Clara hug the baby Doctor.

*The Witch's Familiar - Just let Davros die ffs. What's the point of building up that sincere dynamic between them if it's just double-crossing on both of their parts? Would have been an excellent end for Davros.

*Heaven Sent - Being tied to Hell Bent.

*Smile - I adore most of this episode, but the final few minutes are so rushed that it completely derails everything.

*Knock Knock - Similar to Smile. It's so convoluted at the end, and wastes a great setup (also a guest performance by David Suchet).

*The Star Beast - If they didn't do the non-binary thing and all the shitting on the Doctor for male-presenting, this would be a lovely 8/10 adventure. Loved Beep the Meep.

*The Giggle - Just do a proper regeneration ffs.

[The Yak Emperor]

Victory of the Daleks gets under my skin because the whole episode is an excuse to show off a new line of toys.

Love that you didn't include any Chibnall episodes lol. The thing about those is that literally every line of dialogue is exposition of some kind, even the characters' awkward asides to one another. Just look at Revolution of the Daleks. The truck driver and the foreman are "talking" to one another:

"Sorry about your mum"

"Yeah, it's hard"

They play against each other like two fridges. But all that "character" stuff is really just exposition to set up how "sad" this guy's forthcoming death will be. It's like an alien wrote it.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

May 3, 2024 1:20:13 GMT rushy said:

(Only counting New Who here, due to the placement of the thread)

*Aliens of London - a tense and wonderful invasion storyline that's become a laughingstock due to the fart jokes

*School Reunion - It's lovely to see Sarah Jane again, and Tennant's genuine delight at working with Sladen shines through. The villain's great too. But it's all let down by the Doctor and Rose being dicks to Mickey, and the weird competition between Sarah and Rose (ironically the part that feels the most like 1970s TV writing)

*Daleks in Manhattan - I can't take the pig things seriously. Couldn't they just bring back the Robomen?

*The Lazarus Experiment - Phenomenally shit CGI.

*The Next Doctor - The kid playing Jackson Lake's son is so comatose, it takes me out of the episode every time.

*Victory of the Daleks - Used to really enjoy this one, can't see past the Skittle Daleks now. How proudly they're presented!

*A Good Man Goes to War - The plot twist at the end is very dark, and I enjoy the idea of the Doctor uniting all his friends to save Amy. But the writing trying to present him and Rory as badasses was so laughable. Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill are not intimidating actors. The whole 'Colonel Runaway' speech nearly put me off watching because of how tryhard it was. I kept expecting the soldier to just deck him, out of spite alone if nothing else. And idgaf if Rory is wearing his Roman outfit and trying to get his wife back, he's still wet as Adric. He will never be cool.

*The Girl Who Waited - The episode should have ended when the doors locked between Old Amy and Rory. That's it. They get young Amy back and leave immediately. No drawn-out goodbye.

*The God Complex - That stupid rhino thing.

*Listen - There has to be a better way to resolve this than to randomly end up on Gallifrey (!!!) and then have Clara hug the baby Doctor.

*The Witch's Familiar - Just let Davros die ffs. What's the point of building up that sincere dynamic between them if it's just double-crossing on both of their parts? Would have been an excellent end for Davros.

*Heaven Sent - Being tied to Hell Bent.

*Smile - I adore most of this episode, but the final few minutes are so rushed that it completely derails everything.

*Knock Knock - Similar to Smile. It's so convoluted at the end, and wastes a great setup (also a guest performance by David Suchet).

*The Star Beast - If they didn't do the non-binary thing and all the shitting on the Doctor for male-presenting, this would be a lovely 8/10 adventure. Loved Beep the Meep.

*The Giggle - Just do a proper regeneration ffs.

Aliens of London is very entertaining despite the flaws.