Amph The OFFICIAL Doctor Who Episode Countdown - Nos. 3 & 4

It's back! And rather fitting spot for these fantastic episodes!

Also, how in the hell is Vincent and the Doctor that high on the list! It should be top 10, at least.

 

Personally I adore these episodes. At the risk of contradicting myself in other posts, I cannot see any other Doctor acting as well as Tennant does in these episodes. For me, it's by far his best acting performance in the series and it's one where he is not playing the Doctor. And the ending is just chilling. Is it out of character? Possibly. Revenge is not something usually seen with the Doctor. But somehow it just works here. This is one of the few episodes that still make me cry every time I watch it. A fantastic premise realised wonderfully. Just a shame Martha is in it.

 

Here's a possibility re: the ending. What if Ten had encountered the Family once before, and already given them a let-off? You see, Ten once said that he doesn't give second chances. So, when the true reason for hiding from the Family (rather than facing them) was revealed, I thought perhaps he was trying to avoid that side of his character... trying to avoid the part of him that would punish the Family if he ever encountered them causing trouble once again. He wanted to show them mercy by avoiding coming into contact with them again, but ultimately they made that impossible.

 

Given that he knew right from the start what they were after and how they could track him, I would assume that he had met them before.

 

He could've known of them, heard tales or whatever, but yes.

 

Meh. Tennant's run is littered with him giving second chances. It's all over the place. He's such a walking contradiction.

My favorite is him comforting Rose, telling her he's the same man as 9, and then complaining that 'I die and another man saunters off.'

 

A fair point, Everton. But it's still an exceptionally harsh 'punishment' he gives them. Killing the Sycorax when his life was in immediate danger is one thing. Calculated lifelong eternal torture is another.

 

Lifelong torture is a big deal I agree. Perhaps he sees it as commensurate with whatever happened the last time he, or the Time Lords, encountered the Family? Ooo, now there's scope for a prequel episode.

 

The top 2 will be published shortly......

 

2. The Girl in the Fireplace


Score: 18.59
Lowest: 17
Highest: 20

For their first trip with Mickey, the Tenth Doctor and Rose end up on a space ship in the future that contains several portals to pre-Revolutionary France. When he steps through one of these portals, shaped like a fireplace, the Doctor discovers the even greater mystery of actual, romantic love.




TRIVIA

Sophia Myles' dress in the ballroom scene was originally worn by Helen Mirren in The Madness of King George.

After the Doctor and Reinette experience their mind link, she invites him to "dance" with her. As episode writer Steven Moffat had previously established (in The Doctor Dances) that dancing is a metaphor for making love, that the Doctor and Reinette are next seen walking away, hand in hand, and that Reinette was a courtesan, there is fan speculation that some form of lovemaking occurs "off camera". When the Doctor is next seen, he is hyper and pretending to be drunk after a great party; whether he and Reinette actually "danced" is left to the imagination. However, Steven Moffat denies that any sexual activity took place.




1. A Town Called Mercy


Score: 20
Lowest: 20
Highest: 20

Was there any doubt? Simply the finest episode ever committed to film. With a fantastic plot, great dialogue, fully fleshed out supporting characters, the writer really understood the depths and reactions of the lead cast. With an hilarious nod back to the "I speak baby" nonsense in the awful "Closing Time", this shows just how humour should be written. A horse with gender issues - astonishing writing and not afraid to tackle the large issues. There is no doubt that this grand episode deserves its place at the top of this list, and long may it reign




TRIVIA

Recently voted the best ever episode by members of a Star Wars forum

This episode may take place for Amy and Rory during the seven weeks they spend travelling with the Doctor in the following episode The Power of Three. In The Power of Three, Rory loses his phone charger in Henry VIII's bedroom, which was referred to in this episode as having already happened.

 

If any episode deserved to beat 'Girl in the Fireplace', it's that. Truly a masterpiece.

 

I feel violated

 

No. You should feel free of this burden you have carried for so long.

 

Is this really #1 or is there another post to occur before the anniversary episode?

 

It's really the number one. I certainly can't think of another contender.

 

Pretty sure Hallibut is playing with us as I thought the countdown only included the episodes up to The Wedding of River Song

EDIT: A quick look at page 1 confirms this as the count started at 87.

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Guys, thanks to wibbliness, I think we can guarantee A Town Called Mercy as not only the best episode of NuWho, perhaps the best episode of the entire series. Alas, I think we can go as far as saying it's the best episode the show will ever have.

 

If only there were some word conspicuously absent from the overall listings on page 24 that could give us a clue. Of course, such things can be hard to spot - blink and you'll miss it.

 

That was #23

 

1. The Day of The Doctor

Score: 200
Highest: 200
Lowest: 200

 

1. Blink

Score: 19.36
Lowest: 17
Highest: 20


In an abandoned house, the Weeping Angels wait. The only hope to stop them is a young woman named Sally Sparrow and her friend Larry Nightingale. The only catch? The Weeping Angels can move in the blink of an eye. To defeat the ruthless enemy — with only a half of a conversation from the Tenth Doctor as help — the one rule is this: don't turn your back, don't look away and don't blink!





What can one say? The obvious irony of this being a Doctor-Lite episode means that the episode has to be top-notch. And it really is. A truly terrifying episode which scares the adults, let alone the children. In the RTD era, Moffat had a talent of taking regular things and making them scary. Gas Masks, Shadows. But the idea of statues which only attack when you look away is an absolutely inspirational idea. And this story takes that idea to a new level. Sadly it's tarred in future Angel appearances, but this as a standalone episode is simply unbeatable.


TRIVIA

The plot of this episode was based upon a short story Steven Moffat wrote for the Doctor Who Annual 2006 called What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow. The story involves Sally Sparrow (who is a child in the story as opposed to a young woman in the episode) writing her school assignment about being contacted by the Ninth Doctor through photographs and a videotape (like the episode, there is a sequence in which Sally has a conversation with the Doctor through a television) in which he gives her instructions to allow her to return the TARDIS to him (the Weeping Angels aren't present in the story; the Doctor being separated from the TARDIS was due to a "hic-cough"), knowing what to do thanks to an adult Sally (who is a beautiful spy who saves the Doctor's life) giving him the story which details the experience.

This is the first episode to be directed by a woman after a twenty-two year interval. The previous one was The Mark of the Rani.

In 2009, Doctor Who Magazine conducted a reader poll to rank the first 200 Doctor Who stories in order of preference. Blink ranked 2nd, surpassed only by the 1984 story The Caves of Androzani.

 

Congratulations on completing the countdown, hal! It's been a rip-roaring 754 day ride!

 

Carrie was the heart and soul of Blink, no surprise she has gone on to big film roles! Considering how behind Moffat was in delivering the final draft of the script I'm amazed how well the episode came together. I believe also Gatiss helped in the conclusion of the episode with the 4 angels on the 4 sides of the Tardis.

So shall we start again after Christmas counting down all 104 episodes?

Or perhaps a different countdown:
Ranking the SJA episodes or Torchwood episodes
Ranking the companions and/or Doctors

What say you Halibut? Got another countdown or two in you? I would be happy to take the reigns if need be.

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I think we should wait before another countdown. At least until Series 8 is finished.

 

I was very pleased to see several series 3 episodes at the end of this list, as I'm just about done there (2 more episodes to go). Human Nature & The Family of Blood, have been among my favorite episodes of Doctor Who thus far, despite my brevity of series/episodes watched. Some of Tennant's finest work as the Tenth Doctor was on great display there, and the introduction of the Weeping Angels was incredibly fantastic.