For this, I’ll list the spinoffs for Doctor Who. And I’m going to just pick from the TV based spin offs, not the Big Finish (mainly because I have not listened to very many).
There is K9 and Company, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures. The one I liked the most was/is the Sarah Jane Adventures. Torchwood had very adult stories set in the Doctor Who universe with Captain Jack and his crew at the Torchwood Institute. Doctor Who is aimed at both kids and adults. SJA was aimed at the young crowd. Still smart and fun, just a young demographic. Premise is she and a group of teens investigate and face aliens tying to take over.
Starring the lovely and much loved (and missed) Elizabeth Sladen in her most famous role she had during the 1970s with Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor and Tom Baker’s 4th. She came back to Doctor Who in the Series 2 episode “School Reunion”. There was such a love for her, that she got her own show (again…She did have K9 and Company in the 1980s).
Fun episodes to watch if you don’t know where to start are the two that have the Doctor in it. One is The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (series 3, episode 5&6) with the 10th Doctor. Below is the ending of that story (no spoilers). From what I read, this was filmed after David Tennant’s last Doctor Who episode. And he’s wearing a nice version of his blue suit (the brown one got ruined in his last Who story)
And the other is Death of the Doctor (series 4, episode 5&6) with the 11th Doctor. One of the cool things about this was it also brought back Jo Grant( played by the spunky Katy Manning, who was Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor companion/assistant. It was fun to see two companions who had been with the same Doctor at different times, now working together to save the (new) Doctor. I love Jo’s reaction to seeing the Doctor appear because she had never seen him regenerate from or to another person.
As of the time of this blog post: if you have Amazon Prime, they have the whole show available for members (in the United States that is. Not sure if it works the same outside the US :/ ). You can also buy the show as well :).
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite Dalek Story
It’s time to grab the tissues, because in this installment of the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge, we have the Saddest Moment. Or Moments since I’m so good at having ties. There’s a couple different types of answers I’ll give for this. One is the Real World answer. And three others would be within the show itself.
Real World
December 6, 1989, was when the last part of Survival aired. It would be the last episode of (what is now called) Classic Who since Michael Grade and others at the BBC cancelled it. And there were no new tv stories until 1996 with the single TV movie. And then not again until 2005 with the successful reboot. While there were the books, comics, official magazine, not having Doctor Who on TV was very sad for us old time fans.
Within the Doctor Who Universe
There are several sad moments, both from Classic and New Who. The saddest Classic moment to me is the death of Adric, as he sacrifices himself to save Earth in the story Earthshock. Companions deaths rarely happened in Classic Who, so this was a shock (sorry, bad pun) to me as a young fan.
New Who has three that top it for me.
While not a death, the wiping of Donna’s memories of her adventures with the Doctor in Journey’s End was breathtakingly sad. Even though he did it to save her due to the meta-crisis, it still…. just…couldn’t he have wiped out just enough for her to be safe but not everything? Ugh. They did address this a couple times during Capaldi’s era.
The other New Who saddest moment is the death of Amy and Rory in Angels Take Manhattan. Or rather the time adjusted death of them due to the Weeping Angel. I saw this with a large group of fans and we were all balling our eyes out.
The below video takes place shortly after the above scenes (kind of shortly after? Time travel messes with ya). Arthur Darvill who played Rory, did a voiceover for his letter to Rory’s dad. Interesting to point out that P.S. is written by the new showrunner, Chris Chibnall. It was released by teh BBC 3 years after the episode, and nicely concludes the story. Shame they didn’t shoot it!
…. Oh, yeah, The Doctor Falls. Just the whole freaking episode. I was still so emotionally worn out after that episode that when Twice upon a Time aired, it didn’t affect me near as much when he actually regenerated.
Next on the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge- Favorite Spinoff
I’ll give a different answer than my answer to what my favorite story arc is because both of those were from the Classic era and both lasted the whole season.
And this one is fairly easy, especially since this season was recently released for the first time on Blu Ray earlier this year. That would be season 12, Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor.
I hope to one day write a review for this recent boxset, because…really… all the extras…it is amazing! Maybe that had an impact of this being my favorite season? Maybe I might change my mind in a year or three. But this is a really good one!
Anyway, this season’s stories are:
Robot (4 parts)
The Ark in Space (4 parts)
The Sontaran Experiment (2 parts)
Genesis of the Daleks (6 parts)
Revenge of the Cybermen (4 parts)
It has three of the great enemies of the Doctor. And in Robot, the only alien in it is the Doctor (I always find those type of stories interesting). Genesis of the Daleks is reason enough alone to say this is the best season, but all the other stories are great too!
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Saddest Moment
Story arcs are ok, if they come to some kind of conclusion and not leave you saying “What about the thing?” I still wonder “What about the thing?” with the whole Bad Wolf arc and years later with the Hybrid.
There are things that are sort of story arc-like, like drips of Vote Saxon being mentioned in passing, then finding out who Saxon really is later that series.
I also liked how Missy is introduced in Series 8, first with Clara calling a “help line”, which is the Doctor’s Tardis, and she tells him that a lady in the shop gave her his number. You don’t see the mysterious woman. That is from the beginning of the second half of series 7. You don’t find out who she really is until the end of Series 8.
I two at the top, (yes, yet another tie) and they are both from the Classic era.
The War Games
The Second Doctor’s final story story,The War Games, which I recently saw earlier this year (I don’t think I saw this before, outside of clips). It has ten parts which lasted the whole of season 6. That sounds like it would drag somewhere in the middle, or the end, but it moves along at a good pace as certain things are revealed. (And how about that Steve Jobs look-a-like 30 years before Jobs got that look?) And it is also when we are first introduced to the Time Lords. As well as the departure of Zoe, Jamie, and the Second Doctor.
Trial of a Time Lord
Trial of a Time Lord is my other favorite, a 14 parter taking up all of season 23. I did see this as a young teenage fan, and later bought the VHS boxset because I loved it so much (I still have it with it’s wonderful Tardis designed box art!). Unlike The War Games, this is divided up into 4 smaller stories:The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids, and The Ultimate Foe. I loved the twist of finding out who the Valeyard was (wrote about that here), and also the alternate endings to characters. Also loved the bantering between the Doctor and the Valeyard, the discovery of what the mysterious planet really was, and the other characters. But yes, I felt it had a good closing on the arc as to why the Doctor was really summoned to court.
While looking up this, I found out there was a Big Finish audio that not only brings back Colin baker as the 6th Doctor, but Lynda Bellingham as the Inquisitor (love her!), and Michael Jayston as the Valeyard. Info here, but don’t listen to the trailer if you don’t know the identity of the Valeyard.
Next on the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite Doctor Who Season
I am not sure if this is an actor who has been in it once or twice? Or including major characters. I’ll take it as meaning guest actors, because the major actors are (for me) to close to their roles (well, I guess you could say that for even one story actors). So I’ll give this one to a one-time character..
I don’t have any strong feelings about any, but the first one that comes to mind is Michael Gambon (most famous for playing Dumbledore in the most of the Harry Potter films) , who played the Scrooge-like Kazran who flat out refuses to help a crashing spaceship and the Doctor has to go about changing his mind. Really like how he slowly changes from a curmudgeon, then to confused (understandably when he ses the Doctor suddenly sowing up in his home videos that he shot when he was a boy, right after the Doctor had left him as the old man) and trying hard not to change, and then his heart softening.
Will this episode that he is in appear later in the big challenge? Hmmmm…. maybe….
Next on the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite Story Arc
I’m not sure if the question is favorite main theme for the show, or Doctor, or character. So I’ll do all three!
Main Theme
Like my favorite New Who series, I would have just had one if this was 4 years ago. So it’s split into Classic and New Who.
First, there is a special place in my heart for the original. That kind of wins by default. If this didn’t exist, none of the other versions would. So hats of to Ron Grainer, Delia Derbyshire, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop for creating the song
Other than that one, my favorite Classic Who is the version that started during Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor and continues into Tom Baker’s 4th
New Who goes to the rock version played in series 9 for the Before the Flood episode (I mention this in yesterday’s post). And that Peter Capaldi plays the guitar on it is just icing on the cake!
Doctor Theme
I don’t think this was really done during the classic era (I don’t remember reading or hearing anything) So I believe it’s a New Who thing.
Best one is 11th’s. No question.
Although 12th’s theme is also really amazing (well, all four are really). Not a tie (gasp!), but close.
Character
Well, this is hard. I listened to them again to try to make up my mind. And it’s so hard because Murray Gold was amazing on so many of the themes.
Tie! (surprise!)
Rose’s Theme is beautiful and haunting.
Same with Amy’s Theme. Just as beautiful and just as haunting. And incredibly said after watching the end of the first half of series 7 :'(.
Excuse me while I grab a box of tissues…
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite Actor
It’s a tie. Again. If I was doing this 4 years ago, there would have been only one.
Series 4
The 10th Doctor and Donna Noble are my favorite Doctor-Companion matchup in New Who and when ever they are together, it’s just wonderful. Put them in a good story, and that’s even better!
I remember when it was announced that Catherine Tate was going to return, and most fans weren’t that excited because most were “meh” about the Runaway Bride (“Pockets!”). I don’t remember having much of a feeling either way. But then the series started and with everyone getting more familiar with Donna, a large number of us fell in love with her. I like Runaway more after series 4 ended. But uuugh, that ending. Heartbreaking sad :'(.
Favorite episodes were The Fires of Pompeii, and The Unicorn And The Wasp.
Also up high are The Doctor’s Daughter and Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead, Turn Left, and the Christmas episode that year: The Next Doctor (I kept guessing the whole time if that other guy was really the Doctor or not). The rest are quite enjoyable (don’t care for Midnight all that much, though many people love it. Maybe because Donna wasn’t in it?).
I am looking forward to the steelbook of this series (already have 1-3, 9 and 10!)
Series 9
When I saw the trailer for series 9, I was not impressed. And then I heard that it would be mostly 2 parters, one of those stories being an “under siege” story. All which I hadn’t really cared for much in the past. So I had low expectations going in.
Then the opening scene happened,
And the boy tells the Doctor his name.
My jaw dropped and said “Nooo waaayy!”, and I was hooked. And later he comes out wearing Ray Bans, playing electric guitar (the Doctor Who theme, btw), on a rolling tank, to a crowd of people (did I mention this is happening during the Middle Ages?)
And Missy was fantastic! Clara and Missy forced to work together was wonderfully wicked. And I loved the second part, “The Witch’s Familiar”
Then “Under The Lake” started. This was the “under siege” story. And I feel in love with this one as well. IT was also nice to see a woman being in charge who also had to be deaf. And don’t even think about messing with her or her crew. And the cards scene shown below is adorable (I need cards like that!)
And Before the Flood started with the below scene and I was having a blast.
Which was immediately followed by the theme song, a special rock version with Peter Capaldi, the Doctor himself, playing the guitar.
There was actual time travel in this episode! Not only traveling back to the same spot many many years earlier, but then later traveling back again and seeing themselves and the Doctor having to tell the others not to be seen by their otherselves. I loved that!
The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived were a disappointment, Didn’t totally buy into the way the reason was given for why 12 chose the face of Caecilius from the Fires of Pompeii story. And Ashildr wasn’t as strong as I was hoping. Good scene of her and the Doctor talking in her library/study. So much potential in this 2 parter, but fell flat for me.
The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion were very good. More Osgood is always good!. And that speech at the end! *GASP* So powerful.
Sleep No More gets an A for trying something new with it’s storytelling Falls kind of flat, but I liked what they were trying to do with it. But every single time I wipe my eyes, I think of this (CURSE YOU GATISS!!)
Face The Raven drives me batty with how much it doesn’t make sense – in a bad way. Loads of fans love it but I tried watching it again a couple month ago to see if time would change my mind, and I disliked it even more the second time than the first. One thing it had that I did like was similarities to a certain John Green book, Paper Towns, but in this episode it’s trap streets rather than paper towns. By coincidence(?), for the Doctor Who The Fan Show where they discussed this episode, one of the guests was Rosianna Halse Rojas who was/is John’s assistant. And I loved her Q&A 🙂 NERDFIGHTERS!) Well, the other thing I liked was the Doctor’s velvet coat. And the line “You’ll find it is a very small universe when I’m angry with you” was very, very good.
https://youtu.be/bV03ZTT_hyc
Heaven’s Sent was amazing with it’s successful different storytelling angle, much stronger than Sleep No ore. Wonderfully directed by Rachel Talalay.
And while many loved Face the Raven, it seems like just as many hate Hell Bent. And I love it. The repeating throughout the series of the Doctor’s “duty of care” of Clara (well, all of his companions, really) is very moving. And this story was also directed by Rachel Talalay.
I’ll end this here. One day, I might do a more analysis of the episodes from both series, but these are my major ones 🙂
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite Theme Song
This one didn’t take long to pick. There is, of course, Barbara and Ian, the Doctor and Rose, the Doctor and River, Amy and Rory,
But there is one pairing that is above them all. The Doctor and his TARDIS.
This has been brought up in the show a number of times how the TARDIS is connected through a psychic link with the Doctor, and is alive, though I think the meaning in the very beginning meant powered with electricity, but it later was clear that it is a sentient being.
For a long time, the Doctor thought he had stolen (sorry, “borrowed”) the Tardis to escape Gallifrey. It turned out that the Tardis stole him as well.
I love how a lot of this is brought up in the excellent episode, “The Doctor’s Wife” where the 11th Doctor, Amy and Rory end up outside the universe and a being called House takes the “soul” (for the lack of a better word) of the Tardis out and places it inside a woman so he can take over the blue box. And the Doctor and Tardis start talking to each other.
Anyway, The Doctor’s Wife is a great first episode (along with Blink).
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite New Who Series
A lot of people don’t like 6 or 7. Some people don’t even like 4. But for me, I love them all. As in the Day 1 challenge, I have two top favorites. Solid second place goes to 7 and 11 (and yes I know that traditionally this would be “third” place in “normal” ranking, but I never agreed to that way of doing it, and this is my list, so 😛 ). And all the other guys bob between 2nd and 3rd place, depending on which one I had just watched or listened to.
But, really, I don’t dislike any of them.
The closest thing to a least favorite Doctor would be the way the Patrick Troughton was portrayed in An Adventure in Space and Time. I was totally into the film, and I still love the thing to pieces. (Detail! So much detail! And all the cameos!) But seeing the person portraying Patrick Troughton portraying the Second Doctor was just off and pulled me out of the moment. For someone dressing up as him for a convention, that’s fine. But it really broke the “realism” that was given to everything else in the film.
Actually, now that I think about it, I wasn’t too keen on how the First Doctor was written in Twice Upon a Time, which soured me on the episode. Well, so did Testimony (not totally convinced that they were good guys, but that’s another blog post).
I loved David Bradley in An Adventure in Space and Time, and what was wrong with him in this wasn’t his fault. And I love Moffat, he just disappointed me with his version of the 1st Doctor. The housekeeping line (I don’t remember 1 saying things like that), or the smack-bottom (yes Hartnell’s Doctor did say that line, but it was to his grand-daughter Susan, not to someone who he just met. Different kind of relationship), While watching the 1st Doctors stories on Twitch Doctor Who marathon, people in the chat commented saying that he didn’t seem misogynistic. So that was good to see.
Tip to anyone who writes for a certain Doctor: watch some stories of that same Doctor beforehand and/or during.you writing your story!
But, when it comes to the original Doctors, nope, no problem with any of them :).
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – OTP (One True Pairing)
I checked out other people’s scariest episodes and most of them just weren’t “scary” to me. Since I didn’t start watching until I was 13 years old, some things just didn’t terrify me like it would little kids. But there were definitely moments that pop to mind.
Yes, there were some things that were gross or creepy, but scary is something different. It could be a type of jump scare. Or an idea. Or the true identity of a character. Below are my scariest:
The Valeyard
In the 6th Doctor’s very long Trial of a Time Lord arc, we are introduced to the Valeyard. And the true identity of who he really isn’t revealed in part 13 of 14. is scared me silly when I first watched it back in the 80s. I’m not going to say who he really is, for those who haven’t seen it yet.
When it played on the Doctor Who Twitch marathon earlier this year, people in the chat just bugged out when it was revealed. And it has remained one of my favorite twists in the whole history of the show
An Audio entry: Real Time
Real Time was an audio adventure that was turned into an animated adventure 16 years ago this month. I watched each part as the BBC released it. It’s a 6th Doctor story (with Colin Baker returning for the voice) and his companion Professor Evelyn Smythe (who I love. My favorite audio-only companion). I love this story dearly but the reveal of who the Cyber Controller is was just….*shivers*…scary and creepy and eeEEEWWWW and gross and …well I haven’t listened to the whole thing since then because it scared me too much.
Below is part one of the animated story remastered by a fan:
https://youtu.be/pXI5LLlxj_8
The Weeping Angels
Okay, if you are familiar at all with New Who, you knew this was coming. Blink is one of the best episodes ever. And one of the scariest. And even though the Weeping Angels lost their scariness in later episodes (Angels in Manhattan is an exception. Love that one), Blink still is the strongest appearance of them.
Below is a music video cleverly edited by a fan using Cameleon Circuit’s awesome trock song, Blink. (Trock is music, usually rock/pop inspired by the show)
Next in the Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Least Favorite Doctor
Starring the lovely and much loved (and missed) Elizabeth Sladen in her most famous role she had during the 1970s with Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor and Tom Baker’s 4th. She came back to Doctor Who in the Series 2 episode “School Reunion”. There was such a love for her, that she got her own show (again…She did have 
was it also brought back Jo Grant( played by the spunky 
amazing! Maybe that had an impact of this being my favorite season? Maybe I might change my mind in a year or three. But this is a really good one!
to mind is Michael Gambon (most famous for playing Dumbledore in the most of the Harry Potter films) , who played the Scrooge-like Kazran who flat out refuses to help a crashing spaceship and the Doctor has to go about changing his mind. Really like how he slowly changes from a curmudgeon, then to confused (understandably when he ses the Doctor suddenly sowing up in his home videos that he shot when he was a boy, right after the Doctor had left him as the old man) and trying hard not to change, and then his heart softening.
wasn’t his fault. And 
In the 6th Doctor’s very long 
this month. I watched each part as the BBC released it. It’s a 6th Doctor story (with Colin Baker returning for the voice) and his companion Professor Evelyn Smythe (who I love. My favorite audio-only companion). I love this story dearly but the reveal of who the Cyber Controller is was just….*shivers*…scary and creepy and eeEEEWWWW and gross and …well I haven’t listened to the whole thing since then because it scared me too much.
Okay, if you are familiar at all with New Who, you knew this was coming. Blink is one of the best episodes ever. And one of the scariest. And even though the Weeping Angels lost their scariness in later episodes (Angels in Manhattan is an exception. Love that one), Blink still is the strongest appearance of them.