Well, that was a very Russell T. Davies finale, putting my in mind especially of "The End of Time", a story in which the central action-adventure plot wraps up leaving a solid 15 minutes or so for emotional wrap-up and goodbyes. Not having entirely thought things through, I wasn't really mentally conditioned to be approaching … Continue reading Doctor Who: The Reality War →

We're into the finale of this season of DOCTOR WHO, and unfortunately, finales have not traditionally been where showrunner Russell T. Davies has ever done his strongest work. Needing to make teh stakes bigger, higher, madder than ever before, he's tended to employ a lot of dodgy skip-logic in the plotting, winding up with episodes … Continue reading Doctor Who: Wish World →

This was, I think, the most Russell T. Davies episode of DOCTOR WHO in years--which makes it only slightly surprising that Russell didn't write it. Rather, that honor went to novelist Juno Dawson. But she completely nails the tone and the style of the earlier Russell-helmed episodes, making this one of the best outings in … Continue reading Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest →

This episode was one of the ones that I was the most trepidatious about going into it. From the brief synopsis, the Next Time trailer and the couple of clips that had been released prior to broadcast, it seemed like it was going to be something of a throwback to the previous Chris Chibnall era … Continue reading Doctor Who: The Story & The Engine →

When the breakdown of this current season was first announced, this was the episode that I was the most concerned about. Given the premise of the season, this was definitely going to be a "Doctor-lite" episode, one focused on what had been happening in the life of former companion Ruby Sunday since last we saw … Continue reading Doctor Who: Lucky Day →

Three episodes in, and while this season of DOCTOR WHO hasn't quite yet lived up to the heights of the show at its best in years past, it does feel a lot more sure-footed and on-point than it has in recent memory. This week's outing "The Well" isn't a timeless classic by any means, but … Continue reading Doctor Who: The Well →

All in all, this was a pretty enjoyable outing for DOCTOR WHO--not quite a return to form per se but at the very least a step in the right direction. I find that the few complaints that I can muster boil down to some dodgy story beats and some thin characters. As a technical achievement, … Continue reading Doctor Who: Lux →

Thinking about this episode, and the season it's following up on, I've landed on a bit of an observation. And it is this: the current DOCTOR WHO had entered its version of the 1980s, a period when, concerned about pushback that the show was too dark and violent for young viewers, it instead steered more … Continue reading Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution →

We are once again a week away from the start of a new season of DOCTOR WHO, and so tradition demands that I put down a few of my thoughts about the state-of-play and my expectations for the show going into this new set of episodes. There's been a lot of chatter across the last … Continue reading Doctor Who: Season Pregame →