such_heights | Now the dust has settled a little

This week's SGA was big gay ridiculous plot space opera straight to the veins, oh my. \o/

Originally, this post was going to be the 15 Unpopular Opinions meme floating around Who fandom, but I wrote them and then realised they were all variations on the theme "I like this character/ship/episode that some people don't!". I think that is not exactly the point. Ah well, chipper to the bitter end, that is me. But let's make this a Doctor Who post regardless.

This post with its photo of Noel Clarke and Freema Agyeman from the TDK premier is amazingly cute. Cast friendships ftw! ♥

Now, it is poll time.

avendya did this at the end of Series 3 (you can view that poll here) and I thought I would resurrect it now, pitting the episodes from each series against each other. I've done a minor amount of tweaking, merging all the two-parters as one option save the finales and moving a couple of episodes so they're against other single episode stories. Some of these are really hard, some I'm pretty sure I can guess the outcomes of already. So, which episodes do you like best?

[Poll #1228453]

If you're gnashing your teeth at some of those, don't worry; so am I! And please, do share your thoughts on which you like best and why.

eta: Oops, nearly forgot. Now you've trawled your way through that, answer me this. Classic or New Who answers welcomed. What's your all-time favourite Doctor Who story? There'd be a poll for this too, but apparently LJ's fed up with me now.

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Okay so...definitely outnumbered...

So New Earth - mostly because of some reasonably good writing, and I like a little shop, but a very passionate kiss between NotRose and the Doctor, and it makes me laugh every time he raises his eyebrows like an idiot. Also it was our first -proper- introduction to Tennant as the Doctor, so he made me happy.

The second one was almost a draw between the last three, but I chose Tooth and Claw because I loved the proper werewolf in it. I don't get nice proper werewolves most of the time, and this one was beautifully designed for once.

Third - I totally went for School Reunion, although I loved a lot of Gridlock, especially Bliss. I loved Sarah Jane, and that scene where she finds the TARDIS in the cellar is just the most beautiful moment. Plus. I could watch ASH over and over again...

Four - Hah - I like the Sontaram Strategem too, but the Cybermen come in second. Couldn't stand Daleks in Manhatten, besides for that great moment where the TimeLordHumans all die, not including the Dalek!Pet, which just doesn't make sense to me. Not in that series, and not in any later ones either *koff* I liked the finale, if I didn't like some of the getting there.

Five - Five goes to Dalek, although I also like The Girl in the Fireplace equally. I love the clockwork monsters, and Arthur. But some of the revelations in Dalek blow that completely out of the water. A single Dalek on earth, in chains, and the Doctor - a murderer.

Six - 42! I loved 42. I definitely liked it more than The Unicorn and the Wasp, which most of everyone else seems to disagree with. I liked the running it to the time of the episode exactly, as well as the innocent sentient sun, and the brilliant -physics- in it. U+tW was good, but the end cheesed it off for me, because I'd read that book a couple of weeks before the episode, and I can tell you that it was nothing to do with giant wasps; the artist's impression, not Christie's.

Seven - I loved these episodes, but the Empty Child freaked me out, and of course, it introduced the wonderful Captain Jack. I did very much like Silence in the Library however. Spoilers! But also how intense it all got, although I couldn't stand the zombie spacesuit enemy...I much preferred the suspense to the physical enemy. I -loved- how clever it got in the end. Doctor Moon and Donna's weird family. Frightening in its own way.

Eight - Utopia. Just fwee. The Master. Turn Left was very good too, full of lovely fangasm, but nothing beats the Master.

Nine - The Sound of Drums hands down. But the others all have their say. I liked the Doctor/Master banter best, even though I loved the games on Bad Wolf it was...

Ten - The Parting of the Ways that was my favourite finale. I know it was very Deus Ex Machina, but it was also the -only- poignant kiss in the whole series; the others were very haphazardly doled out here there and everywhere, and this one was sweet, and romantic and 'It's killing me!' But I also loved the finale of Doomsday with Rose and the Doctor permanently seperated, even though she'd saved the world, and to a far lesser extent the ending of the Master's arc, although that DEM was a little less carefully doled out and the ending felt wrong. I mean...seriously - can't a bad guy just -escape- if you want to bring him back in another series? The Master was always escaping in the past, and whole armies of Daleks were not -all- wiped out. Some escaped. And if all these Daleks are escaping, then why haven't the Time Lords wriggled their way out of it yet?

Finally - went for Voyage of the Damned because I loved the ending, and people actually really died in it, instead of being vaporised. Plus I hated that big red spider; as far as enemies go, it was probably one of my least favourite ones, with the Absorbaloth being at the top of that particular list.

Series 4, however, is my favourite, because I loved Donna far more than I thought I would. I've been rewatching it all last week on BBC3, and I recalled that I actually enjoyed it, so there you go. But I hated the finale, and I know many, many people disagree with me. I just thought it was a series of cop outs and another Deus Ex Machina, this time for Donna. Timey wimey stuff is not something that should be used in place of actually bringing together a comprehensible ending to a brilliant cliffhanger. And an awful ending for Rose. Don't get me started. Its only redeeming feature was how terribly poignant the end of Donna's story was. It couldn't have been worse if she had died.

I very much liked the series of episodes starting with the death of Tom Baker's doctor and running over his regeneration - but, heh, that's a huge Master/Doctor arc, so surprise me. I'd have to say though, all things considered, I'd go for Blink in the blink of an eye. I mean, it doesn't involve any kind of Doctor Who as we know it; the Doctor's only in it for a few minutes, much like Love and Monsters, but for that, it's a brilliant episode that has you right on the edge of your seat all the way through. I also liked the conclusion of Midnight, which was 'People fear intelligence', and it was so incredibly subtle, and very unlike RTD for one of his scripts. Probably his best.

I agree with Sambethe that Series 3 was the weakest, but it appears to be everyone's favourite. It didn't seem to get off the ground really until about episode 5 or so, when the Doctor actually admitted that Martha was along for the ride, and until it did that it felt like all those episodes where the Daleks have come back despite being 'completely destroyed this time', and 'just one more trip'. I voted S4 despite my feelings on the finale, because I thought that Donna's transformation from a character I hated at conception to one I didn't want to part so permanently with, was quite stunning, and I enjoyed (almost) every moment of it. She was the one companion I enjoyed the banter with with the Doctor, and I think it was specifically because she didn't want a look at his Sonic Screwdriver. She also had her own catchphrases 'Oi spaceman' 'Don't you dare' etc, and didn't take any crap, or go along with stuff unless she knew what she was going along with, unlike say Martha Jones. Oh, this random stranger kissed me, well maybe he just likes me? Hang on, am I supposed to put up with any old random stranger kissing me? and Rose 'I know, let's just mosey on into the TARDIS and not ask what the hell's going on when we're all about to die.'

I ramble. Probably kill the word limit. Definitely probably annoy someone in regards to their favourite episode. Like I say, this is all just me. If we were all the same, it'd be a pretty dull world.

I love that practically every episode has someone rooting for it, it's great! Collectively, we love it all. :D I agree with so many of your points, which is why trying to choose between all of these is so hard in the first place. To pick up on a couple:

I loved Sarah Jane, and that scene where she finds the TARDIS in the cellar is just the most beautiful moment.

Oh gosh yes, and then the Doctor just appearing out of the dark, that's fantastic.

It didn't seem to get off the ground really until about episode 5 or so, when the Doctor actually admitted that Martha was along for the ride

*nods* This is my one big thing with S3 - in my opinion, if they'd effectively had the conversation at the end of The Lazarus Experiment moved to the end of Gridlock we would have had a lot more time to get used to Martha and the Doctor as a real team before all the big plot stuff started kicking off. Aside from that, though, still my favourite just for the strength of most of the stories and Martha's fabulousness.

Now the dust has settled a little

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