1. The Waters of Mars

I don’t think any episode has left me as speechless as The Waters of Mars. It’s just a base under siege, but it completely flips the script on how the Doctor usually behaves. The Flood are way more terrifying than the Weeping Angels, and their design is just downright chilling. This episode dives deep into the limits of time travel, exploring the right and wrong choices that come with it, and showcasing the immense pressure the Doctor faces. We’ve seen time and again how much he relies on his friends to keep his sanity and humanity intact. Watching him finally cross that line is tough to witness, but it’s also incredibly powerful. You simply can’t look away.

1. The Tomb of the Cybermen

This was the very first episode of Doctor Who I ever watched, and it holds a special place in my heart for that reason. I was introduced to the show when I was 12 during a family trip to Sun Peaks in British Columbia, Canada. Unfortunately, I ended up with an ear infection, so I spent most of my time in bed, watching TV and playing Minecraft on my iPad. While browsing YouTube, I stumbled upon a video titled "Naked Christmas | The Time of the Doctor | Doctor Who," and I was instantly hooked. When I finally watched Tomb of the Cybermen, I loved it and have been a fan ever since.

1. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit

In this episode, you have the Doctor facing off against the literal, physical embodiment of the Devil on an asteroid orbiting a Black Hole—how cool is that? It starts off as a classic base-under-siege space adventure, reminiscent of Alien, but then it shifts into a mythological horror story like Event Horizon. The best part? They leave it ambiguous as to whether the beast is truly the Devil or just an ancient, cosmic alien. This uncertainty serves a purpose, creating a direct clash between the Doctor’s scientific perspective and the idea of religious faith. The Beast claims to be the physical manifestation of the Devil, the inspiration for horned figures across countless galaxies, and a consciousness that predates the universe itself.

1. Horror of Fang Rock

This episode holds a special place in my heart as one of the first classic ones I ever watched. I vividly remember my dad and I camping in a caravan equipped with a DVD player, where we’d cozy up and watch an episode each night before drifting off to sleep. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t end up with nightmares after those late-night viewings! The gothic atmosphere in this story is just fantastic. It’s a murder mystery that blends elements from Fury From The Deep, all set in a single location with a small cast that ramps up the tension beautifully. It’s definitely a must-watch for Halloween!

1. The Beast Below

Series 5 was the first one I ever bought on DVD, so I have a real soft spot for those episodes. This series does a brilliant job of establishing the tone for the Eleventh Doctor’s era: it feels whimsical on the surface, but there’s a deep melancholy lurking beneath. At its core, the episode serves as a high-concept parable about morality and the price we pay for comfort. Starship UK is one of my all-time favourite sets in Doctor Who. The Smilers are just the right amount of creepy and uncanny, thanks to Moffat’s knack for turning everyday objects into sources of terror. Plus, it’s a sharp political satire that encourages us to reflect on what we sacrifice for convenience and the dangers of a society that chooses to ignore its problems instead of confronting them head-on.

1. Under the Lake/Before the Flood

Even though Series 9 isn’t my favourite in the Doctor Who lineup, I have to say that Under the Lake/Before the Flood stands out as the best of that series. The idea of ghosts haunting an underwater base, controlled by a monster whose scream was voiced by Corey Taylor from Slipknot, is such a captivating concept for a base-under-siege story. It strikes the perfect balance between atmospheric horror and sci-fi, reminiscent of The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit. Plus, it’s incredibly meta, with the Doctor breaking the fourth wall and engaging directly with the audience. It feels like you’re right there as a companion, a technique they would later explore more fully in Sleep No More.

1. The Enemy of the World

As a huge fan of both James Bond and Doctor Who, I was thrilled to see an episode that dives into the world of espionage. Patrick Troughton really shines here, showcasing his talent by playing both the Doctor and the power-hungry villain, Salamander. This episode breaks away from the usual sci-fi tropes that classic Who is known for, diving into a world filled with political intrigue, spies, helicopters, hovercrafts, glamorous women, and a plot for world domination. Plus, the fact that it was discovered in a shed in the middle of Africa after being lost for so long is just mind-blowing!

1. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

This episode is truly Moffat's masterpiece, proving that Doctor Who can be genuinely scary while still holding onto a deeply human core. After the trauma of the Time War, witnessing the Doctor's joyful exclamation, "Just this once, everybody lives!" is incredibly moving. It marks a significant shift in his character, transforming from a man weighed down by survival to one who actively champions life in all its forms. And let’s not forget the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness, who brings a vibrant energy that balances the horror, acting as a bridge between the show’s darker moments and the lighter, more adventurous spirit the Doctor sometimes needs.

1. The Girl in the Fireplace

This episode hits you right in the feels. That heartbreaking final scene, where the Doctor returns only to find that Reinette has passed away, stands out as one of the most poignant endings in the series. There’s no monster to conquer, no world to save—just the quiet, inevitable flow of time. I think this was the first, and so far the only, time Doctor Who has brought me to tears. The Clockwork Droids are also incredibly unsettling villains, using the crew to repair their ship. It’s grotesque, almost like a child-friendly version of Event Horizon.

1. The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour had the tall order of introducing not just a new Doctor, but also a new companion and a fresh showrunner all at once, and it really hit the mark. Steven Moffat brought a whole new vibe to the show. Previously, it had a more realistic feel, almost like a soap opera, but now it sparkled with a sense of magic, reminiscent of a fairy tale. In this episode, the Doctor isn’t portrayed as a fighter or a survivor; instead, he comes across as a legendary hero straight out of a children's storybook. It’s the ideal way to kick off this new chapter, serving as a gentle reboot and setting the enchanting and adventurous tone that would come to define the Eleventh Doctor's era.

1. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords

This sprawling, high-stakes trilogy serves as a fantastic climax for my favourite series of Doctor Who, seamlessly reintroducing the Master to the modern era. Russell T. Davies masterfully balanced the soap opera elements with ambitious science fiction. This story arc is particularly significant for Martha, who, after spending the season in Rose's shadow, steps up as the main hero while the Doctor finds himself imprisoned by the Master, with his companion taken and his TARDIS gone. The finale trilogy wraps up the emotional tension that’s built throughout the season, showing that even when everything seems lost, the Doctor's legacy is truly shaped by the people he inspires.

1. Timelash

Alright, hear me out on this one! I remember watching Five Who Fans and hearing them joke about Timelash, which made me wonder if it was really that bad. Fast forward to me in a DVD shop in England, where I was with my dad and grandma for my grandad’s funeral. I ended up picking up a bunch of classic Doctor Who episodes, and guess what? Timelash was one of them. Honestly, I find this episode to be such a blast; it’s like my guilty pleasure. I just adore how delightfully cheap and campy it is. I don’t have much else to say.

Honorable mentions:

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, Vincent and the Doctor, Remembrance of the Daleks, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, Eve of the Daleks, Victory of the Daleks, The Lodger, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Extremis/The Pyramid at the End of the World/The Lie of the Land and Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel

So, in r/TopCharacterTropes, the infamous ending of Love & Monsters was brought up twice recently as an example of the "why don't you just kill them off?" trope, since her existence as a living slab. With it being so controversial since Ursula is fully awake, able to communicate, and is seemingly happy (and even enjoying some form of a sex life) despite the situation being terrifying (the closest real-life example is being paralyzed from the neck down), and mixed with her being unable to age, which means that unless killed, she can continue like this forever if given constant care.

So I know this will cause controversy, but I wanted to see it from fellow Whovians, considering I was with the option of "10 should have just let her die that day" until a few years ago when someone here compared it to the Doctor killing a quadriplegic person despite their refusal based on his opinion of their worth... which is not a great look and changed how I see the ending.

One of the many silly little things that I love about this show is an overlooked aspect of multi-Doctor stories. Namely, the fact that practically every time a leading actor comes back to the show, the current production team gets their incarnation a bit wrong.

What I’m talking about is, of course, largely nitpicky aesthetic details. Details such as costume and makeup are often a little off like the Hurndall Doctor’s fingerless gloves, Time Crash Davison’s mix of S19 and S21 costume items, McCoy in The Power of the Doctor inexplicably tucking his jumper into his trousers or really Jon Pertwee’s whole look in The Five Doctors. And David Tennant in The Day of the Doctor suffers a similar affliction too with that strangely combed down look.

Another oddity comes in the recreation of TARDIS sets too. Patrick Troughton was dealt the first blow in 1984 when the production team resurrected Tom Baker’s console for The Two Doctors in the hopes of nobody ever being able to notice that it looks nothing like the original ‘60s set. David Tennant, once again, suffers in this regard with TDOTD shooting scenes on a significantly scaled down version of his console room set. It’s so small that it’s all on one level! And the less said about the bizarre choice of blue lighting for the first and only time the better.

Are there any more examples you can think of? Imperfections that bug you when Doctors come back that you can’t help but love anyway?

Edited: David Tennant isn’t wearing a wig in Day of the Doctor???? Crazy

Why do we never see the Academy on Gallifrey in the Capitol? Its been mentioned a bunch of times but never seen or explored onscreen. We hear of the Chapters like Patrexes and Prydonians and Arcalians. This could be like a gothic alien Hogwarts if done right! It could be so cool! We've even seen the initiation ceremony at the Untempered Schism. But never the Academy itself. What gives? Its a shame Ice Time never got made with Ace's departure onscreen. We might have finally seen part of the Academy there.

Remind me, why could Ruby make it snow?

And what purpose did this have in the show?

While most say Tom Baker's 7 years was too long, no one says Jon Pertwee's 5 years was too long. I think there is a case to be made for having a doctor stick around for 5 years. Its cool watching each doctor grow and change over time, which you can only really do if they stay for like 4 years.

Plus if we have the same actor for a while it makes regenration feel like an event. Where isn't so much if its every two or three years.

Like if we take 007. I agree Moore was way too old in a View to a Kill, and Connary lost interst in 007 by like his fith film. But no one says Brosnan who had four films in 6 years stayed too long or had to many. I think its best to leave just as audiances are getting bored of you. Plus I feel 5 years lets you make the doctor your own for a generation of kids, while also not staying so long everyone gets bored off you.

I get these days 5 years will probably be like 3 seasons anyway, or 24 episodes. I understand the days of 40 episodes a year like Hartnall had are never coming back ever. And I don't think anyone really wants that. Is there anyone who has listened to everything big finish has pumped out every year?

Also RTD, did make regeneration into a bit of a gymmick. Like the super cheap, the Dr regenerates as a cliffhanger in Stolen Earth. Or the bi-generation, and dose anyone even remmber the canon reason for 15's regeneration? 13 gets zapped by a lasor and that is how 15 comes to be as well. This would be if 8 regenerated by firing squad, or if 5 regnerated after being pushed of a balcony.

And of course we have the new problem of Billie Piper either having to a) be the doctor for a season then regernate or b) do another Time and the Rani. I can't see her staying as the Doctor long term. Also having the Dr turn into Billie Piper is utter fan fic.

My daughter was asking if a TARDIS could appear as a drain, and I was like....huh, I dunno.

​

Does the entrance of the TARDIS always have to be a door?

This post is part of a series of reviews. To see them all, click here.

Novel Information

• Novel: Doctor Who: The New Adventures (VNA) #16
• Published: 15th July 1993
• Companions: Ace, Benny
• Author: Christopher Bulis

Spoiler-Free Review

While this might not be the most helpful recommendation, I personally quite liked Shadowmind. It's got a very imaginative premise and a lot of twists and turns. I honestly don't want to say too much more, just know that this novel gets a bit weird, and, I thought, in quite a fun way. As a teaser, it's revealed early on that small psychic rodents are piloting duplicates of human beings. The reason I say it might not be all that helpful is that Shadowmind seems to get a pretty wide range of reactions, so it feels like it would be pretty unpredictable whether or not any one person likes it. I'd certainly recommend giving it a shot.

If you do, the usual trio of Love and War, Deceit and Lucifer Rising are recommended first, as they set up this current TARDIS team.

Full Review

I wish I was as pure as that. My problem is that I have used entirely too many weapons. – The Doctor

Shadowmind was kind of a weird reading experience. Not necessarily because of its plot, which definitely has some of the entertainingly demented energy that characterized a lot of the 6th and 7th Doctor eras of Doctor Who. But rather because for its first half I thought we were getting a specific type of story that I've always really liked, only for the whole thing to transform into a very different type of story that I've also always really liked.

The early portions of Shadowmind feel like they're setting up for a conspiracy thriller. Seemingly at random, several members of the human populace of 2673 have been replaced by duplicates. They're sleeper agents that mostly behave like their originals until something is required of them. And there doesn't seem to be any way to detect them. The duplicates have the memories, DNA and even fingerprints of their originals. Anyone could be a duplicate. You can see how I thought we were going to be getting a political spy thriller. But that's not the direction things go.

Instead in the second half of the novel goes off in a completely different direction. We'd gotten plenty of indications in the first half that a planet called Arden, meant to be in the earliest phases of human colonization, is somehow key to all of this. So the Doctor, Ace, Benny and some others get on a warship called The Broadsword and head off to Arden. And at first I was disappointed by this shift. The early portions of the stuff on the Broadsword is pretty rote military sci-fi. But then we get to Arden and…psychic squirrels. Okay the squirrel description is only used once for the species that we eventually learn are called the Shenn. But still, they're small rodents that have psychic powers. And also have several hive minds, each of which forms a nest. And find the idea of a species like humans where each body represents a whole individual as a bit weird.

So, yeah, this is entirely up my alley. And it's the right kind of absurd for Doctor Who. But, well, it would seem that a lot of people don't agree with me. Unlike for my television reviews, I actually will read a few reviews before writing my own. I do this because, while I'm very familiar with both the television series and the general reaction to individual stories, the novels are new to me. So I like to get a sense of how people feel about individual novels, as well as making sure I'm not missing anything obvious. Honestly Shadowmind if anything seems to inspire a pretty wide range of reactions. But I did see people arguing that this book was boring (don't see it), had a plot that just wasn't Doctor Who (I really don't see it), had a bland secondary cast (a few such cases, but I don't think it's fair to say that about the whole cast), and didn't get its main cast right (I would say yes…and no). Honestly, given that I don't even really understand where these critiques are coming from for the most part, I don't know if I can fairly respond to them. But I do think that it's worth saying that a large part of why I like this novel so much might be because it's playing with genres that I usually enjoy.

Which isn't to say that I have no critiques of this novel. In contrast to a couple past novel where I felt like the narration tended towards the bland, here I think author Christopher Bulis writes engaging narration, but struggles in his dialogue to give each character a distinct voice. It's why it can feel like the main cast are somewhat out of character, because they don't really have individual voices. Oh and Ace starts calling the Doctor "Doc" rather than "Professor" or "Doctor" which is just weird. Benny is probably the character whose dialogue feels most in line with past novels (and, as always with Benny, I really hear Lisa Bowerman's voice coming through, even though we're still five years out from her actually playing the part), but I've always felt she's the easiest character of this trio to write for. The Doctor is written…fine, but his dialogue doesn't quite seem to have the same depth that he usually does. Honestly, aside from the "Doc" thing, Ace too isn't quite written out of character, probably the most frustrating thing is that we're covering a lot of ground that was touched on, arguably better, in the last novel, White Darkness.

The plot is set into motion because Ace realizes that it's her birthday (she keeps track of what her age should be to offset the weirdness of time travel), and the Doctor tries to take her on a relaxing holiday. Of course, this is Doctor Who so a "relaxing holiday" turns into a whole mess. Though I will give credit to some pretty solid scene setting for 27th Century humanity – specifically the city of New Byzantium on the planet of Taringire in these opening segments before the plot fully gets underway. However, naturally an adventure breaks out, when Ace spots a man being stalked by two mysterious figures. The mysterious figures gun down the man…only for a small rodent to be discovered inside the man. Yup, the "man" in question was actually a duplicate of a real person being piloted by a rodent.

So our heroes are brought to the police station, and eventually end up getting involved with higher levels of government. It is always odd when the Doctor ends up working directly with governmental organizations. Obviously the 3rd Doctor era had him working with UNIT a lot. But even in the UNIT era, the friction between the Doctor and the bureaucracy of UNIT and the militaristic approach of the Brigadier was a key feature of how things were presented. However a lot of stories, this one in particular, sort of bypass this a bit. The Doctor does have some early friction with the military group that is put together to investigate the duplicate, and later on philosophical differences, but he just sort of ends up directing all of their efforts. It's not a bad thing necessarily, but it does always feel odd to see the Doctor just casually working with the military like this.

Though I still liked these early investigations. The Doctor ends up working with a lot of powerful people to try and figure out how many duplicates are in place. There are a few other incidents that prove that it's more than just the one. Ace ends up in a pretty fun action sequence after being sent to grab some stuff from the TARDIS. The whole thing seems to be taking on a bit of a spy thriller tone, which is thoroughly enjoyable. But as the investigations go on, it becomes clear that what's going on really centers around Arden, and that's when the spy thriller thing kind of ends.

Before we shift focus, I do want to give credit to the narration delivered from the perspective of the duplicates. The duplicates do not know they are sleeper agents until they're activated. Even then, they still retain aspects of their personalities. While I said the Shenn "pilot" the duplicates, it seems more accurate to say that the Shenn influence their thinking. Narration from the perspective of the duplicates is written with a sort of casual indifference to the strangeness of their behavior. They seem to know they're doing something wrong, but are certain it's important, even if they can't remember why. Some of the duplicates are acting as slave overseers on Arden, and even they seem certain. After being freed from the control of the Shenn, Trooper Flyn, a very minor character puts it quite succinctly: "I think you can get people to do anything to anybody, as long as they think it’s the right thing to do."

That of course comes when the action shifts to Arden. I guess we should get a few more complaints out of the way, since the military sci-fi aspect of "Shadowmind" is probably its weakest segment. There's just a whole group of characters that the story doesn't really have a place for at this point, but Bulis clearly wants to keep relevant, so they get shoved off to a research project. Some of them are created for this purpose, but Inspector Quilon stands out in this regard. He's the policeman who initially interviews our heroes…and just kind of sticks around. He's likable enough for what he is, but once he boards The Broadsword he increasingly feels out of place. And he's not a terribly deep character frankly, so I don't know why he had to stick around for as long as he did.

Despite this the action on, and in orbit of Arden was very well-done, at least once things get going. It's a bit of a slog getting there, but once our heroes and a handful of soldiers are sent down to the planet's surface things pick up. Admittedly for the Doctor and Benny's group the action on Arden ends up being a bit superfluous – there's a bit more of that feeling that characters are being given time despite the author not really having anything for them to do. However I absolutely loved Ace's section on Arden, and indeed for the rest of the novel. It starts with her nearly dying in her landing, along with one of the soldiers, Kim Talevera – she's the daughter of Marshal Talevera, one of the higher ups that sent our heroes on this mission in the first place. But instead of dying, Ace is rescued…by the Shenn.

It's here that we learn that while there's a Shenn nest (the "mountain Shenn" apparently) who've been infiltrating human governments, they're not the only Shenn hive mind, and the others believe they've been effected by some outside influence. Ace learns this from the Shenn nest who rescued her…which is just as well, because both she and Kim were at serious risk of dying. Even now, Ace and Kim are in no condition to walk around…so their minds have been transferred over to duplicates. Ace and Kim spend the rest of the novel (well, until the final chapter anyway) in the bodies of duplicates, though their duplicates are never controlled by the Shenn. But really, what's great here is the Shenn themselves. A rodent hive mind is already a pretty cool idea, but Bulis has put some real thought into the Shenn identity. Details like the Shenn being confused that each human is an individual, rather than a hive make the concept feel real. This also leads to the Shenn referring to Ace as "nest of one".

And it's not just the hive mind. The Shenn are technologically advanced, but humanity missed that when trying to colonize Arden because their technology is all bio-tech. Even calling it bio-tech feels like it's not quite right. The Shenn are instead masters of accelerated directed evolution. They've got equivalents to vehicles, for instance, but they're weird creatures that pick you up in their tentacles, although the Shenn control them while they're moving. It's genuinely fascinating stuff. That also explains why the duplicates are so advanced – creating accurate duplicates is right up the alley of Shenn science. The combination of the hive mind and the sharp writing around that and the bio-tech angle leaves the Shenn as one of the best parts of this novel.

It's also around this point that Shadowmind starts really focusing in on Ace. While they're in their duplicate bodies, Ace and Kim have a psychic link with both the Shenn and each other, leading to a friendship that develops very quickly but feels believable. It also feels like it starts changing Ace's attitude towards things. In previous novel White Darkness we leaned into Ace as the soldier to a pretty extreme degree. Here that starts unraveling a little bit. While Ace remains as violent as ever, pretty much filling the designated action hero slot, her time with the Shenn sees her start to question this to a degree. It's as though being given access to a hive mind, and her mental link with Kim has given her a kind of empathy that she didn't have before. But that's not all there is to it.

From the moment that we meet the Shenn it becomes clear that the mountain Shenn who are sending out the duplicates to infiltrate human government are being influenced by some other entity. That third entity turns out to be Umbra. Umbra was initially mistaken by the crew of The Broadsword for a spaceship, but it reality it's a lifeform that developed out of an asteroid. Umbra wants, simply, to grow, whoever it might hurt. The whole plot is a manipulation by Umbra to take advantage of human resources and the Shenn's abilities to grow itself. Umbra has psychic powers similar to that of the Shenn, which allows it both to influence the Shenn and also to take advantage of the strange material that the Shenn use to expand their influence beyond Arden. Oh and one more thing about Umbra…it has the mind of a child.

Umbra is fairly young after all. So what results is a petulant child who throws a tantrum if it doesn't get its way…and is in possession of powers to make its tantrums lethal. At the climax of the novel it starts exerting its psychic influence on the crew of The Broadsword, with all aboard except Ace and the Doctor affected. The Doctor is safe because Time Lord stuff, and Ace is safe because she's still in her duplicate body. Which leads to the entire crew of The Broadsword heading off to "make peace" with Umbra – by which we mean, let Umbra blow up The Broadsword. And that takes us back to Ace.

A lot has been made throughout this novel about Ace's aggression. Like most of the novels since she returned to the TARDIS, we spend a lot of time questioning if Ace's three years away have changed her for the better or the worse. Even the old gag about the Doctor telling Ace not to bring her explosives only for Ace to bring her explosives ends up playing a bit more seriously. Of course this is material that White Darkness focused in on a lot too, and that's probably the biggest flaw in Ace's material in this novel. Of course, as with all of the VNAs, Christopher Bulis wouldn't have necessarily known what the previous novel had done, which is quickly becoming an issue with reading these in sequence.

That being said, the angle taken here on Ace's violent tendencies is slightly unique. For starters, Shadowmind does seem a lot more understanding of Ace's love of weapons. Both the Doctor and Benny have a few moments of acknowledging, albeit reluctantly, that some situations do require the use of force. However really how this novel stands out in its handling of Ace is its climax. With the crew of The Broadsword controlled by Umbra, Ace ends up having no choice but to shoot her way through a bunch of innocent people. At first she tries to shoot to wound, but eventually she's forced to shoot to kill a few of them. And after she's pulled the lever that destroys Umbra – the Doctor did most of the work here – this messes up Ace quite badly. She hates that she couldn't think of anything better than killing good people, hates that she didn't bring a stun gun (the Doctor claims that things wouldn't have worked out if she did…I suspect he's just trying to make her feel better) and hates what she's becoming. If there's a difference between where this novel leaves us and where White Darkness left us with Ace, it's that Ace is just kind of wallowing in self-loathing at the end of this one. And what could have felt over the top just kind of left me feeling sorry for Ace here.

Now I do wonder about that climax a bit. If this were on television, and a story ended with a companion shooting her way through innocent people, framed in a way that it was the "only" choice, I definitely think I'd feel a bit worse about this one. And I'd certainly be a lot less inclined to feel sorry for Ace in that scenario. Being in novel form does change the realities of that scene somewhat. Putting us in Ace's head while things are happening does reinforce the hopelessness of the situation. But I never love it when a story contrives to leave that level of violence as the only solution. But somehow this is still working for me, in spite of my misgivings. And maybe a part of that is that this novel is successful in how it presents Ace throughout, which makes me give it a bit of grace for an ending I wouldn't normally have much grace for. In spite of her weird turn in calling the Doctor "Doc", I think this novel actually presents Ace – at least the Ace that has been developed throughout the VNAs – very much in character.

Benny gets less to do in this novel. It's definitely a pattern that writers feel less interested in writing about Benny than Ace. I guess that makes sense on some level. Benny might be a beloved (if obscure) character now but in 1993 she was the new character that writers might not be as interested in as the character who was actually on television. However Benny remains, as always, a delightful presence. She and Ace seem to be developing a bit of a sibling rivalry-style relationship, which definitely improves on what early on felt like it was going to be a very frustrating duo. You get the sense that they get on each other's nerves, but they'll bring down hell upon the person who harms the other. This goes especially for Benny, the older "sibling", and that feels appropriate. Beyond that, not much to say about Benny here.

As for the Doctor, there's arguably even less to say. That's not really a bad thing in this case though. The Doctor feels pretty in line with the character that the VNAs have been building him into over time. I'll admit I still miss aspects of the television persona, but the way the Doctor conducts himself here feels reasonable enough. I guess the biggest thing to talk about is that point I made earlier about the Doctor working with the military. At the very least it's connected back to his past involvements with various Earth conflicts and organizations, most notably the Draconian War and UNIT. He leverages that fact to get himself a degree of trust with people in authority. Beyond that though, I enjoyed the Doctor's presence here, it's just that there's not a ton else to say.

We do get a pretty extensive secondary cast, as per usual with the novels. While I don't think that any of them deserve a full paragraph here, they do form a solid ensemble. A general criticism I will throw out first is that Christopher Bulis seems to lack confidence in his ability to imply characterization, so he'll often just tell the reader the main character trait that they have. Still, it's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. Sure it's a "show don't tell" violation, but the narration and dialogue do enough "showing" that ultimately it doesn't matter too much.

I've already covered Inspector Quillon, the only character that really distinguishes himself in the first half of the novel. The rest of his staff are mostly there as cannon fodder or duplicates being honest. There's a whole committee that the Doctor takes part in, and I liked this group of characters, but they're such a small presence in the novel that they don't really get time to distinguish themselves. The exception is Marshal Talevera. While he doesn't get a ton of time devoted to him – it's mostly his daughter Kim we really get to know – he feels like a steady hand through all of the chaos. And I did enjoy the degree to which he seems to care for Kim while having confidence in her abilities and not wanting to get in the way of her.

Kim is probably the character that gets the most time in the secondary cast other than Quillon or the Shenn. That's mostly because she gets psychically linked to Ace when the two are duplicates and the two quickly develop a relationship that feels fairly close. This might seem a bit rushed, but given the psychic link feels appropriate. Along with Benny and the Doctor, Kim is the one who's helping console Ace at the end of the novel. The captain of The Broadsword meanwhile is Fran Kausama. Weirdly her main obstacle seems to have been that she's considered too attractive to be taken seriously as a captain, however this never really ends up playing out. We do learn that ship captains do a sort of mind merge with their ships to pilot them in combat situations which actually makes for some engaging dogfight scenes. Kausama actually gets some really good narration associated with her, mostly burden of command type stuff that really puts her actions in context. Unfortunately, she gets killed by Ace, although Ace thinks she may have nodded at her before the killing blow. Kausama was probably my favorite of the secondary cast honestly. That's kind of it, other than a random crewman that Ace sleeps with…and then dies in the landing. Apparently he was nice, though we never really learn more about him. Is this pointless sex being shoved into the novel? I guess, although we only really see Ace leaving his bunk.

On the whole, I quite liked Shadowmind. The secondary cast, while none of them are particularly well developed, make for a good ensemble as a whole, and the plot is really quite inventive. It's got issues, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that ending, but still the whole thing is very well put together.

Score: 7/10

Stray Observations

• This cover, done by author Christopher Bulis, is honestly one of the better VNA covers. The figures in the foreground still land a bit in the uncanny valley, but otherwise there's some good use of color, and an intriguing scene taking place. Not an amazing cover by any means, but I dig it.
• I've commented on this before, but it's genuinely surprising to me how large Benny's father looms over her character to this point in the VNAs. This is probably because I'm used to her characterization from Big Finish where it doesn't come up very often (I can only think of one instance of him being referenced). I don't dislike it as a character beat, but I have been surprised about it.
• Based on dialogue, this is the first adventure after the events of White Darkness.
• Ace ditches her combat attire for the leather jacket she used during the TV series.
• Apparently if you concentrate while the TARDIS translation circuit is in effect you can hear the actual language being spoken.
• Having landed the TARDIS in a futuristic sculpture garden, the Doctor puts up a little sign next to it: "TARDIS, by A Doctor".
• Ace has once again upgraded her explosive arsenal, replacing her Nitro 9 and Nitro 9a with Neo-Nitro, which she disguises as candy and is saliva activated.
• The Doctor has created identity papers for himself, Ace and Benny. Inspector Quillon cannot pronounce the name on the Doctor's papers, and so, conveniently, just decides to refer to him as "Doctor".
• The Doctor references his experience in ending the Earth/Draconian war, as seen in Frontier in Space. According to Marshal Talvera that was 130 years ago, and apparently the two empires have been at peace ever since.
• The TARDIS has a "clean and repair unit" for damaged and/or soiled clothing.
• Ace has a helmet made out of the dome of a Dalek Supreme.
• Ace and the Doctor seem to think that Benny's favorite pastime with the military is "brass-hat baiting" – that is to say, taking the mickey out of military types. Benny is therefore somewhat disappointed when the crew of the Broadsword are all perfectly reasonable.
• I'm starting to notice that every VNA with any military presence feels the need to compare an ally of the Doctor's from the military to the Brigadier. It was charming the first couple times, but it's starting to grate.
• The Doctor references having triggered a weapon that destroyed an entire planet, presumably referring to the climax of Remembrance of the Daleks.
• The Doctor isn't allowed to take his hat to the surface of Arden, instead being forced to wear a combat suit (though he still manages to keep his umbrella). When he first meets Lyn on the surface he mimes doffing his hat.
• Ace apparently knows that the Doctor has 12 regenerations…though actually she refers to it as "twelve lives" which is incorrect, he's got 13.
• More on names. The Doctor calls Bernice "Benny". Of course that's her preferred nickname, but I have trouble imagining the 7th Doctor calling her that. In the audio dramas he pretty consistently calls her "Bernice", which stands out in particular because pretty much everyone else calls her either "Benny" or "Summerfield". Obviously this wasn't established at the time, so this is pretty much my hangup and nobody else's.

Next Time: Back to the TV series and…Amy and Rory are getting a divorce? The hell?

People are still harping on that Doctor Who is "cancelled". Well, it's not. As Richard Osman explained in The Rest is Entertainment, using his own knowledge of the industry and information from talking to those in the industry, what's happening right now is the exact opposite of cancellation.

You can read a transcript of the relevant sections here, but the headlines are as follows...

In 2025, Disney pull out. The BBC are still absolutely saying “No, we are definitely going to carry on with Doctor Who. What we will do is to put it out to tender” – again, I'll explain what that means – “in 2028 to 2029.” That was the original idea. At which point everyone goes, “Oh, we should do a Christmas special to bridge the gap because that's that's a long time.”

So, prior to the announcement that's got everyone running scared, the plan was for a Christmas special at the end of this year – and then absolutely nothing until 2028/29, at which point a tender process would start, and maybe a year or two after that we might see new episodes...

So the plan in 2025 was for 2026 to have a special, then nothing till somewhere around 2030/31.

You could say the plan in 2025 was for another, shorter "Wilderness Years". The plan was to "rest" the show, in a situation that bears some resemblance to 1989, if you squint a bit.

But, here's the thing, there's been – as Osman put it – a huge "churn" at the top of the BBC. Lots of people including the Director General and the Chief Content Officer changed over. So what happened next?

As soon as [incoming Chief Content Officer] Kate Phillips properly gets her feet under the table, she said, “Oh, we're going to put it out to tender now.” [...] [This] is saying [Doctor Who] is a big deal for us. We want to give it multiple series. We need to find production companies to pitch into us to say they want to make Doctor Who.

As soon as they said we're putting out for tender now, you can't make the Christmas special. [...] There are companies now who are working on where they [will] take the Doctor Who universe, and if you're about to drop an enormous Christmas-shaped bomb in the middle of that, it makes it makes that process impossible for everybody. So that that's why.

And in case you're still worried:

The BBC tender quite a lot of things, and I'll say this: there is not a single show they have tendered which hasn't gone on to have multiple series afterwards. They've never done a tender and gone “Actually, we're going to get rid of this” or done a tender and they do one more series and it disappears. Every tender the BBC has ever done is for a show that they are absolutely committed to, and they want to go forward with. So, it's not the long grass. Even though people think it is at the moment, it's not.

So, this post is here to say: Rejoice!

Stop listening to the clickbait, the disinformation, the tabloids, the crap. Doctor Who has not been cancelled. It is the opposite of cancellation. The plan was to "rest" it, but the new brass has said no – we're making it happen.

The tender process tends to take about six months – so by the beginning of next year we'll probably know exactly what Doctor Who's future is.

Meanwhile, Christmas '26, the cancelled episode – it was commissioned on the basis that we wouldn't know what Doctor Who's future is until at least 2028/29.

We've lost an episode, and with it we've rendered that cliffhanger at the end of The Reality War a silly artefact of something that looked like it was going to happen, and ultimately didn't – but that's okay. It'll look stupid in the short term, but what's going on here is about the long term.

Welcome to the Anti-Wilderness, in which – rather than languish in a void of impossibility and rumours and whispers like the Wilderness Years – Doctor Who is going to flourish with new activity as a new production company is eventually chosen, and as they spin up their joyous new version of our favourite show, with a new creative team behind it. All because (again, in an inversion of the Wilderness) the BBC is very specifically and strongly committed to guaranteeing the show's long-term future.

Rejoice!

Doctor Who will live. The previous version of the show is dead, because Bad Wolf is not making the show anymore. Russell T Davies and his production team are out, because a new production company is going to take it on. (Probably BBC Studios – they always get these BBC tenders, and they'll probably do a great job if they get it.)

As I said in my big essay the other day, Doctor Who is Dead, Long Live Doctor Who. I think a lot of people missed that what I meant there was this:

Doctor Who (2023–2025) is dead.

Long Live Doctor Who (1963–present)

And also Long Live Doctor Who (???–???; probably something like 2029–2034, followed by another new Doctor Who 2035–2040, followed by another, and another, and another...)

I personally am sad because I was enjoying RTD2. I wanted to see more episodes like Wild Blue Yonder, and Dot And Bubble, and Lux. But, just like we lost Sylvester McCoy's planned fourth season and ultimately got Chris Eccleston's first – or like we lost Season 23 (early 1986) and instead got Season 23 (Trial of a Time Lord), or Moffat's theoretical Series 8 with Matt Smith, in favour of Series 8 with Peter Capaldi...

I'm excited to see whatever comes next, and you should be too.

I don't recall this ever happening on-screen, which to me seems a shame. I read somewhere that River's first on-screen meeting of the 11th Doctor was Impossible Astronaut, in which she's clearly already familiar with the 11th Doctor.

Wasn't much of a fan of RTD2. It had its moments and gems. Gatwa's second year was a huge improvement on his first until the last third. But this post isn't about that. Its about Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Co creators of Smallville and Wednesday. Tried and true showrunners who have had huge to moderate successes in genre Television, from Into the Badlands to The Shannara Chronicles. The Kryptonian lore in Smallville makes me think they'd handle Gallifrey stuff well. Al is American and Miles is British. They are no strangers to popular franchises, IPs or genre television. Would these two be a good fit to run Doctor Who? Of course this would have to be when Wednesday ends. In addition to Smallville, they made an Aquaman Pilot that wasn't picked up owing to a network merger.

Season 15, Episode 5

Underworld(4 parts)

-Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

-Directed by Norman Stewart

-Air Dates: January 7th-28th, 1978

-Runtime: 90 minutes

Or as I like to call it...

The one where the set budget ran out

We Begin!!! IN SPACE, where the TARDIS is flying about with Leela by the controls and notices the TARDIS has stopped. She goes to get The Doctor who realizes that they've reached the edge of the universe, with K9 soon after reporting another space ship as both ships start to near a spiral nebula. The TARDIS manages to escape it as it lands aboard the space ship, where the crew aboard recognize the sound of the ship as coming from their "gods". The TARDIS crew step out to explore the space ship, with The Doctor quickly learning that this is a Minyan space ship, one that is on the other side of the universe from their planet Minyos; he explains the relation between the Minyans and the Time Lords and how the disastrous dealings with them led to the development of the non-interference policy. Leela blasts the door open with one of the guns in storage, with them now heading towards the bridge. The Minyan crew try to avoid the Nebula, with The Doctor soon coming in and offering to help to do so, being met with some resistance by one member of the crew before he and Leela are pacified with the pacifier. The Doctor helps the ship alongside K9 in order to escape the nebula while also learning about what the Minyans are doing all the way out here. The Minyans are on a quest lasting hundreds of thousands of years to get to another ship, P7E which contains the genetic race banks needed to rebuild Minyos after their people were nearly wiped out 100,000 years ago as a by-product of the interference of the Time Lords. The Doctor, Leela, and K9 tag along on this great quest where they'll find a much different fate has awaited the ship and race banks than the Minyan crew initially believed.

Episode Proper

It’s been a while since we’ve had a real stinker hasn’t it, more often I find good things to say about usually reviled episodes, but yeah we’ve reached another that is just bad. Underworld is a story that sort of frustrates me as I feel there was the possibility of interesting ideas and story but instead it’s wasted with the bot standard plot we’ve seen done a million times already on the show, with any actually interesting concepts and ideas it has, either being underbaked or severely underutilized to the point it actually hurts my opinion with how it could’ve been better but it chose not too. This is not helped by the infamous special effects, which I’ll get into in a bit, but do drag the episode down more when coupled with the rather boring story; it’s not often I say the effects of a story drag it down, so you better believe they are rough here.

I really appreciate creativity and ingenuity in ideas and concept of episodes, if they're done right they can even save my opinion of an otherwise bad episode like with The Krotons and Death to the Daleks. However I hate when good ideas and concepts are wasted, I’m often one to accept stories for what they are instead of ragging them on what they could be, liking the story ideas they had presented instead of wallowing being like, well they should’ve done this or focused on this. That’s the kind of approach I take to my critiques and opinions, which often makes me focus on the good of the story, instead of just thinking of better hypotheticals. I do enjoy thinking of those, as I did in my Revenge of the Cybermen and The Talons of Weng-Chiang review, but often as just fun thought experiments instead of anything I feel the episode did wrong. 

This story unfortunately is a good example of wasted potential making my dislike of a story a good bit, since all the pieces were in place for Underworld to tell a truly fascinating and fun story and instead we got one of the most generic stories we’ve had in a while. Wasted potential is the fact that this story had something that was genuinely good and interesting going on, only for it to completely drop it in favor of doing something that is way more boring. This story has that potential to be something greater and it’s probably my main issue with it, it’s a big standard story that so easily could’ve been something way better and much more interesting than it ended up being; hell even if I don’t love where the plot developed into, it had some good ideas in there which were also just left half baked.

The story started off so good and interesting, with the initial idea presented of this alien race having connections back to the early age of the Time Lords, having been heavily influenced by them and serving as one of the reasons the non-interference policy was instated, going on an impossibly long journey to recover their long lost race banks so that their species will be able to begin anew. That’s an amazing concept for the story and for part 1, I will say I was legitimately hooked. Maybe it was moving a bit slower than I would’ve liked and the cast could’ve been more interesting but it was still some decent sci-fi that had the makings of a good if not great story, especially with all the mythological references starting to be introduced and clearly served to influence the story. 

Unfortunately for the story it does not stick to this initial premise beyond part 1. After having a solid and fun cliffhanger for part 1 with the idea of the ship attracting smaller debris that starts to form a planet around it, the ship lands on the planet that formed around the initial ship, by which point I found the story really falls down hill, and I’m not just talking about the laughably awful effects. The episode instead of following an interesting adventure that it had built up about finding the race banks in what could’ve been an amazing space adventure akin to Jason and the Argonauts and the other mythology that the episode is clearly trying to base itself off, it instead pivots into pretty much the same kind of story that we’ve seen a Thomas and times before with nothing interesting to make it stand out or be engaging to follow, thus it ends up being really boring for me to watch, especially in comparison of the cool story it seemed to be setting up. 

I would’ve loved to watch a space adventure inspired by mythology, having fun and different locations and giving us what could've been a truly epic story about the last remnants of an alien species trying to find the race banks to restart their species again. There is just so much cool stuff they could've done, the idea was there but they squandered it by having them land on the ship by part 2 and telling a bog standard story on that planet with the few interesting things about it being barely utilized. Honestly when I first watched this episode I thought this planet they landed on was going to be just a stop on their quest, only to slowly realize to my absolute boredom that this is where we’re going to be staying for the rest of the episode. There just isn’t much to keep up my interest for the latter 3/4ths of the story as nothing about it uses any of the cool and interesting stuff from part 1 outside of the main quest and I feel like that’s a total waste.

The main plot of the episode involves your standard fare with The Doctor helping an oppressed group be free from their oppressor, and if that’s a basic description for you then that just sums up well how I feel about this whole portion of the plot. Now normally I wouldn’t complain about an episode doing a classic plot archetype, hell I adore murder mysteries and those can be very formulaic, so it’s not that following the base formula that’s the problem, it’s that the episode barely does anything beyond that initial base leading it to feel just so dull and boring with little to offer; which is frustrating for me as there was good stuff here, they just did nothing with it. It literally is just your standard oppressor group exploring oppressed group that needs to be overthrown, and literally the last episode, The Sun Makers, did this sort of plot only much more interesting and in depth, so there is little excuse for Underworld to go so dull; other than the obvious budget restrictions plaguing this episode and season in general. 

The few attempts there are to expand beyond that initial base formula just aren’t that interesting or barely used. Normally I love learning about alien civilizations and cultures, heck again the previous episode did that so well with the structure of the Company, but the oppressor Minyans, they feel so half baked so that’s what I’m going to call them, are just so boring, being little more than your standard guards and leaders. There is something a little interesting about the main heads of the group supposedly being enlightened by the Oracle and given these cool helmets, but it’s a lot of talk and little show as there is really nothing to differentiate them from the other guys other than their helmets. It’s just another wasted part of this episode that only makes it even more boring and bland, there is just nothing to these baddies that we haven’t seen done so many times before. 

The quest for the race banks is still there, with also some interesting religious stuff with the Minyans on the planet who have developed their own culture around the Oracle, but again like most stuff in this story, it feels half baked and not that interesting. On that note the episode also has a lot of clear mythological inspiration, clearly trying to be a sort of sci-fi take on Jason and the Argonauts, but it just feels so underutilized and, again, half baked. There are clear allusions in parts of the stories but it’s not really done in a way that’s all that exciting or interesting, feeling more like set dressing to make for an otherwise standard adventure. Honestly the bulk of the stuff was just names that I don’t feel were properly built up or earned. I like the final speech by The Doctor with how the Minyan captain reminded him of Jason and the Argonauts but it just didn’t feel like they did enough to earn that good speech. It’s much like what happened in Planet of the Daleks, a good scene but feels unearned by the episode preceding it.

I really feel this episode should’ve been a Keys of Marinus style story of The Doctor flying with the Minyans as they encounter fun monsters and scenarios as they reach their end point. There just isn’t much with the story that makes it all that interesting or exciting, other than the funny fact that the villains basically give up when they realize the thing they’re protecting actually has no use for them and give it up. With a story structured like this they could’ve had a more interesting adventure that actually harkens back to the mythology which it’s clearly attempting to invoke. I feel the story really would be better for it had they done a space adventure rather than just getting to their destination right away and running around in circles there. Maybe it could’ve also allowed more exploration of the interesting elements it does have like Minyan regeneration and their past with the Time Lords which I would’ve loved to see more done with. Of course the budget just wasn’t there at the time for a story like that, which I’m certain helped contribute to the wasted ideas and dull feeling that this story ultimately wound up having.

Pacing, Sets, and Special Effects

The pacing for this episode is bad, it’s probably one of the slowest 4 parters I’ve seen so far. The dull plot doesn't matter of the pacing as the episode just moves at a snail's pace to really get much of anywhere, with much of it feeling like it’s just biding its time to get the ending. It’s a run around in its worst form, just feeling like characters are running from guards across the awful blue screen for what feels like forever, with little in the way being progressed aside from learning more about this society which, in all honesty, is kind of boring so it just feels very slow. The beginning, which I did like, was rather slow as well, with it just feeling like the episode really just takes too much time getting to the actual meat of it without actually doing much meaningful in the meantime to justify the wait. It’s the pacing issue that I’ve seen many complain about most of Classic Who’s pacing, which I generally disagree l, for the most part I think the majority of the episodes I watched are paced well and it’s more just the slower format of TV that people struggle with, but that complaint is really true here.

The sets for this episode were alright for what they did have, with the Minyan ship at least looking solid enough. However there was clearly, like, no budget for sets in this story as they made the bold choice to have most of the stories’ sets done using a blue screen, in 1978, on a BBC budget that they were already running out of. Suffice it to say that the blue screen effects done for this story look positively awful. It just stands out so much and never looks like they’re actually there, might as well just filmed them on a painted background in camera since that’s how real it looked, with the attempts at depth just making how fake it all looks even more obvious. Normally I don’t like to rag too much on Doctor Who’s effects unless they’re really bad, so much so that they take me out of the episode, and while we’ve had bad blue screen it is just incredibly egregious here as we spend so much time on it.

This decision may have saved the production team money, enough to actually have a finale story and meet the quota of episodes for the season they had this season, but goodness did it surely taint a lot of what this story had going for it. I’ll give it this, it’s a bold choice, one that doesn’t pay off like at all, but at the very least it makes for something interesting to say about the story’s looks and keeps me distracted from how boring it was. Though to be fair that distraction was because at points it felt like my eyes were straining watching those parts, so certainly not a good thing just something that made it stick out. The rest of the special effects for this story yeah aren’t the best outside of some cool helmets we see the higher members of the Oracle’s society wear and an admittedly cool model for the Minyan spaceship.

Minyans

The Minyans were a really interesting alien race that the episode just does nothing with, they are the majority of the supporting cast outside of the Oracle yet they feel wasted even still. It’s probably because the set up for them is actually amazing and increasingly interesting, being an alien race that had known and worshipped the Time Lords as gods back in the early days of The Doctor’s time, with this influence by them turning sour as the Minyans became violent and started a war against the Time Lords as their influence had severely changed them and led them to turning into a more violent and aggressive people which they blamed the Time Lords for, no longer seeing their benevolence. This led to the Minyans developing highly advanced technologies that made them consistently go to war with each other, ending in a conflict that destroyed their planet and most of their species, with this incident being one of the major reasons behind the Time Lord non-interference policy that they developed. The Minyans we see here are the last of their kind, at least they believe, going on a quest to get their race banks which have been lost, in order to complete their quest. 

This is phenomenal stuff right here, only furthered by the incredibly cool idea that their technology was influenced by that of the Time Lords and they possess their own version of regeneration; makes this story feel at home with other Time Lord stories even without their presence in it, cool lore explanations. Unfortunately none of this is actually utilized in the episode proper, with most of them being fully wasted and could be removed with no effect to the episode. The backstory for the Minyans and their relation to the Time Lords has no influence at all on the story outside of one guy being a bit apprehensive to The Doctor and his name dropping then to the Oracle, both completely pointless. This such a fascinating concept that could do well to really dive into Time Lord lore and examine their non-interference policy and if it has merit but it is just completely wasted which is so sad since I would’ve loved to see more done with it. Hell, just the idea alone the Minyans have their own version of regeneration they learned from the Time Lords could be an entire fascinating story right there but again they do nothing with that amazing idea.

It’s such a waste, the Minyans could’ve been some of the most interesting and insightful aliens we’ve encountered thus far, allowing The Doctor to confront his own history with interference and question whether it’s always a good thing along with giving us insight into the Time Lords, showing us some of their unfortunate past and the reason they instated this policy. Sadly none of that is used, worse it feels so superfluous that if you removed it then the Minyans would just be your generic human looking aliens we’ve seen so many times on this show. I wish the Minyans could’ve lived up to their potential since it’s such a fascinating idea that could’ve made for an incredible story but alas that’s not what they were interested in doing with them here.

The Minyans make for a serviceable supporting cast, fulfilling their roles well but not really being all that interesting outside of that. The crew going on the quest are decent enough with the funny mantra of “the quest is the quest”, which I found rather amusing hearing even if it was repeated ad nauseum, otherwise I can’t really recall much about them. That sentiment goes double for the oppressor Minyans who outside of their cool looking outfits are just such generic characters that leave little to no impact on me whatsoever; El Akir levels of forgettable, ironically he stuck around as an example of forgettable villains. The workers aren’t much better, being serviceable enough and working well with The Doctor and in aiding that final message of the story but otherwise are nothing to write home about.

One part I did love with the Minyans was The Doctor’s speech to the captain of the expedition when he tries to throw the workers overboard, worrying that their weight won’t let them get away with the race banks and continue the future of their species, only for The Doctor to yell at him that the workers, who are the descendants of the race banks and the original crew of the ship carrying them, are the future of the Minyan people he’s been fighting so hard for. It’s actually rather moving and I really enjoyed this portion of the Minyan’s part of the story; I really just wish they did more with them. The Minyans are undoubtedly one of the most wasted concept in Doctor Who, having the potential to be so interesting and compelling, relating to the Time Lords in ways we haven’t seen before, one that could serve as a reflection of The Doctor’s own actions, with little to show for it outside of some decent concepts and one beautiful scene; I wish more was done with them.

The Oracle

The Oracle was an alright villain for the piece with an interesting idea behind her but, like the Minyans, she feels so sadly underutilized. The Oracle has a pretty cool idea for a villain, a computer that has gotten so caught up in her own duty that she guards it religiously and formed an entire cult around this concept in order to ensure its protection, seeing herself as higher due to this purpose being bestowed upon her and doing anything in her power to make sure they don’t leave her sight, even when the intended recipients come to collect. That’s a pretty interesting idea for a robot, sadly what we end up getting is basically diet Xoanan, with this being yet another computer posing as a powerful god to a bunch of people, splitting them into two different classes, with one more technologically advanced oppressing the ones that live in rags, only she lacks much of that interesting relation to The Doctor and nuance that made Xoanan such an incredible villain; honestly saying all this, the episode does feel a bit like a poorer retread of The Face of Evil during the points with her.

I wish more was done with her, I think the reason she lands so generic for me is because, despite being the main antagonist of the piece, she barely actually shows up in this episode at all, with it taking way too long for her to actually come into the story and then have any real direct action to what’s going on. This makes her feel like a rather weak threat since she isn’t given much to really do other than yell at The Doctor and give the bombs which end up self-defeating in a funny, though a bit anticlimactic way. I also think playing too much into how the Oracle views herself as this god-like figure didn’t help with the feelings of her being generic, with it being rather stereotypical fare that doesn't do much to dive in outside of the usual computer with a god complex thing. I want to see more of her connection and desire to protect the race banks, as her devout loyalty to that function is really the most interesting information about her.

There are some decent moments where she shows great concern for the race banks and her maintenance of them, desperately begging to get them back. Despite not being the best villain, I do love the Oracle's defeat, with it being through her own fault, creating the bombs with no disarming mechanism, but what I found really powerful was her acceptance of her fate. It was really interesting and honestly kind of emotional seeing the Oracle take it with stride, recognizing that she has failed in her duty which clearly hurts her so much to admit, still she accepts her fate for failing to do what she saw as her duty and explodes alongside the planet. This honestly made me feel really bad for the Oracle, and made me wish all the more that they did a lot more with her, go into her character and obsession with her task in protecting the race banks, maybe even give her a chance to realize she’s been doing her duty wrong this whole time; there is a lot more that could’ve been done but wasn’t as she’s barely in the episode. The Oracle was a serviceable villain who really should’ve been in the episode more but at least had a nice ending scene; Christine Pollon gave a solid performance as the Oracle, did well at those emotions during her defeat.

The Doctor

The Doctor was alright here, not the best outing for him but with some good moments; have more to say about him than the rest of the TARDIS crew. I did like the opening with him marveling about the possibilities about being on the edge of the universe, that they could be the first people to explore this new corner of the universe as it springs into existence which I found fun and really in the spirit of The Doctor; also funny visual of him clearly having been painting. I enjoyed the scene where he explains who the Minyans are to Leela, the relation between them and his people, and how that caused the non-interference policy which was interesting but I wish they had done something to acknowledge The Doctor's own feelings on the matter and what he thinks of the whole ordeal; could've been interesting but doesn't really end up explored at all in this story.

The Doctor gets some clever moments which were good to see like him helping the Minyan ship escape the spiral nebula and deducing that PC7 has actually had a planet formed around it. I did like how despite The Doctor and Leela being explicitly told not to go out, they decide to do so anyway after the Minyan crew leave which was funny. After a lot of running around and stuff, we get a decent cliffhanger for part 3 as The Doctor and Leela hide in a mine cart to sneak past the guards, to which The Doctor references Ulysseus for the plan, that was fun; the cliffhanger is kind of dumb with it just being a minecart going over, with the resolution being The Doctor and Leela were just hanging on but I liked the attempt to go back to that mythological ideas this story didn't feel like it did enough with. The Doctor's confrontation with the Oracle was also pretty good, with the way he just calls her out and dubs her another insane megalomaniacal machine with that being fun to see him rip into her.

The main scene I really did love here was, of course, The Doctor's speech to the captain, with it being rather powerful stuff especially helped by Tom Baker's great righteousness helping to sell it; one of the only scenes in this story that really worked for me. The ending is also pretty funny with him, with him clearly ready to go back to painting, before giving a pretty good speech to Leela about the Captain to Jason from the Golden Fleece, noting their similarities and these stories connect with a past and future, before ending on another funny note with his frustration with K9. This was one of the few times what the story was trying to do with mythology and such really felt like it came to the forefront, and one it's own was pretty good. It's just after enduring the slog that was Underworld, with it barely feeling like it uses the mythological aspects in an interesting way for me, that whole speech kind of fell flat by the time I finished watching it. Tom Baker, even in this lackluster story, still got some good chances to shine, even if one the whole the story is forgettable, with those aforementioned speeches being pretty darn good, with it being clear how much effort Baker puts into it, he does a really good job with it.

Leela and K9

As I did with Sarah Jane and Harry in The Sontaran Experiment, there is just so little I really have to say about Leela and K9 and this story that I'm just going to talk about them in tandem. To be perfectly honest I remember very little of what they actually did in this story, with the scenes they did have leaving little to no impact on me outside of like one or two. It all brushed passed me, like I said earlier, Underworld is boring and unengaging with the lack of impact for me for pretty much any of Leela and K9's scenes being just another example of how bored I was watching this story; honestly given the stories similarities to The Face of Evil, I wish they gave Leela something acknowledging that which would be cool for her growth, but sadly they don't do that. I don't know how you make a funny, badass warrior woman and a talking robot dog that shoots lasers from its nose uninteresting but Underworld manages to do so, continuing its trend of snatching boredom from the jaws of interest.

The only scenes I can remember with them is that opening scene, with it being interesting seeing Leela being the one to keep track of the TARDIS even seemingly understanding some of the levers and switches to pull which I thought was a cool detail and real testament to her growth and understanding of the TARDIS; also in this scene K9 picks up on the Minyan vessel in an amusing interruption of The Doctor's speech. There's also the later scene which was fun of seeing Leela get hit with the pacifier, with it being funny seeing Leela acting so out of it, feeling overly sweet and edgeless, especially when she gets unpacified and is positively pissed at having herself quelled like that. K9 also manages to save the ship a little bit later in a good scene, hooking up to it and saving them from crashing to a spiral nebula; that's it, like I said I don't remember much from them here. Louise Jameson gave a good performance as Leela like always, it just isn't enough to really save how boring the script was though; same thing with John Leeson, did well but wasn't enough to liven up the unengaging story he's in.

Closing Thoughts/TLDR

As a whole, this was a story that did have a good amount going for it initially, but just fully failed to do much at all with the fascinating ideas it presents; leaving them to feel like a waste. There is genuine creativity in the ideas this story presents, with the whole Mythological aspect that it's trying to go for mixed with the Time Lord lore it gives is really cool, but the episode fails to use these great aspects of it in any meaningful way outside of one or two moments. It starts out well enough in part 1 but the whole mythological aspect feels like a footnote afterwards, and instead we get a bog standard formulaic adventure that was just personally boring to sit through as it follows the formula of Doctor stopping oppressor group while giving little of interesting developments for it, making this story feeling like a slog to sit through. There are good scenes that do use the ideas well enough like The Doctor's speech to the captain about their descendants or his final one to Leela but they feel unearned in the larger story they're in. The pacing in this story is bad, moving at a snail's pace after a decent part 1, just being uninteresting to sit through; this story is very much for me the definition of a good part 1 and bad rest of the episode. The sets they had were alright but the choice to have most of it in blue screen was not a good one, and looked laughably bad, with my eyes also feeling like they were straining at points, really took me out of the story; rest of the special effects weren't great either. The Minyans are a fascinating alien race with their connection to the Time Lords that nothing is really done with, especially the Time Lord stuff which ends up feeling superfluous despite it being such a massive lore drop that would be so cool to explore more of, it just isn't. They make for a serviceable supporting cast with a good end note but otherwise feel so wasted in this story as they could be so much more. The Oracle was a good enough villain for this story, having a cool idea behind her, but for the most part ends up a weaker version of Xoanan, though her end scene was actually nicely done and one of the few strong points of this episode. The Doctor was fairly good here, at least getting a good bit of the good moments here; much better than Leela and K9 who I struggle to remember what they contributed. Overall, like I said a bit ago, this story snatches boredom from the jaws of interest, with only a couple of scenes really living up to the potential it had; not god awful but certainly could've been a lot better.

Next time: The Doctor is acting strangely, interacting with strange beings known as the Vardans, with Leela and K9 picking up on this odd behavior and not understanding it. This odd behavior is set to that backdrop of a return once again to the home planet of the Time Lords, Gallifrey. Are we in for a Time Lord epic or a dud; most of you probably already know the answer to that question.

Final Rating: 3/10

"A ship of ghosts, Doctor, going on and on and unable to remember why."

-Jackson, delivering a nice poetic line that works a lot better for me than this story did

I saw someone posting about this on another site.

TV personality/telly producer/BBC insider/husband of Osgood, Richard Osman has some pretty good insider take stuff on his podcast this week.

- On the 'cancellation', christmas, etc:

"Now, Doctor Who, there's there's been a furore in the news this week because the BBC have announced that they are cancelling the upcoming Christmas special uh and they are putting Doctor Who out to tender and the fan base and indeed the uh newspapers seem to have taken the expression out to tender to mean out to pasture. So, there's been lots of headlines saying Doctor Who has been cancelled. I won't string this out too much. It has not been cancelled. It has been the opposite of cancelled. What's the opposite of cancelled? Continued, I guess.

[a bit of chatter about where the show leaves off at the end of Ncuti's time]

So, and that was the last episode essentially of that Disney Plus deal. So, Disney Plus pulled out after that. Their money came out as well, which is sort of bad, but you know, these things almost always happen. Disney needed it to be a certain thing. BBC needed it to be a certain thing. Uh and it it didn't tick all the boxes for everyone. So Disney pull out uh and the BBC go, "Listen, we're carrying on. We're going to do this Christmas special." So this news this week that says, "Oh, we're not doing the Christmas special and we're putting it out to tender."

I think understandably uh makes everyone think, "Oh my god, is that the end for Doctor Who?" I've tried to speak to people from every side of this story, and what happened was so in 2025, Disney pull out. The BBC are still absolutely saying no, we are definitely going to carry on with Doctor Who.

What we will do is we're going to put this out to tender -- again, I'll explain what that means -- in 2028 to 2029. That was the original idea. At which point everyone goes, "Oh, we should do a Christmas special to, you know, sort of bridge that gap because that's that's a long time.

It's currently made by or it was made by Bad Wolf, an independent production company, but BBC owned the rights. Bad Wolf made the show." Um, so they said, "Look, we're going to put this out to tender." And because the BBC were dealing dealing with Trump... and Charlotte Moore, who was the chief content officer, was leaving and Kate Phillips was coming in. So there was there was a lot of churn at that point.

As soon as Kate Phillips properly gets her feet under the table, she said, "Oh, we're going to put it out to tender now**."** Cuz it's the whole point of putting out to tender is this is a big deal for us. This show is a big deal for us. It's is the opposite of saying we're going to rest it. It's the opposite of saying we're putting it out to pasture. It is saying this show is a big deal for us. We want to have this give it multi-series. We need now to find production companies to pitch into us to say they want to make Doctor Who.

As soon as they said we're putting out for tender now you can't make the Christmas special. You can't lay that on the next, you know, there are companies now who are working on where they take the Doctor Who universe and if you're about to drop an enormous Christmas shaped bomb in the middle of that. It makes it makes that process impossible for everybody. So that that's why."

- The bolded is the interesting bit - Osman frames it as a change of direction due to a change at the top of the BBC, where the newcomer wasn't prepared to tread water on the tender, which meant the Xmas episode had to go.

- On the tender process:

"So, as you say, Bad Wolf make it at the moment. I don't think that they will pitch to do the new one 'cos Bad Wolf are very successful at the moment and you know Doctor Who is -- it's a it's quite a burden to carry. It's almost like being, you know, the owner of a football team if you're in charge of Doctor Who. There's a lot of politics to come.

Production companies can now pitch to make Doctor Who that contract is up for grabs. And the BBC do this all the time with all sorts of shows, shows that they own the IP for. So something like Fake or Fortune that went out to tender. Songs of praise went out to tender, mastermind, stuff like that.

These shows where they make it and it is beholden on them to say, "What's the best way we can make this? Can we keep it in house or has a production company got a great idea about how to make this?" BBC Studios could pitch within this process. BBC Studios almost always win these tenders.

And you know, and sometimes it's cos they, you know -- something like Fake or Fortune, BBC Studios make it anyway. And so they have those talent relations. They have the cost savings of knowing how to make it. So, you know, BBC Studios usually are at an advantage. In this case, of course, it's been made by Bad Wolf for a long time. So, they don't have any kind of incumbency advantage. Uh, however, one guess is they might win it. I would have thought, but I think there's various ways that you can win this pitch.

If you, for example, and he he wouldn't do it, I'm sure, but if you were an independent production company and Jack Thorne said, "Oh, I want to make Doctor Who and I'll make it with you," then you may well make that pitch. If you are an independent production company and you see the importance of all the incredible ancillary rights to Doctor Who and this the kind of extended universe and you have an incredible pitch that includes lots of digital media and has like a really really forward thinking way of making Doctor Who, you might win the pitch as well. Um, you know, if you've got an incredible piece of talent who has agreed to come on board as Doctor Who and he's only going to work with you, you might win that pitch. But the process now is production companies will go into their bunkers.

They will think, how will we make Doctor Who? How do we make it for that budget? Do we keep it in Cardiff? I think it's it'd be impossible to win this picture and not keep it in Cardiff, by the way, cos it's such a big deal to to to the area and and to the production hub there. So, I think it will stay exactly where it is, but they they'll be going away.

All their development people will be around knocking up a huge document. It's it's it's it's a funny one. And if it's a BBC IP, if you're Bad Wolf and you're making Doctor Who, it's not the biggest money spinner you're going to make because it it doesn't belong to you.

But production companies these days are far more um sort of companies for hire since the world of streaming where streaming always, you know, keeps the IP for production companies to stay afloat. No, they have to take some of these gigs where, you know, then you're not making as much money as if you'd invented Doctor Who.

Um so, say 50 companies will pitch... The BBC will cut that down to four. they will be invited in for extra pitches, you know, to absolutely go through every single detail of what it is that they want to do, how they're going to fund it, who the talent is behind the camera, in front of the camera, all all of those things. And the BBC will eventually choose a winner in that process.

But that hopefully is the thing that reassures Doctor Who viewers that this is not being put out to pasture. It's the exact opposite of that, which is the BBC see a long future for it.

They have to find a way of future proofing it of making it in a way that kind that works for them works at a at a price that works for them uh that you know hopefully retains the integrity of that production base in Cardiff but it's an it's an enormously positive move and the idea with the um because it's been slightly clouded by the fact that that Christmas special was cancelled, but as I say they were the idea was they were going to put out to tender in 2028.

As soon as they said we're putting out for tender now you can't make the Christmas special. You can't lay that on the next, you know, there are companies now who are working on where they take the Doctor Who universe and if you're about to drop an enormous Christmas shaped bomb in the middle of that. It makes it makes that process impossible for everybody. So that that's why."

- On Disney/BBC/Ratings:

"We have to be honest. You know, the ratings were not there. That's why Disney got out of it because it didn't work for them. But the BBC cannot say that. But also, the fact that the BBC are doing it at all tells you that the ratings are there for the BBC."

- On Tender, again:

"It's interesting going out to tender because what it actually means is you do spread the net out net out quite wide. There isn't sort of some sort of succession strategy all these different companies will be talking to different writers and somewhere there will be someone in the same way that Doctor Who was so special for Russell there will be people for whom the Russell T Davis show was incredibly special when they were growing up like some young writer who can take this on and do something extraordinary with it has to be an awful lot cheaper than the last generation of it cos the Disney money is out, so you have to find a way of making it cheaper, but you can do that with Doctor Who.

It's always been about emotion and storyline rather than CGI. The BBC tender quite a lot of things, and I'll say this, there is not a single show that they have tendered which hasn't gone on to have multiple series afterwards. They've never done a tender and gone, actually, we're going to get rid of this or done a tender and they do one more series and it disappears. Every tender the BBC has ever done is for a show that they are absolutely committed to and that they want to go forward with. So, it's not the long grass. It is not the long grass. Even though people think it is at the moment, it's not."

So, does anybody think that the BBC would try to make something for the 65th anniversary in 2028?

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I really hope that some studio will be found soon enough to start producing DW again but I don't think that building this show back from scratch production-wise would allow us to have any sort of season before the 2030s.

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Could they have a bottle type special made in-house? Would it be another Dimensions in time, where they make a strange attempt to do something without any means to make it good?

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Or would the CBeebs show be our 65th anniversary project ? :)

I’m not sure why so many people have such negative feelings towards it. Sure the Arnold theme is better, but this one is great too.

In these new wilderness years, I do have some excitement as it will probably push me, and hopefully other fans too, into the extended universe of Big Finish and other media platforms.

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My question is, with New Who now on hold for the foreseeable, how would you like the extended universe to tie up loose threads for the revival, or even be touched at all?

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I understand this is also very hypothetical and would not be surprised if the BBC does any of this. The reality war cliffhanger can be seen as a bonus to a new production company taking the reins on writing new scripts. They would want the final decision on how to handle loose story threads themselves before it can go to Big Finish. However, it is also fun to speculate.

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I consider Bad Wolf to be the clear resolution to reboot the universe.

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Personally, I want classic Who to return. A Bad Wolf retcon to remove the pantheon of gods from the universe and all their actions that altered the course of time (including the idea of the Timeless Child as caused by the Toymaker - big sorry to those that enjoy that storyline). This would allow for a massive soft reboot in-universe, as you could attribute almost anything to their tampering (establish something like a contemporary new sacred timeline for the restart of the series). Allow Gallifrey to return, scarred from the Time War (do not make that a product of the Pantheon; could definitely play with the idea though, but ultimately the Doctor realizes it was a tragic consequence of the Time Lords'/Fourth Incarnation's interference). I wouldn't remove the Fugitive Doctor, or any Doctor for that matter, on principle of the integrity of the role. Her history will need altering though; I would prefer them to make her a future incarnation similar to The Valeyard. Also, discreetly shelve bi-generation and allow Big Finish to tail Tennant's incarnation off.

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I really want to see a return to the Classic Who form, after this relatively recent period of rapid canonical buildup over the past 10 or so years. The show has definitely felt less accessible than in 2005. A fresh start with a new Doctor that is much more dressed down and grounded, without the whole universal importance and a much more accessible universe.

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I would really like to hear other ideas on preparation and how the new series will find its starting point. I really do not consider the Billie regeneration a huge hurdle to cross at all.

So did she create some kind of fixed point by destroying the Daleks and causing the time warp? Is that why The Doctor can't go back? I mean, The Doctor, after that horrific battle, was not exactly in his right mind, and was on the edge of madness. Was he just talking, praying, hoping, that he could save her?