1) The Girl in the Fireplace - Completely different, utterly
spellbinding
2) The Impossible Planet - Some of the scariest Doctor Who
scenes ever
To be reviewed...
3) Army of Ghosts - A perfect example of how RTD builds up
to an impressive finale
4) Love & Monsters - Subversive and brilliant, I love it
5) School Reunion - Sarah's back and she's better than ever
6) Tooth and Claw - A tight script, a wonderful Doctor and a
really horrific monster
7) Doomsday - A devastating end to the Doctor and Rose's
relationship
8) The Satan Pit - Lots of (very good) exposition and plenty
of running around
To be reviewed...
9) The Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel - Muscular,
great moments but far too much soap
10) The Idiot's Lantern - Sweet in places but an utterly
schizophrenic mish mash of genres
11) Fear Her - A great role for Rose in a pretty substandard
tale
12) New Earth - Overly saccharine and simplistic, not a
great opener
5 comments:
New Earth is dead last! Didn't see that coming. Also, very perceptive of Simon saying "Love & Monsters" is Marmite "to itself".
Ultimately it comes down to the monster (I can't be arsed to spell his name). I dunno what RTD was thinking but imagine it came to him after along night of snickering and bourbon.
Actually, it was designed by a young fan (whom I hope wasn't drinking any bourbon), who won a Blue Peter contest. So it Abzorbaloff's appearance was contractually obligated, as it were!
Aha. That makes sense in context. I wouldn't rule out the bourbon though.
(Making my first comment here: I don't always agree with Joe, but I've enjoyed his reviews ever since his days on the Ratings Guide)
William Grantham (the boy who created the Absorbaloff) had intended it to be a giant, hulking brute, the size of a double-decker bus. I think that could have worked superbly. Unfortunately, RTD saw the design and apparently thought "tubby northern bloke". Given the sizes of the faces in the Absorbaloff's original design, I can only guess that RTD thought it had attacked a tribe of pygmies.
Series 2 will always be one of the weaker ones in modern Doctor Who, but still had two great lead actors and a nice arc.
I absolutely love Girl in the Fireplace, and cannot see it leaving my top 3 Moffats.
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