Comparison of Doctor Who Eps.

[meganlynn09]

Over here, I did a comparison of episodes from series two to their counterparts from series one of Doctor Who up to episode 7.  So, now that the season is over, I decided to finish that list.  It pretty much shows my bias towards season one which I do believe was better.  Maybe it's as a new fan of the show that joined when in the US, the SciFi channel started showing the 2005 series of Doctor Who in March, but I much prefered CE as the Doctor than DT.  I love David Tennant, but not his Doctor.  

OPINIONS WILL VARY, that I have no doubt about.  Just remember, these are mine.

Starting from where I left off...

Father's Day vs. The Impossible Planet

Critical:  That's a very hard choice, they were both wonderful.  I'd have to pick "The Impossible Planet" though.  On repeated viewing of FD a lot of the "science" started to bug me, and the stupidity of both the Doctor's and Rose's decisions are hard to ignore with each viewing.  But it's still one of my favorites, but TIP just has so much more, with the wonderful supporting characters that we get to care about, the subtley that things were handled with, and ignoring the first few minutes, Rose isn't so bad.

Re-watch:  To tell you the truth, I have watched "Father's Day" more than once, and I've yet to watch TIP again.  So I suppose, in terms of what I would watch again, it's "Father's Day".

The Empty Child vs. The Satan Pit

Critical:  That's an even harder choice!  But I have to go with "The Empty Child".  There are too many little things in "The Satan Pit" that bother me: the Doctor leaving Ida alone to die so he can fall down the pit, Rose killing "Toby" without any seen remorse, the Doctor comtemplating the world vs. the death of Rose.  Very little bothers me about "The Empty Child", it's creepy and spooky and so complete addicting to watch, especially the interactions between Nancy and the Doctor.

Re-watch:  That addictiveness also falls to wanting to watch it more often.  So this goes to TEC.

The Doctor Dances vs. Love & Monsters

Critical:  "The Doctor Dances".

Re-watch:  "The Doctor Dances".

Boom Town vs. Fear Her

Critical:  I never really liked "Boom Town", and I'm one of the few that mostly enjoyed "Fear Her", although I'd admit the repetition of love was nauseating and the ending wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I give it a bit of an edge over "Boom Town".  But BT gets major points for the Doctor and Margaret scenes and for all the Jack scenes.  Since I already saw that Rose treated her mom and Mickey like crap, I didn't like to see her act like an ass and I didn't like Mickey's line about if she asks him to he would wait for her.  He had it going up to there.  Luckily the writers seemed to like him in season 2.

Re-watch:  Should be neither, but I'll pick "Fear Her".

Bad Wolf vs. Army of Ghosts

Critical:  I liked them both.  In fact, I just re-watched "Bad Wolf" the other day, and like some episodes in this series it gets better on repeated viewing.  I take points away from "Army of Ghosts" for the beginning with the "How long are you going to stay with me?"/"Forever."  BW loses points for most of the music.  It was too intruding.  AoG gets points for bringing back and introducing Mickey again in such an awesome way.  BW gets points for making me love Captain Jack.  I honestly cannot chose here.

Re-watch:  I think I have to give this one to "Army of Ghosts", if only to watch Jackie make out with the Doctor.  And any scene after with Jackie.

The Parting of the Ways vs. Doomsday

Critical: Sorry, but I'm with "The Parting of the Ways".  And it's not because I lost my Doctor, it's because I felt the emotions, if I cried it's because it genuinely broke my heart, but with "Doomsday", it felt, to me, like I was being told, "This is sad, you see Rose crying there?  Cry with her."  And I did, 'cause I'm easy and a girl like that.   Was Rose looking into the Vortex and wiping out the Daleks too easy?  Probably, but I fell for it.  I sort of did with the resolution to "Doomsday", but then we got caught up in all the grief.  The goodbye between the Doctor and Rose in "Doomsday" was heartbreaking, but easy to accept because I was more than ready to say goodbye to Rose.  It makes me wonder if they purposely messed up her character in season 2, make people not like her and it hurts less when she leaves.  I know I'm a terrible shipper because I seriously didn't like the Doctor crying over Rose.  The problems I have with that I cannot convey.  And I'm immensely glad that the Doctor never said I love you.  See?  I should be thrown out of the shippers realm! :)

Re-watch:   Um..."The Parting of the Ways?"  I really don't know.  There were parts of both that I really enjoyed.

So, don't tell me what I got wrong, please, just let me know what you disagree with.  Or agree with if I'm lucky!  Thanks.

I started my original post because of a post that ed_zeppelin posted towards to end of May on doctorwho.

Comments

[ed-zeppelin.livejournal.com]

There's some nice consideration there, and thanks for the credit by the way. I should really get round to finishing it myself.

[meganlynn09.livejournal.com]

Thanks, and I just wanted to let people know that this inspiration didn't just hit me. I'd be interested to see your finished list.

[nina-ds.livejournal.com]

As you can probably guess, I agree with much of this. The thing about doing the blow-by-blow match-ups is that the strongest S2 episodes (TIP/TSP) come slap up against the real strength of S1, which was FD and TEC/TDD (and btw, that picture of the Doctor with Jamie is just luminous, isn't it? who'd think "grim ol' Chris" could be so radiant, but he can). Boom Town/Fear Her are about a wash, although I would choose BT simply for the joy. Fear Her is a better self-contained story, but Boom Town means more in the overall arc. The one place where S2 would come out ahead for me, critically, would be in the third slot - SR over AoL, and GitF would trump WWIII if it had been pulled off with more genuine emotion (seems to come down to that a lot). But what with all the farting Slitheen, I think sometimes people forget that so much of Aol/WWIII was about the consequences of travelling with the Doctor for Rose, for Jackie, for Mickey most of all. And we had the marvellous Harriet. I'm not going to argue their superiority, but I do think the hack directing job by Keith Boak sometimes overshadows some real strength in what is definitely the weakest story of S1. Shame about that.

[meganlynn09.livejournal.com]

The thing about doing the blow-by-blow match-ups is that the strongest S2 episodes (TIP/TSP) come slap up against the real strength of S1, which was FD and TEC/TDD

Yeah, I didn't notice that until I wrote this up! Luckily "Love & Monsters" came up against "The Doctor Dances", no competition there! For me, personally I just enjoyed FH more, because Rose was finally herself!

The one place where S2 would come out ahead for me, critically, would be in the third slot - SR over AoL

Except, SR actually goes against "The Unquiet Dead", and GitF goes against "Aliens of London". I compare all those in my first post.

GitF would trump WWIII if it had been pulled off with more genuine emotion

Since it's actually against AoL, I said that GitF won, because aside from the emotions, which I agree, I had trouble seeing the genuineness, I liked the story a lot. A bit miffed about the Doctor leaving Rose and Mickey behind, but I know why he did it (well, in my head I have a good reason), I just don't know why they had to make it seem like he left them without saying a word.

And we had the marvellous Harriet.

I loved Harriet. I hated what RTD did in TCI. The Doctor was wrong to do that, because while maybe it could have been done in a better way, Harriet had a very good point.

[nina-ds.livejournal.com]

For me, personally I just enjoyed FH more, because Rose was finally herself!

That is more of a toss up if one just considers the episode itself. Very close. Minus points for nauseating ending and extremely unflattering outfit for Rose, as evidenced by your photo - could those trousers fit any worse? :-)

Except, SR actually goes against "The Unquiet Dead",

Duh, of course. Too sleepy to count, I guess. That's another very close one. Although I might edge TUD because it feels more integrated, whereas SR has a definite A story (which I don't care for) and a B story, which I do.

GitF is my biggest frustration of S2 because it's such a lovely idea, and the execution is just pants.

Hmm. Seems to be a theme in this post! :-)

I hated what RTD did in TCI. The Doctor was wrong to do that, because while maybe it could have been done in a better way, Harriet had a very good point.

I was really going with Ten up until that moment, but that was a killing blow for me.

[meganlynn09.livejournal.com]

Minus points for nauseating ending and extremely unflattering outfit for Rose

Gah, the ending and that repeating theme of "ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE" was the most nauseating thing ever. I actually liked that outfit for Rose, but that particular picture isn't flattering, it's like why would you dress your guest star better than your star?

Although I might edge TUD because it feels more integrated, whereas SR has a definite A story (which I don't care for) and a B story, which I do.

I loved ALL of SR, I really don't know why, and as of now, I really cannot pick between SR and TUD

[nina-ds.livejournal.com]

As I'm thinking about it, I think that it's not so much the A story that I don't like (it's fairly standard, a bit Buffy/Scooby Doo, so generic), it's Anthony Stewart Head going screaming panto as the villain in the final action scene. But I love little touches like Mickey and K-9, and Mickey being the smart one, and of course Sarah Jane. She had far more chemistry with the Doctor than Reinette did! Well, she had some, for a start. Although I can also understand why Elisabeth Sladen wasn't 100% chuffed by the story, as a stand-alone, I did love that part, and she played well with Billie Piper, too.

I actually liked that outfit for Rose, but that particular picture isn't flattering, it's like why would you dress your guest star better than your star?

I had that exact thought! Rose's outfit isn't terrible, I suppose, it's just that she could do so much better. The low-rise slacks are okay in and of themselves, athough Billie tends to look a little stubby if they emphasize her hips, and I'm not sure whether yellow is ever a good colour for a bottle blonde. Even the cargo jeans and tees from early S1, while bland, looked cute on her. Still - The Long Game still has the win for best non-period outfit, IMO. Very sleek and flattering. The diagonal line of the jacket made her look like she had more of an hourglass silhouette, which she doesn't really have. All a matter of opinion, obviously, but I feel like one of those mothers who says, "You're such a pretty girl, why can't you dress nicely?"

That said, you know, nothing on DW is ever as bad as tiny little David Krumholtz wearing capri-length khaki cargo pants and Birkenstocks on NUMB3RS. He looked like a Jewish leprachaun. So everything's relative!

You can tell I'm procrastinating. I should be working.

[meganlynn09.livejournal.com]

she played well with Billie Piper, too.

I loved their scenes together, and I think what really made the episode for me was the goodbye at the end. It was so bittersweet, but so lovely.

Still - The Long Game still has the win for best non-period outfit, IMO.

I don't know, that outfit just made her look really skinny, and small. She seems to have this tendency to slump her shoulders a bit, and it's really prominant in that episode. Whenever I watch it, I'm like, "She's so small". I loved her outfit in "Bad Wolf"/TPotW. I mean I liked her outfit in "The Long Game", but I just always had that thought about it.

All a matter of opinion, obviously, but I feel like one of those mothers who says, "You're such a pretty girl, why can't you dress nicely?"

Unfortunately, it's not really all her fault is it? Makes one wonder about the costume department. Although her outfits in SR and AoG/"Doomsday" are nice.