Doctor Who: Before the Flood
“Before the Flood” is the fourth episode of season nine. “Listen” was the fourth episode of season eight. Both episodes begin with the Doctor breaking the fourth wall. Coincidence? Such a gimmick...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Girl Who Died
“The Girl Who Died” was possibly the most anticipated episode of season nine, not as much for the material, but rather for a crucial piece of casting: Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones fame. (Typed as...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Woman Who Lived
Last week I referred to “The Girl Who Died” as the first half of a two-parter. It was pretty obvious even then that, along with “The Woman Who Lived,” this pair wasn’t a two-parter in the same vein as...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Zygon Invasion
The Doctor: “This is a splinter group. The rest of the Zygons — the vast majority — they want to live in peace. You start bombing them, you’ll radicalize the lot. That’s exactly what the splinter...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Zygon Inversion
After the thrilling real world cliffhanger of “The Zygon Invasion,” picking up events in Clara’s hazy Zygon dream state was unexpected to say the least. But then this second half is much different in...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Sleep No More
Gagan Rassmussen: “You must not watch this! I’m warning you. You can never unsee it.”Rassmussen could easily have been speaking about “Sleep No More” itself with that very first line of the episode....
View ArticleDoctor Who: Face the Raven
There’s no need to begin with talk of the first two acts here, when the last 10 minutes of “Face the Raven” are what most folks are currently concerned with, so let’s cut to the chase: Clara’s dead,...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Heaven Sent
When you’ve been plotting and writing Doctor Who for as long as Steven Moffat has, you inevitably must stumble across an idea that’s so mad you have no choice but to see it through to its finish. What...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Hell Bent
One aspect of Steven Moffat’s writing that doesn’t get nearly enough praise is its unpredictability. In any given season, people develop theories about what will happen. Sometimes, in the broadest...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
The first time I watched Doctor Who's holiday offering, it didn't go swimmingly. It was late and I was tired and cranky, and probably not in the mood for festive antics. The whole thing seemed loud...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio
It’s been exactly one year since we last had any new Doctor Who. That’s the longest period of time the series has been off the air with no new material since it was resurrected in 2005. Given the...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Pilot
Two Christmas specials aside, it’s been a seemingly interminably long wait for new Doctor Who. A guy I know recently asked, “Is that show even still on?,” which cut me deeply. A strong, multi-episodic...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Smile
Going into “Smile,” I was leery about two things: Emojibots and Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s writing credit. The former because, well, I’m a writer, and like many other writers I cringe at them...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Thin Ice
Writer Sarah Dollard’s first contribution to Doctor Who was last season’s “Face the Raven,” an episode I was lukewarm on, though that had little to do with her script. Dollard was tasked with killing...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Knock Knock
In this week’s episode of Doctor Who, Bill and her college peeps — Harry (Colin Ryan), Paul (Ben Presley, Galavant), Felicity (Alice Hewkin), Shireen (Mandeep Dhillon), and Pavel (Bart Suavek) — hunt...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Oxygen
The Doctor: “Space … the final frontier. Final because it wants to kill us. Sometimes we forget that, start taking it all for granted — the suits, the ships, the little bubbles of safety — as they...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Extremis
As most Doctor Who fans know, we’re rapidly approaching the end of Steven Moffat’s era. There’s no question his showrunning tenure has been a divisive one, but at least here in the States, it was on...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Pyramid at the End of the World
As he did last season with a tension-packed Zygon two-parter, writer Peter Harness (with Steven Moffat taking a co-writing credit) again sets out to nearly destroy planet Earth, and again he...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Lie of the Land
The opening montage of “The Lie of the Land,” presented as an alternate history lesson narrated by the Doctor, is disturbingly effective. The Monks have insinuated themselves into our memories to the...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Empress of Mars
Back in season seven, Mark Gatiss reintroduced classic Doctor Who villains the Ice Warriors in “Cold War,” an episode I was gaga over. A big part of my love revolved around its infusion of ’80s...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Eaters of Light
Often in my recaps, I rely on the history of the writer while forming my thoughts and opinions of an episode. Doctor Who is very much a writers’ show, even though the head writers like Russell T....
View ArticleDoctor Who: World Enough and Time
“World Enough and Time” aims to grab your attention from its opening, pre-credits moments. The Doctor stumbles from the TARDIS into a frozen landscape, his hair longer and wilder than ever before,...
View ArticleDoctor Who: The Doctor Falls
As I’ve written in past seasons, Steven Moffat two-parters tend to be composed of two very different types of episodes. While “The Doctor Falls” indeed follows that pattern, it was refreshing that the...
View ArticleA Female ‘Doctor Who’ Is Exactly What the Franchise Needed
“I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender. Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many...
View ArticleDoctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
“Memories. You’re talking about memories.” — Rick Deckard, Blade RunnerIt almost seems like a no-brainer that Steven Moffat should craft his final hour of Doctor Who — a finish line he crosses...
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