Doctor Who Christmas Special (2023): The Church on Ruby Road

Given my recent (typing) hand injury on the Friday before Christmas, I think I’m probably the last Whovian to watch this episode and then review it. It’s Saturday, the 30th – almost a week later, and I’ve managed to avoid any Reviews, anywhere. Phew! 😕. Forgive the odd typo – this took about four hours …
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Doctor Who Returns – Special 3: The Giggle

It’s back! Everything is new (apart from the lead characters) and these 60th Anniversary Specials are a big huge deal – even if you don’t usually watch it. Why such a fuss? Well, for the background and lead up to these 60th Anniversary ‘Specials’ and the NEW (15th) Doctor, take a look at my detailed …
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Doctor Who Returns – Special 2: Wild Blue Yonder

It’s back! This is the second ‘Special’ of three. I gave last week’s – The Star Beast – four stars (in keeping with most of the critics), so let’s see how this one: ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, turns out. The final Special is next week. Before I get into Wild Blue Yonder, a short aside to …
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New Who News – All We Know!

For Doctor Who fans, 2023 is shaping up to be a complete rebirth of the show! This Post was first penned in January 2023, when it was all rumour and speculation! In this Post… Old News Characters Head Honcho Music Maestro Director Duties Christmas Specials Episode Count Creative Control Teasers Anything Else? Updates Now that …
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Doctor Who Special: The Power of the Doctor

This pivotal episode has been clouded in secrecy with very little official online content to comment upon as the transmission date got closer. That all changed on Saturday, October 8, 2022, when the BBC released this short, official Trailer (below). The episode is part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations and what made this one so …
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Doctor Who Special: The Legend of the Sea Devils

The BBC first released a one-minute clip on Twitter on Saturday, 2nd April revealing the next Doctor Who ‘Special’. It’s been a while since anything Who-related has been marketed and this was an important episode for a number of reasons: First, it will be Jodie Whittaker’s penultimate appearance as our time-travelling hero. Next, we see …
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Doctor Who – New Year Special 2022: “Eve of the Daleks”

Synopsis and Context The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and friends will kick-start 2022 with an action-packed spectacular episode set to air on BBC One on New Year’s Day. The festive special will feature guest stars Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Living With Yourself, Quiz), Adjani Salmon (Dreaming Whilst Black, Enterprice) and Pauline McLynn (Father Ted, …
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TV: Doctor Who – Series 13, Chapter 5: Survivors of the Flux

I was able to watch it live. It went out at 6.25pm on BBC 1 and ran for 50 minutes. After last week’s mega-cliffhanger, this story could only get more complex – but in tonight’s penultimate story, at least we got some answers. (but I’m not revealing them here!) Excerpt… Synopsis… As the forces of …
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TV: Doctor Who – Series 13, Chapter 4: Village of the Angels

No prizes for guessing what this one is about! A village with Angels? How do they think up the titles? 😯 Same advice as before then: Whatever you do, DON’T blink! Other useful advice is HERE. I’ve got high expectations for this one, so let’s see if this series can maintain its run of good …
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TV: Doctor Who – Series 13, Chapter 3: Once, Upon Time

After last week’s four-star episode – The War of the Sontarans, tonight, another familiar foe (or is it foes?) became part of the story… We’re now exactly halfway through this series and there are still plenty of unanswered questions. I’m really liking the linking of the six stories under one heading – Flux – rather …
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TV: Doctor Who – Series 13, Chapter 2: War of the Sontarans

After an impressive start last week to the beginning of series 13 with The Halloween Apocalypse, would tonight’s episode chapter impress? The sixty-minuter (that’s a long one!) premièred at 6.15pm on BBC1 (but I wasn’t able to watch it live because we were out at Rosi’s surprise 60th Party at Ise Lodge Community Centre). Some …
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TV: Doctor Who – Series 13, Episode 1: The Halloween Apocalypse

Unless you’ve been caught in a massive temporal disturbance, you won’t have missed the plugs for the latest series of Doctor Who – it was shown just before every BBC peak-time programme over the past fortnight. It’s now old news that this will be Jodie Whittaker’s final season – and for me, it can’t come …
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Doctor Who – New Year Special 2021: “Revolution of the Daleks”

It’s been a while since Doctor Who was on our screens and the BBC has been using every opportunity to remind us of this ‘one-off’ episode. The 75-minuter went out on BBC 1 at 6.45pm tonight. We’re promised some big reveals in this one – new style Daleks, the departure of two of the ‘fam’ …
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‘Doctor Who Festive Special’ Announced: ‘Revolution of the Daleks’

7.24pm: Just before the Strictly Come Dancing results show last night the BBC showed the trailer for this year’s Doctor Who festive special. Actually, it caught a few of us out, as the rumour was that it was going to be on after the show, just before the latest episode of His Dark Materials. I …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 10 – “The Timeless Children”

It’s the season finalé and there are a lot of unanswered questions! Hopefully, they’ll all be dealt with in tonight’s extended episode of 65 minutes! 😁 The Interweb on fire… Predictably, the Interweb has been on fire this week, full of theories, counter-theories, rumours and counter-rumours about how it’s all going to turn out! But, …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 9 – “Ascension of the Cybermen”

The penultimate episode for this series – and it’s a two-parter! There’s been plenty of anticipation online for this one, so it was a bit of a bummer that I wasn’t able to watch it live – I’m writing this, the day after, having successfully avoided any spoilers online. SYNOPSIS: It’s the aftermath of the …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 8 – “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”

Another pre-credit sequence – after last week’s, that’s two in a row! 🤔 SYNOPSIS:Lake Geneva, 1816. Lord Byron and the Shelleys prepare for a night telling ghost stories, but their villa proves to have ghostly presences all its own. This episode was written by (newcomer to Who) Maxine Alderton. A great story tonight with an …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 7 – “Can You Hear Me?”

I found last week’s episode – Praxeus, had a lot of potential, but its oh-so-predictable ending and the not-so-subtle message about the environment spoilt it (although most of the critics seemed to disagree with me, so it shows how much I know!). So, with only two more episodes to air this season, there’s a lot …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 6 – “Praxeus”

Well, it seems that series 12 is now on a roll! After last week’s shock revelations and a story that pleased the critics, fans and super-fans alike (all three? truly a rare event in itself!), this episode is going to have to work really hard! SYNOPSIS:What connects a missing astronaut in the Indian Ocean, birds …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 5 – “Fugitive of the Judoon”

We’re exactly halfway through this series, and after last week’s very satisfying episode, I wonder if this week’s will be as good? SYNOPSIS: The Judoon have marched their way into modern Gloucester on the hunt for a fugitive. Who are they pursuing, and why is the Doctor involved? Reserve your space behind the settee for …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 4 – “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”

After an enjoyable (and thought-provoking) couple of opening episodes to this new series, last week’s was, for me, a real ‘yawn-fest’. I’m hoping, therefore, tonight’s story is going to get Who back on track… 😮 SYNOPSIS: It’s 1903, and someone (or something) is sabotaging Nikola Tesla’s generator plant at Niagara Falls. And in a possible …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 3 – “Orphan 55”

First class CGI together with the scariest monsters since the ‘Weeping Angels’, all supported by a plot line that moved at pace! Every actor gave it their all, and the production qualities were akin to a movie. 👏 So, I’m not sure why this episode bored me rigid! I guess it all felt a bit …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 2 – “Spyfall (Part 2)”

After last week’s surprisingly good series opener together with its I-didn’t-see-that-coming-twist and subsequent cliffhanger, I was really looking forward to this episode. Pity then, we were away on holiday in Israel! 🙄 Still, we’re not going to let a little thing like that get in the way are we? No sireee! Step forward Express VPN …
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Doctor Who – New Year Special 2020: “Spyfall (Part 1)”

The last time we had a Doctor Who ‘Special’ on TV was new year’s day last year. Entitled ‘Resolution’, I gave it four-stars (which, given my general disappointment with JW’s incarnation of the Doctor, and the over-simplified plots, was probably quite generous!). Those that know me, know that so far, I’ve not been a great …
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Doctor Who – New Year Special 2019: ‘The Resolution’

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this special episode given that I’d been very unimpressed overall with the previous series. In short, too soap-opera-ey and not enough Who-ness. Tonight’s got off to a slow start. And with no title sequence, I was wrong-footed immediately. But, as the episode progressed, this latest outing for …
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Doctor Who – Series 11, Episode 10 – ‘The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’

OK, tonight is the final episode of this re-booted series, and after some mostly crappy episodes, they’ll need to do something really special to get me back on-side! With last week’s big reveal that the monster-of-the-week was a… frog!!!, can we have something really serious now please Mr Chibnall? Here’s hoping! After tonight – and …
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Doctor Who – Series 11, Episode 9 – ‘It Takes You Away’

It’s the penultimate episode for Jodie Whittaker’s first season as the Doctor and overall, I’ve been UNDER-whelmed. No-one’s more surprised than me at this, but with its over-simplified stories and a set of characters that I simply can’t relate to, I’ve struggled to sing its praises. Conversely, most of the Who fan-base, seem to absolutely …
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Doctor Who – Series 11, Episode 8 – ‘The Witchfinders’

Opening scenes looked good – another serious story-line – and a Witch is about to be dunked!6.38: One dead ‘un and the Doctor’s now a Witchfinder General. 6.41: King James makes an appearance – and the pantomime season has arrived early – Oh dear!6.44: Scary! What was that? – cue ‘Monster-of-the-Week’ 6.52: Even more scary! …
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