Every year, super forum Gallifrey
Base runs the TTT: The Top Three Tournament, in which forum users are asked to
vote for their favourite three stories from randomly selected groups of six or
seven daily. The stories are whittled away until a final favourite arrives
months later. It’s a gripping and often satisfying game but it can be painful:
if a round of six or seven favourites arrives, it’s difficult to vote without
feeling like you’re leaving a dear friend out in the cold. It’s agonising
watching your favourites ignored by the rest of fandom too. If you’ve never
joined in before, I recommend you hunt down the game and get involved: it’s
such a fun way to spend a few minutes every evening and the highs and lows of the
results are often moments to cherish.
However, there is an alternative
game on the same forum for those with less patience: the one-round version in
which users are asked to vote for their Top Thirty stories all in one go. The
top story is gifted 30 points, the last 1 point. The results are collated and
the story with the most points after two weeks wins! This year, Genesis of
the Daleks ran away with it. Now Genesis has never been a personal
favourite. I find it slow and drab-looking for the most part, despite an
admittedly excellent opening couple of episodes. I have a theory that those 70s
fans who enjoyed the cut-down LP version have a far fonder memory of it and
that this omnibus edition works far better. But that’s by the by. With the
sheer number of Doctor Who stories now available from which to choose one’s Top
Thirty, I got to thinking: How on Earth does one go about such a selection? I
would want my Top Thirty to be my very, very favourites, not necessarily the
best written or produced, but those that I can watch over and over again and
despite seeing the cracks, still find them utterly enchanting.
So I’m going to give it a go!
First, I’m going to list the stories I love in chronological order and see how
close to thirty I get. Here goes:
1. The
Crusade
2. The
Daleks’ Master Plan
3. The
Massacre
4. The
Power of the Daleks
5. The
Tomb of the Cybermen
6. The
Ice Warriors
7. The
Enemy of the World
8. The
Web of Fear
9. Fury
from the Deep
10. The
Mind Robber
11. The
Ambassadors of Death
12. Inferno
13. Terror
of the Autons
14. The
Sea Devils
15. The
Green Death
16. The
Brain of Morbius
17. The
Seeds of Doom
18. The
Deadly Assassin
19. The
Robots of Death
20. Horror
of Fang Rock
21. The
Ribos Operation
22. The
Androids of Tara
23. City
of Death
24. The
Leisure Hive
25. Warriors’
Gate
26. Logopolis
27. Castrovalva
28. Kinda
29. Earthshock
30. Snakedance
31. The
Five Doctors
32. The
Caves of Androzani
33. Revelation
of the Daleks
34. The
Happiness Patrol
35. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
36. Ghost
Light
37. The
Curse of Fenric
38. Survival
39. Father’s
Day
40. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
41. Bad
Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
42. Tooth
and Claw
43. School
Reunion
44. The
Girl in the Fireplace
45. Rise
of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel
46. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
47. Love
& Monsters
48. Gridlock
49. The
Lazarus Experiment
50. Utopia/The
Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
51. Voyage
of the Damned
52. The
Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
53. Midnight
54. Turn
Left
55. The
Eleventh Hour
56. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
57. Vincent
and the Doctor
58. A
Christmas Carol
59. The
Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
60. Closing
Time
61. Asylum
of the Daleks
62. Dinosaurs
on a Spaceship
63. A
Town Called Mercy
64. The
Snowmen
65. The
Crimson Horror
66. The
Name of the Doctor
67. The
Day of the Doctor
68. The
Time of the Doctor
69. Deep
Breath
70. Into
the Dalek
71. Robot
of Sherwood
72. Listen
73. Kill
the Moon
74. Mummy
on the Orient Express
75. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
76. Last
Christmas
77. The
Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
78. Heaven
Sent
79. Hell
Bent
80. The
Husbands of River Song
81. Knock
Knock
82. Oxygen
83. Extremis
84. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
85. World
Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls
86. Twice
Upon a Time
87. Arachnids
in the UK
88. The
Tsuranga Conundrum
89. Demons
of the Punjab
90. The
Witchfinders
So…90. It proved easy enough to choose my favourites by
moving along in chronological order and snapping up those stories I loved.
However, the loss of two-thirds of this list is going to be difficult. If I
move along the list and strike out those I can give a reason for giving the
boot to, I might be able to do this while keeping my conscience clear. Might…
1. The Crusade
2. The
Daleks’ Master Plan – Have I picked it because of its sheer length and
not because of its unremitting quality?
3. The
Massacre
4. The
Power of the Daleks – Is it just the fact it’s the first regeneration (its
iconic status) or is it a bit slow and cumbersome on occasion?
5. The
Tomb of the Cybermen – Loved it as a child but is it a bit
cheap-looking, even by 60s standards?
6. The
Ice Warriors – Better with a cut-down recon of Two and Three than the
full three hours?
7. The
Enemy of the World
8. The
Web of Fear
9. Fury
from the Deep
10. The
Mind Robber- Gripping and playful but it hasn’t got an ending.
11. The
Ambassadors of Death
12. Inferno
13. Terror
of the Autons
14. The
Sea Devils
15. The
Green Death
16. The
Brain of Morbius – Surprisingly, I haven’t got very much Hinchcliffe in
the list. Bob Holmes could not write a decent climax though, could he?
17. The
Seeds of Doom
18. The
Deadly Assassin
19. The
Robots of Death
20. Horror
of Fang Rock
21. The
Ribos Operation – Gorgeous script. But then we have, “Bones of our
fathers! Seek and find!"
22. The
Androids of Tara – Looks lovely; a bit slow?
23. City
of Death
24. The
Leisure Hive
25. Warriors’
Gate – Although I love it, I’m still not certain that I understand it.
26. Logopolis
27. Castrovalva
– Is confining Parts One and Two to the TARDIS acceptable?
28. Kinda
29. Earthshock
30. Snakedance
– The lesser of two Maras.
31. The
Five Doctors
32. The
Caves of Androzani – Magnificent script; a bit underwhelming in the
design department.
33. Revelation
of the Daleks
34. The
Happiness Patrol
35. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
36. Ghost
Light
37. The
Curse of Fenric – Makes less sense than Ghost Light. There are times I
wonder what on Earth is happening at all.
38. Survival
39. Father’s
Day
40. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
41. Bad
Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
42. Tooth
and Claw
43. School
Reunion – Love the reunion itself but does the story feel a tiny bit
twee?
44. The
Girl in the Fireplace – Rose and Mickey are suddenly getting on and I
don’t really believe the Doctor is in love.
45. Rise
of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel
46. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
47. Love
& Monsters – Sorry William, but the Abzorbaloff itself is a bit
naff.
48. Gridlock
49. The
Lazarus Experiment
50. Utopia/The
Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
51. Voyage
of the Damned
52. The
Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
53. Midnight
– Very grey.
54. Turn
Left – Does it work without the following two-parter?
55. The
Eleventh Hour
56. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
57. Vincent
and the Doctor – Bit boring in the middle.
58. A
Christmas Carol
59. The
Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon – Few too many TARDIS scenes.
60. Closing
Time – Best of a bad season?
61. Asylum
of the Daleks
62. Dinosaurs
on a Spaceship
63. A
Town Called Mercy – Looks beautiful but ultimately insignificant?
64. The
Snowmen
65. The
Crimson Horror – A shade away from pure class. Can’t quite define what
that shade is. Perhaps it’s that it feels like a homage to something else
rather than its own beast?
66. The
Name of the Doctor
67. The
Day of the Doctor – There’s a long, boring stretch in a forest.
68. The
Time of the Doctor
69. Deep
Breath
70. Into
the Dalek
71. Robot
of Sherwood
72. Listen
– The climax doesn’t reach the heights of the vignettes beforehand.
73. Kill
the Moon
74. Mummy
on the Orient Express
75. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
76. Last
Christmas
77. The
Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion – First half is very wobbly.
78. Heaven
Sent – A cool experiment and Capaldi is amazing. But it’s guilty of
naval-gazing, despite its greatness.
79. Hell
Bent – Those courtroom scenes on Gallifrey have never quite worked
(excluding those in The Deadly Assassin).
80. The
Husbands of River Song
81. Knock
Knock – And everybody lived. Again.
82. Oxygen
– Is the ending a bit easy?
83. Extremis
84. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
85. World
Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls – The second half isn’t quite as
blistering as the first.
86. Twice
Upon a Time – David Bradley.
87. Arachnids
in the UK
88. The
Tsuranga Conundrum
89. Demons
of the Punjab
90. The
Witchfinders – Those lake scenes feel a little cobbled together.
Which means the list now looks like this:
1. The
Crusade
2. The
Massacre
3. The
Enemy of the World
4. The
Web of Fear
5. Fury
from the Deep
6. The
Ambassadors of Death
7. Inferno
8. Terror
of the Autons
9. The
Sea Devils
10. The
Green Death
11. The
Seeds of Doom
12. The
Deadly Assassin
13. The
Robots of Death
14. Horror
of Fang Rock
15. City
of Death
16. The
Leisure Hive
17. Logopolis
18. Kinda
19. Earthshock
20. The
Five Doctors
21. Revelation
of the Daleks
22. The
Happiness Patrol
23. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
24. Ghost
Light
25. Survival
26. Father’s
Day
27. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
28. Bad
Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
29. Tooth
and Claw
30. Rise
of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel
31. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
32. Gridlock
33. The
Lazarus Experiment
34. Utopia/The
Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
35. Voyage
of the Damned
36. The
Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
37. The
Eleventh Hour
38. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
39. A
Christmas Carol
40. Asylum
of the Daleks
41. Dinosaurs
on a Spaceship
42. The
Snowmen
43. The
Name of the Doctor
44. The
Time of the Doctor
45. Deep
Breath
46. Into
the Dalek
47. Robot
of Sherwood
48. Kill
the Moon
49. Mummy
on the Orient Express
50. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
51. Last
Christmas
52. The
Husbands of River Song
53. Extremis
54. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
55. Arachnids
in the UK
56. The
Tsuranga Conundrum
57. Demons
of the Punjab
So… 27 to eliminate. I thought there might be fewer than
that but I have picked the stories I love the most so getting them down to a
sizeable chunk was never going to be easy. This is feeling brutal. Here we go
again:
1. The
Crusade
2. The
Massacre
3. The
Enemy of the World
4. The
Web of Fear
5. Fury
from the Deep – Too hard to tell given that it’s completely missing.
6. The
Ambassadors of Death
7. Inferno
– It’s grand but it is a tad long. Namely Episodes 2 and 7.
8. Terror
of the Autons
9. The
Sea Devils
10. The
Green Death
11. The
Seeds of Doom
12. The
Deadly Assassin
13. The
Robots of Death
14. Horror
of Fang Rock – The Rutan itself and that lingering model shot.
15. City
of Death
16. The
Leisure Hive
17. Logopolis
– The money had too clearly run out.
18. Kinda
19. Earthshock
20. The
Five Doctors – Feels like a step backwards rather than forwards?
21. Revelation
of the Daleks
22. The
Happiness Patrol
23. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
24. Ghost
Light
25. Survival
– That cat.
26. Father’s
Day
27. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
28. Bad
Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
29. Tooth
and Claw
30. Rise
of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel
31. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
32. Gridlock
– We never really feel as if we’re in the undercity, and the sets are
clearly re-used.
33. The
Lazarus Experiment – Very enjoyable but Gatiss is miscast. He ought to
be a beautiful young man.
34. Utopia/The
Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords – Last of the Time Lords.
35. Voyage
of the Damned
36. The
Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
37. The
Eleventh Hour
38. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
39. A
Christmas Carol
40. Asylum
of the Daleks – Terrific fun but a bit bread and butter?
41. Dinosaurs
on a Spaceship
42. The
Snowmen – The climax is unresolved so it can’t feel complete.
43. The
Name of the Doctor – There’s only the TARDIS set left, guys. Shall we
cover it with leaves?
44. The
Time of the Doctor
45. Deep
Breath
46. Into
the Dalek
47. Robot
of Sherwood – Some pacing issues and the cut was unfortunate.
48. Kill
the Moon
49. Mummy
on the Orient Express
50. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
51. Last
Christmas – There’s a bit of repetition in the middle.
52. The
Husbands of River Song
53. Extremis
54. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
55. Arachnids
in the UK
56. The
Tsuranga Conundrum
57. Demons
of the Punjab – Jodie’s wedding speech is awful.
And now we look like:
1. The
Crusade
2. The
Massacre
3. The
Enemy of the World
4. The
Web of Fear
5. The
Ambassadors of Death
6. Terror
of the Autons
7. The
Sea Devils
8. The
Green Death
9. The
Seeds of Doom
10. The
Deadly Assassin
11. The
Robots of Death
12. City
of Death
13. The
Leisure Hive
14. Kinda
15. Earthshock
16. Revelation
of the Daleks
17. The
Happiness Patrol
18. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
19. Ghost
Light
20. Father’s
Day
21. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
22. Bad
Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
23. Tooth
and Claw
24. Rise
of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel
25. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
26. Voyage
of the Damned
27. The
Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
28. The
Eleventh Hour
29. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
30. A
Christmas Carol
31. Dinosaurs
on a Spaceship
32. The
Time of the Doctor
33. Deep
Breath
34. Into
the Dalek
35. Kill
the Moon
36. Mummy
on the Orient Express
37. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
38. The
Husbands of River Song
39. Extremis
40. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
41. Arachnids
in the UK
42. The
Tsuranga Conundrum
Twelve more to go! Time to be honest with myself! This is so
hard.
1. The
Crusade
2. The
Massacre – Like Fury, it is fair to have a completely missing story
here?
3. The
Enemy of the World
4. The
Web of Fear
5. The
Ambassadors of Death
6. Terror
of the Autons – The best stuff is in the first half although it’s
amazingly well-paced.
7. The
Sea Devils
8. The
Green Death
9. The
Seeds of Doom
10. The
Deadly Assassin
11. The
Robots of Death – We know it’s Dask.
12. City
of Death
13. The
Leisure Hive
14. Kinda
15. Earthshock
– Gutsy and action-packed but ultimately quite simple?
16. Revelation
of the Daleks
17. The
Happiness Patrol – At only three episodes, are the lemonade scenes repetitive?
18. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
19. Ghost
Light
20. Father’s
Day
21. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
22. Bad
Wolf/The Parting of the Ways – Very difficult to dismiss, but the sheer
quality of the second half makes the first seem lacking.
23. Tooth
and Claw
24. Rise
of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel – The first half is a bit slow.
25. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
26. Voyage
of the Damned
27. The
Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky – Should Sontarans be blue?
28. The
Eleventh Hour
29. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
30. A
Christmas Carol
31. Dinosaurs
on a Spaceship – Too fluffy to be a favourite? This feels like an unfair
dismissal.
32. The
Time of the Doctor
33. Deep
Breath
34. Into
the Dalek
35. Kill
the Moon – Some contrived mechanics for an otherwise clever tale (45
minutes to decide?).
36. Mummy
on the Orient Express
37. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
38. The
Husbands of River Song
39. Extremis
– Not quite as good as Pyramid.
40. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
41. Arachnids
in the UK
42. The
Tsuranga Conundrum – That scene with Jodie and the doctor at the start
is dreadful.
So my Top Thirty stands as:
1. The
Crusade
2. The
Enemy of the World
3. The
Web of Fear
4. The
Ambassadors of Death
5. The
Sea Devils
6. The
Green Death
7. The
Seeds of Doom
8. The
Deadly Assassin
9. City
of Death
10. The
Leisure Hive
11. Kinda
12. Revelation
of the Daleks
13. The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy
14. Ghost
Light
15. Father’s
Day
16. The
Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
17. Tooth
and Claw
18. The
Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
19. Voyage
of the Damned
20. The
Eleventh Hour
21. The
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
22. A
Christmas Carol
23. The
Time of the Doctor
24. Deep
Breath
25. Into
the Dalek
26. Mummy
on the Orient Express
27. Dark
Water/Death in Heaven
28. The
Husbands of River Song
29. The
Pyramid at the End of the World
30. Arachnids
in the UK
Happily, every Doctor bar McGann
(for obvious reasons) is represented. But now to order them! This might prove
more challenging than it looks! I’ve included a line or two about what makes
each story so special, by way of celebration: a much nicer task than trimming
away some of the all-time greats!
1.
Dark Water/Death in Heaven – My very favourite:
the story of the end of Danny Pink. It’s bleak, devastating and brazenly
includes Kate Stewart being torn from a moving plane. You leave feeling
depressed and affected. It’s quite unlike any other Doctor Who story. (Probably
thankfully, as I’m not sure I could take something so harrowing every week.)
2.
Ghost Light – The best of the classic
series and ironically the last to be made. The sets are beautiful, the narrative
challenging, the dialogue lyrical and poetic. Ghost Light belongs not on
the television but in a gallery. It really is a work of art.
3.
Revelation of the Daleks – If Eric Saward
had managed to get the writers he was after, Doctor Who may have been like this
all the time, and those 80s years may have been more celebrated. This is
joyously violent, aggressive, heart-breaking and insidious. The guest
characters are probably my favourite in any classic story.
4.
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit – The
scariest Who story ever made? Whilst The Daemons had a stab at meeting
the horned one, it is here where we experience the true evil of the devil,
creeping into the psyches of the cast and the viewers all the way through to
that last fiery rocket scene. The closeness of Devil-Toby to Rose makes him
utterly terrifying.
5.
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone – An
all-out, action-packed thriller of the highest order. The show has such a
strong sense of geography that the tension mounts and mounts and mounts all the
way up from the beach, through the catacombs, the forest and finally the flight
deck before the angels come tumbling back down. Outstanding.
6.
Kinda – If a show is compared to a Kate
Bush video, it’s going to be good! The strangeness of Kinda is so well
performed as to make it immediately real and vital. Just as the viewer thinks
the weirdness has reached a status quo, another curveball is slung our way and
Peter Howell’s amazing incidental music adds to an atmosphere quite unlike any
other TV programme.
7.
The Leisure Hive – The most stylish story
of the classic years and the best directed. It has a taut, thrilling script
from David Fisher with all the wit and imagination of the Douglas Adams years
combined with the wizardly sci-fi of Christopher H Bidmead. It’s a potent mix
and a heady brew, again aided by a fantastic score from Peter Howell.
8.
Deep Breath – The best
Doctor-Introduction story, although by far one of the least showy. Its length
allows it to feel just as much like a movie as The Day of the Doctor and
in its own way, just as special. It all comes down to that final towering scene
between the Doctor and the Half-Face Man although there’s so much to enjoy
elsewhere. The incredibly long and riveting scene in the café is a belter,
Clara finally comes into her own and the Paternoster gang fly in like ninjas.
Thrillingly, by the story’s conclusion the new Doctor is guilty of either
murder or assisted suicide. This is gonna get dark!
9.
City of Death – The most romantic of all
Doctor Who stories. Viewed as a rom-com, City of Death works even
better. It’s even got a rom-com title, or it would have given an exclamation
mark. Imagine the poster: Tom sheltering under that umbrella, arms and mouth
upturned; Lalla staring up at him sporting a “What is he like?” expression; Duggan
in the background, fists clenched and poised; and behind them all, the Eiffel Tower.
Now there’s a Doctor Who Movie.
10.
The Sea Devils – Confident, exciting and
the best UNIT story that UNIT aren’t in, The Sea Devils sports all that
is great about the Pertwee era: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning and Roger Delgado all
being excellent, with loads of slices of the action to share; Malcolm Hulke and
Terrance Dicks’s suitably well-paced and bulletproof scripts; terrific
cliff-hangers; all the hardware the Royal Navy could gift them. The very idea
of the Sea Devils themselves is tremendous and set scenes on an abandoned sea
fort is quintessentially Doctor Who.
11.
The Deadly Assassin – The best Gallifrey
story bar none. It starts with a scrolling script and boasts almost an entire
episode on film. This is knowingly rare and different. The scenes inside the
Matrix are nightmarishly strange and the scenes on Gallifrey as gripping as any
political drama. This is at the same time iconoclastic and unique.
12.
A Christmas Carol – A beautifully
bittersweet, melancholy Christmas affair. The majestic Michael Gambon tears his
way through a script that could have been written for him. Matt Smith suddenly
has the vim of a man who knows how successful he is and his scenes with young
Kazran are charming and sad. The showpiece shark ride across the city is just
that.
13.
Voyage of the Damned – Perhaps the polar
opposite of A Christmas Carol but just as successful. As the Matt Smith
special steers towards the possibilities of festive loneliness and miserliness,
Voyage of the Damned is joyous and breathless, revelling in the thrill
of Christmas Day. Despite this breeziness, it has moments of darkness and the
Heavenly Host are as sinister as the Voc Robots. Mark Costigan’s Max Capricorn
is a bombastic, hilarious villain, criminally forgotten by fandom.
14.
The Eleventh Hour – Steven Moffat and
Matt Smith delivered the unthinkable here: a story better than what had gone
before with the promise of infinite adventures to come. This is Doctor Who as fairytale,
the strange man in the garden entering a world of childhood fancy and fear.
After 65 minutes, Matt Smith is indisputably the Doctor and the show feels brand
new and ancient in equal measure. Who da man?!
15.
Tooth and Claw – A fearful tale of
wolves, this unremarked upon classic surely has all the hallmarks of a
traditionally brilliant Doctor Who story. The gothic mood, wooden panels and
moonlit sets could be straight from the more celebrated Hinchcliffe years and
there’s some viscerally implied violence to terrify the children. In the right
mindset, Tooth and Claw can get under the skin.
16.
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances –
Rightly lauded as the best of Eccleston’s staggeringly good season, this two-parter
now feels somewhat like a relic of a forgotten time, when story-telling was
simpler, slower and mood and atmosphere were the order of the day. It’s the
old-fashioned nature of the tale which elevates it to timeless status, whilst the
sex gags and emotional heart plant it firmly in the 21st century. If
you ever meet someone who has never seen Doctor Who before, stick this on. They’ll
be instant addicts, I’ll wager.
17.
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy – A cast
of characters as colourful as their respective costumes; a permeating weirdness
and an evocative musical score from Mark Ayres, plonk this tale of a sinister
circus firmly in the “oddball” camp and it’s all the better for it. With no “normal”
character as the eyes and ears of the audience, one must succumb to the strange
world of Segonax - complete with all its own rules - and get lost in it.
18.
Father’s Day – Is this the only Doctor Who
story whose prime purpose is to make the audience cry? It is only the coldest heart
that can’t be moved by the sad story of Pete Tyler, the man who saved the world
by jumping under a car. As Rose holds him in her arms, the emotional centre of
the piece is transcendent. We cut to Eccleston’s alien face filling the screen ambiguously
and we don’t know what to feel anymore.
19.
The Ambassadors of Death – At seven
parts, Ambassadors loses its way many, many times. It doesn’t really know what
it wants to be about and it doesn’t really know where it’s going. But it’s
absolutely riveting. Dudley Simpson’s oppressive, moody score combines with sometimes
staggering visuals creating a string of moments which excite and frighten and
shock. “Right, cut it open!” And then the sting!
20.
The Enemy of the World – I had always
been a champion of this James Bond-esque thriller. I’d always loved the recon
of Episode Two in particular which constitutes its own little political drama. I’d
always felt that Episode Three, far from the comments about its wallpaper
choices, was gripping. Then it came back to us. And it was even better than I’d
expected, chiefly because of one man: Patrick Troughton. He is mesmeric and brilliantly
evil as Salamander and as charming and loveable as the Doctor. “I know
volcanoes…”
21.
The Green Death – The story of Jo Grant:
so full of wonderful scenes which beat with an honest, open heart. We feel for Jon
Pertwee’s jealous Doctor as he watches his fledgling fly the coop. In Planet
of the Daleks, he was happy for Jo to make her own decision about Latep, knowing
she was always coming home. Here, in Professor Jones, he actually meets his
match. “A younger you” that he absolutely cannot compete with. It’s heart-breaking.
22.
The Pyramid at the End of the World – Why
this wasn’t hailed as an instant classic, I don’t know. The blind Doctor
finally comes unstuck by, of all things, a locked door. Moody shots of breaking
beer bottles and broken spectacles add to the sense that the world is about to
end not because of a giant pyramid, or countries poised to declare war, but by
a couple of ordinary scientists making silly mistakes. Pyramid is
worrying and doom-laden and ends horribly, with the entire world sold to the insidious
menace of the monks.
23.
The Husbands of River Song – Like Voyage
of the Damned, there is a sense of joie de vivre about Husbands. It
includes Giant Greg Davies inside a giant robot, a man who pulls his head apart
to reveal a bank account where his brain should be, Matt Lucas being Matt Lucas,
a fall through a ballroom and then, finally the sad, sad scene by the towers,
with Peter Capaldi being distant and alien and quietly wonderful in his Pertwee
costume. The music swells and… is that a tear?
24.
The Web of Fear – The Troughton era is
remembered for its dark bases-under-siege and its monsters. Web is the
best example we have. Tomb comes close, though its visuals are sometimes
lacking. I imagine Abominable and Fury are equally creepy and
menacing, but right now The Web of Fear is the best we have. Amazingly
well shot by Douglas Camfield, the London Underground feels real and
threatening and the cast are outstanding. Troughton too puts in an off-kilter
performance, convincing us that he too could be the master of the darkness that
pervades this classic, frightening mood piece.
25.
Mummy on the Orient Express – And here,
ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Peter Capaldi! Seriously, the man storms his
way through this story. From his frightening, sad, “Is it?” as he ponders that
this might be the end of his relationship with Clara in the dim lit corridor,
to his quick-fire tearing through the guest cast as he questions the near
departed soullessly. On the beach at the end, we can believe that he really did
leave the other passengers to die. This is a Doctor we can’t take our eyes off
but still can’t trust.
26.
The Seeds of Doom – It’s an easy
candidate for Best Ever Story but there are so many reasons why: Tom Baker is
alien and distant and funny. The violence is felt and disturbing. The transformation
scenes are harrowing. The location work is outstanding. The monster in all its
forms is terrific. The scale of the threat feels realistic and possible. Tony
Beckley and John Challis are outstanding. There’s more, much more…
27.
Into the Dalek – A terrific CG space chase
sequence gives way to the alien stillness of the TARDIS, Peter Capaldi being severely
odd and the Daleks arriving. This is a fast-paced, no-nonsense, explosive story,
and ends with the Doctor facing off exhilaratingly against his best enemy. It’s
also the best-directed Dalek story, Ben Wheatley shooting them from angles never-before
seen, slow-motion action scenes showcasing their invincibility like never before.
And to top it all, the Doctor issues forth directives straight to camera: “Put
it inside you and live by it.” Yes, that first Capaldi season rocks.
28.
The Crusade – David Whitaker is Doctor’s
Who William Shakespeare. His script for The Crusade sings. “We are the
only day and night for you, hunter.” It’s quite a lovely thing to revel in the
lyricism of the dialogue. It’s quite a joy to watch the actors handle such dialogue
with the aplomb of a rep company well-versed in such meters. It’s quite wonderful
to see a BBC, at such a very early stage, becoming the masters of the historical
drama. And best of all, it’s quite, quite special to see William Hartnell
firing his temper in the court of King Richard against “stupid butchers” like
the Earl of Leicester. The Crusade is an ancient, sumptuous delight.
29.
The Time of the Doctor – Another uncelebrated
delight, The Time of the Doctor surely has it all: Cybermen, Daleks,
Sontarans, Wooden Cybermen, Silence, Weeping Angels and Handles the Cyberman. (Steven
Moffat does love his Cybermen.) Amidst the furious, frenetic battles, and
frantic, breakneck pace, two scenes stop to sing: the death of Handles is
strangely, deeply affecting and later, the old, old Matt Smith sits and listens
to his Christmas cracker joke, and we suddenly know we’ll never see him again. Often
emasculated by the immediately preceding Day of, The Time of
the Doctor deserves equal plaudits. I can watch it every year; it reveals
new elements of joy with every viewing.
30. Arachnids in the UK – This is perhaps the only time in Jodie Whittaker’s first series when the TARDIS crew really work. Graham is in mourning, Yaz has a family making her a loadstone for the audience and Ryan is properly cool. The spiders are terrifying. The comedy is genuinely funny. The whole concept is just the right side of zany and there's that "something under the bed" terror that only Doctor Who can pull off. Perhaps it isn't the most important story of Jodie's first year, but it's definitely the most fun!
30. Arachnids in the UK – This is perhaps the only time in Jodie Whittaker’s first series when the TARDIS crew really work. Graham is in mourning, Yaz has a family making her a loadstone for the audience and Ryan is properly cool. The spiders are terrifying. The comedy is genuinely funny. The whole concept is just the right side of zany and there's that "something under the bed" terror that only Doctor Who can pull off. Perhaps it isn't the most important story of Jodie's first year, but it's definitely the most fun!
And there it is. A Top Thirty I
can be sure of! Until I look back and think, “Are they all better than The
Robots of Death?” Or “Where on Earth is Horror of Fang Rock?” and “Why
did I get rid of Terror of the Autons?” But that said, finding a Top
Thirty is not an easy task and some things have had to go. Sadly, I wasn’t in
time to enter the Gallifrey Base tournament, but I’ll save these results for
next year when I’ll have another season of stories to consider and probably a
radically different Top Thirty altogether. Because what is a favourite other than
a thing we really, really love? And with Doctor Who, there are so many stories
we really, really love.
JH
