I'll always have troubles listing.
For the past two months, I've been working on the same Doctor Who picspam. You would think coming up with my five episodes would be a piece of cake, but my mind just refuses to list. I'll watch an episode then want to replace one episode with that one. Or I'll think "Maybe I don't like this episode as much as I believe I do." But finally-happily-I organized my mind long enough to figure out my Top 5 episodes (plus one honorable mention). I mean, there were a few episodes I wanted to include-namely "Dalek", "Boom Town", "Father's Day", "The Girl in the Fireplace", "Smith and Jones", "Partners in Crime" etc-but I like to believe I covered my true favorites. I guess I would say there are the five episodes I would show new viewers in order to get them interested. IDK. That list always change too. So well, I now should get to the point.
Oh I feel like I should give warning. I wrote my reasons in-between homework late last night/early this morning. I thought about redoing a couple of them, but I think my late night writing is unintentionally hilarious. Eh.
Honorable Mention: Time Crash
The Fifth Doctor: To days to come.
The Tenth Doctor: All my love to long ago.
I couldn’t imagine leaving out “Time Crash” out from my countdown, though it wasn’t a full length episode. It’s just-I mean, there is not reason why I should hide one of my best traits. I’m truly a sentimental person. Even if I don’t experience something for myself I can understand why someone else has a deep attachment, and I got that while watching “Time Crash”. David Tennant idolized Peter Davison’s Doctor. He was the reason David decided to become an actor, and all that childhood love and respect shone throughout the Children in Need Special. It was definitely the first time I cried out of happiness doing Doctor Who because you just felt absolute joy when Five realized who he was talking to. You felt overwhelming delight when they exchanged their final words. It was pure bliss-no hint of sadness and sorrow. Something we got used to during Russell T. Davies’ run on Doctor Who, so it’s always nice to see that Space Emo disappear for more than four minutes.
#5: Midnight
The Doctor: I think the more we talk, the more she learns. Now I’m all for education, but in this case maybe not.
Back in February, I mentioned on Tumblr that I found “Midnight” scarier than “Blink” and that’s still true; however, there was no way I could rate this higher than my fifth slot without feeling absolute unfathomable yet completely silly guilt. Nevertheless, that’s not my point to make. My point is to explain why I love this episode so much and, if I wanted to be frank with everyone, there’s no particular reason why. “Midnight” is that episode that stays in your mind. And you can’t figure out why. And you don’t have a proper goal in figuring out why. You may get a feeling here and there, but never anything solid. With that said, I do believe “Midnight” works so well because-minus the alien/other planet bit, of course-we could find ourselves in that same position. Cabin fever, or whatever, is a common fear. There are so many novels and programs and movies based on this concept. It’s probably as old as time itself! I don’t know-it’s interesting to see the most rational person turn paranoid in the simple situation due to fear. It sticks with you.
(LOL, GODDAMN. If you noticed, I did make a slight mistake in this picspam. I duplicated a layer in the last row, so pretend the second one is Donna repeating Ten's words. I'm too lazy to fix now.)
#4: The Unicorn and the Wasp
Donna: It's a murder, a mystery and Agatha Christie!
Oh how, I can’t count the ways I love this episode. When I first heard about this episode, I was excited. I was really excited. I just can’t stress how much I was excited for Agatha Christie. But I didn’t truly know how much I was going to enjoy it until the night I watched it two year s ago, and it t was just proper fun. From the intro (“Flapper or slapper?”) to the flashbacks (“I was deep in the Ardennes, trying to find Charlemagne”) to that kiss (“Oh I must do that more often … I mean, the detox), it was all in good fun. I mean, the story wasn’t the deepest I’ve ever seen but I do believe “deep” is a little overrated. Sometimes you need something silly and entertaining to blow you away, and that was “The Unicorn and the Wasp”. It seamlessly told the story about Agatha Christie’s disappearance and memory loss in a unique Doctor Who way, and it worked. It was brilliant. Even though there were moments of sadness the end, it’s still an episode you can watch and feel great afterwards because of that ending with Ten and Donna flying off to their next adventure after talking about Christie’s continued success was so positive, so uplifting.
#3 The Parting of the Ways
Rose: I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them in time and space-a message to lead myself here.
I can't.
I don’t believe I know enough words to describe how much I love this episode. I honestly believe “The Parting of the Ways” was the only final episode RTD wrote that wonderfully. It was “epic” without even trying to be. It was … I don’t know. You wouldn’t know he has trouble coming up with ending if you only saw TPotW because it was a proper emotional journey. It had a clear beginning. It had a clear focus. You were shown Rose and Nine’s pain, not told. When Nine regenerated, you were sad but you had optimism because he went out the classiest way possible: “Rose, before I go, I just want to tell you: you were fantastic-absolutely fantastic and do you know what? So was I.”
I just can’t. I tear up just thinking about it. Nine was fantastic. Rose and Nine were fantastic. And “The Parting of the Ways” ended that but it was such a perfect ending for such a perfect duo. (Basically, I believe in Nine/Rose for life.) It was fantastic, simply fantastic. ;_;
#2 Blink
The Doctor: People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey ... stuff.
Frankly speaking, I have yet to encounter someone who doesn’t like “Blink”. Even my family members would hates everything that Doctor Who represents-and please don’t ask what that means; I haven’t figured that out myself-will sit down and watch episode with me whenever it pops up on our TiVo. It is simply brilliant. The story grabs you within the first ten seconds because you just connect with Sally. You never seen or heard of her before, but you just feel a connection with Sally since you are taking this ride with her without the Doctor to guide you and answer your questions. I know we’ve been through this before with “Love and Monsters”; however, it wasn’t done well IMO. That episode couldn’t figure out whether it was a parody of the Who fandom or a cautionary tale of whatever-point-I’m-trying-to-make, but everything clicked with “Blink”. You wished for Sally’s safety. You, in turn, got freaked out by the Weeping Angels because they tap into yet another common fear-just disappearing one day without a trace. No one can follow your trail if you are transported to different time!
AND OH GOD, THE CINEMATOGRAPHY! I cannot stress enough how gorgeous this episode is, and that probably boosts the scary factor. How can something so beautiful be so eerie? But I don’t know. I never know. I just know while I’m sad we’ll never see Sally again (I do believe her story is pretty close despite others’ feelings) I’m excited that the Angels are returning this week. I’m debating on whether I should watch it after the sunset like I did with Blink in 2007 or early morning with a live stream. Both have its benefits but I don’t know if I want another round of Weeping Angels nightmares, haha … Maybe I’ll just wait for the BBC America airing to do the after dark screening. That way I’ll be watching on a proper television set.
#1 The Sound of Drums
The Master: And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all; and I thought it good.
I swear I am the most predictable lady in the whole entire universe because, if you follow my Tumblr or happen to be my Livejournal friend, you should already know how much I love “The Sound of Drums”. It’s been my go-to Doctor Who episode since it first aired in July 2007-did it air in July 2007? it sounds correct-and I admitted the other day that I can quote it from memory. It’s very foolish to expect another episode to appear in this prime spot. If you had thought I would’ve thrown a curve ball, allow me to stress another point of personality-I’m motherfucking predictable.
But shouldn’t I explain why I have such an obsession with this episode instead of blabbing on and on about myself? I think I should. I think I really should. I don’t know. I feel like this episode was the perfect amount of silliness and drama because we get reintroduce to the Doctor’s, like, most epic enemy. (Well, okay, “most epic” would probably be dubbed the Daleks but, in my head, the Master.) And he’s like more unhinged in comparison to his other incarnations. However, despite that, the Master was able to successfully infiltrate the British government then become Prime Minster. And again, despite his insanity, you slightly find yourself rooting for his victories because he’s so charming and you get it. Even with mass hypnosis, you see why people would love Harold Saxon. And it all comes down to John Simm’s brilliant acting ability. I mentioned on Tumblr a month or so back how Simm always manages to captivate me with his performances. Everything I’ve seen him (thanks to being introduced to him by Doctor Who), I bought because he brings a certain presence to each and every character. His body language never fell short when he was playing the Master even if the camera wasn’t focusing on him. And even if the camera wasn’t focusing on him, you were still drawn to him because damn … such-y’know what I’m getting at? I didn’t mean to turn this into a John Simm gush session but I don’t think I’ve enjoyed RTD’s Master if it was anyone else in the roll. He just sold it so fucking well-like I can’t even fully explain without sounding the least bit foolish.
Then you had the music. One of the first things I noticed three years ago when I first watched “The Sound of Drums” was how the music just fit the episode so well. It was mixed in with the dialogue perfectly. It wasn’t too loud. It wasn’t too soft. “This is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home” is definitely one of my two three tracks from the Doctor Who score. And if I listen to it at the moment I still find myself getting a little emotional. Yeah, I’ll admit to randomly crying to “This Gallifrey”. It just taps into your soul. It may sound asinine to my parents and anyone else, but it’s a nice feeling knowing that a piece of score has that much of an emotional effect on you. So I guess I’m proud that I still find myself crying over the track but I’m sure I’ll be opening myself to more (playful) mockery by my fellow Livejournal friends.
Oh god, this is getting a bit TL;DR. I’ve mentioned Miss Martha Jones yet, and I’m running completely out of words. Let me just say she was absolutely magnificent in the way she dealt with the situation she found her family and herself in. You could really see her heart breaking when she teleported out of the Valiant. I loved Martha from the very beginning but it wasn’t until then that I knew how deep my love for her went. She’s beautiful, brave, perfect etc. But I don’t think there’s anything else I could say that I haven’t covered on Tumblr … multiple times. MARTHA JONES IS STUNNING, OKAY? And I stan for “The Sound of Drums” to the motherfucking death.
I wanted to include The Eleventh Hour on my list last night. However I thought it would be best to allow series five to wrap up before I decide if TEH should place anywhere on my list. We are only going into episode four tomorrow. For all we know, we are still waiting for the BEST EPISODE YET™. So yeah it's only the first four series.
I hope everyone enjoyed my obnoxiousness, and I would love to know your top five (or ten or fifteen)
Oh I feel like I should give warning. I wrote my reasons in-between homework late last night/early this morning. I thought about redoing a couple of them, but I think my late night writing is unintentionally hilarious. Eh.
Honorable Mention: Time Crash
The Fifth Doctor: To days to come.
The Tenth Doctor: All my love to long ago.
I couldn’t imagine leaving out “Time Crash” out from my countdown, though it wasn’t a full length episode. It’s just-I mean, there is not reason why I should hide one of my best traits. I’m truly a sentimental person. Even if I don’t experience something for myself I can understand why someone else has a deep attachment, and I got that while watching “Time Crash”. David Tennant idolized Peter Davison’s Doctor. He was the reason David decided to become an actor, and all that childhood love and respect shone throughout the Children in Need Special. It was definitely the first time I cried out of happiness doing Doctor Who because you just felt absolute joy when Five realized who he was talking to. You felt overwhelming delight when they exchanged their final words. It was pure bliss-no hint of sadness and sorrow. Something we got used to during Russell T. Davies’ run on Doctor Who, so it’s always nice to see that Space Emo disappear for more than four minutes.
#5: Midnight
The Doctor: I think the more we talk, the more she learns. Now I’m all for education, but in this case maybe not.
Back in February, I mentioned on Tumblr that I found “Midnight” scarier than “Blink” and that’s still true; however, there was no way I could rate this higher than my fifth slot without feeling absolute unfathomable yet completely silly guilt. Nevertheless, that’s not my point to make. My point is to explain why I love this episode so much and, if I wanted to be frank with everyone, there’s no particular reason why. “Midnight” is that episode that stays in your mind. And you can’t figure out why. And you don’t have a proper goal in figuring out why. You may get a feeling here and there, but never anything solid. With that said, I do believe “Midnight” works so well because-minus the alien/other planet bit, of course-we could find ourselves in that same position. Cabin fever, or whatever, is a common fear. There are so many novels and programs and movies based on this concept. It’s probably as old as time itself! I don’t know-it’s interesting to see the most rational person turn paranoid in the simple situation due to fear. It sticks with you.
(LOL, GODDAMN. If you noticed, I did make a slight mistake in this picspam. I duplicated a layer in the last row, so pretend the second one is Donna repeating Ten's words. I'm too lazy to fix now.)
#4: The Unicorn and the Wasp
Donna: It's a murder, a mystery and Agatha Christie!
Oh how, I can’t count the ways I love this episode. When I first heard about this episode, I was excited. I was really excited. I just can’t stress how much I was excited for Agatha Christie. But I didn’t truly know how much I was going to enjoy it until the night I watched it two year s ago, and it t was just proper fun. From the intro (“Flapper or slapper?”) to the flashbacks (“I was deep in the Ardennes, trying to find Charlemagne”) to that kiss (“Oh I must do that more often … I mean, the detox), it was all in good fun. I mean, the story wasn’t the deepest I’ve ever seen but I do believe “deep” is a little overrated. Sometimes you need something silly and entertaining to blow you away, and that was “The Unicorn and the Wasp”. It seamlessly told the story about Agatha Christie’s disappearance and memory loss in a unique Doctor Who way, and it worked. It was brilliant. Even though there were moments of sadness the end, it’s still an episode you can watch and feel great afterwards because of that ending with Ten and Donna flying off to their next adventure after talking about Christie’s continued success was so positive, so uplifting.
#3 The Parting of the Ways
Rose: I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them in time and space-a message to lead myself here.
I can't.
I don’t believe I know enough words to describe how much I love this episode. I honestly believe “The Parting of the Ways” was the only final episode RTD wrote that wonderfully. It was “epic” without even trying to be. It was … I don’t know. You wouldn’t know he has trouble coming up with ending if you only saw TPotW because it was a proper emotional journey. It had a clear beginning. It had a clear focus. You were shown Rose and Nine’s pain, not told. When Nine regenerated, you were sad but you had optimism because he went out the classiest way possible: “Rose, before I go, I just want to tell you: you were fantastic-absolutely fantastic and do you know what? So was I.”
I just can’t. I tear up just thinking about it. Nine was fantastic. Rose and Nine were fantastic. And “The Parting of the Ways” ended that but it was such a perfect ending for such a perfect duo. (Basically, I believe in Nine/Rose for life.) It was fantastic, simply fantastic. ;_;
#2 Blink
The Doctor: People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey ... stuff.
Frankly speaking, I have yet to encounter someone who doesn’t like “Blink”. Even my family members would hates everything that Doctor Who represents-and please don’t ask what that means; I haven’t figured that out myself-will sit down and watch episode with me whenever it pops up on our TiVo. It is simply brilliant. The story grabs you within the first ten seconds because you just connect with Sally. You never seen or heard of her before, but you just feel a connection with Sally since you are taking this ride with her without the Doctor to guide you and answer your questions. I know we’ve been through this before with “Love and Monsters”; however, it wasn’t done well IMO. That episode couldn’t figure out whether it was a parody of the Who fandom or a cautionary tale of whatever-point-I’m-trying-to-make, but everything clicked with “Blink”. You wished for Sally’s safety. You, in turn, got freaked out by the Weeping Angels because they tap into yet another common fear-just disappearing one day without a trace. No one can follow your trail if you are transported to different time!
AND OH GOD, THE CINEMATOGRAPHY! I cannot stress enough how gorgeous this episode is, and that probably boosts the scary factor. How can something so beautiful be so eerie? But I don’t know. I never know. I just know while I’m sad we’ll never see Sally again (I do believe her story is pretty close despite others’ feelings) I’m excited that the Angels are returning this week. I’m debating on whether I should watch it after the sunset like I did with Blink in 2007 or early morning with a live stream. Both have its benefits but I don’t know if I want another round of Weeping Angels nightmares, haha … Maybe I’ll just wait for the BBC America airing to do the after dark screening. That way I’ll be watching on a proper television set.
#1 The Sound of Drums
The Master: And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all; and I thought it good.
I swear I am the most predictable lady in the whole entire universe because, if you follow my Tumblr or happen to be my Livejournal friend, you should already know how much I love “The Sound of Drums”. It’s been my go-to Doctor Who episode since it first aired in July 2007-did it air in July 2007? it sounds correct-and I admitted the other day that I can quote it from memory. It’s very foolish to expect another episode to appear in this prime spot. If you had thought I would’ve thrown a curve ball, allow me to stress another point of personality-I’m motherfucking predictable.
But shouldn’t I explain why I have such an obsession with this episode instead of blabbing on and on about myself? I think I should. I think I really should. I don’t know. I feel like this episode was the perfect amount of silliness and drama because we get reintroduce to the Doctor’s, like, most epic enemy. (Well, okay, “most epic” would probably be dubbed the Daleks but, in my head, the Master.) And he’s like more unhinged in comparison to his other incarnations. However, despite that, the Master was able to successfully infiltrate the British government then become Prime Minster. And again, despite his insanity, you slightly find yourself rooting for his victories because he’s so charming and you get it. Even with mass hypnosis, you see why people would love Harold Saxon. And it all comes down to John Simm’s brilliant acting ability. I mentioned on Tumblr a month or so back how Simm always manages to captivate me with his performances. Everything I’ve seen him (thanks to being introduced to him by Doctor Who), I bought because he brings a certain presence to each and every character. His body language never fell short when he was playing the Master even if the camera wasn’t focusing on him. And even if the camera wasn’t focusing on him, you were still drawn to him because damn … such-y’know what I’m getting at? I didn’t mean to turn this into a John Simm gush session but I don’t think I’ve enjoyed RTD’s Master if it was anyone else in the roll. He just sold it so fucking well-like I can’t even fully explain without sounding the least bit foolish.
Then you had the music. One of the first things I noticed three years ago when I first watched “The Sound of Drums” was how the music just fit the episode so well. It was mixed in with the dialogue perfectly. It wasn’t too loud. It wasn’t too soft. “This is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home” is definitely one of my two three tracks from the Doctor Who score. And if I listen to it at the moment I still find myself getting a little emotional. Yeah, I’ll admit to randomly crying to “This Gallifrey”. It just taps into your soul. It may sound asinine to my parents and anyone else, but it’s a nice feeling knowing that a piece of score has that much of an emotional effect on you. So I guess I’m proud that I still find myself crying over the track but I’m sure I’ll be opening myself to more (playful) mockery by my fellow Livejournal friends.
Oh god, this is getting a bit TL;DR. I’ve mentioned Miss Martha Jones yet, and I’m running completely out of words. Let me just say she was absolutely magnificent in the way she dealt with the situation she found her family and herself in. You could really see her heart breaking when she teleported out of the Valiant. I loved Martha from the very beginning but it wasn’t until then that I knew how deep my love for her went. She’s beautiful, brave, perfect etc. But I don’t think there’s anything else I could say that I haven’t covered on Tumblr … multiple times. MARTHA JONES IS STUNNING, OKAY? And I stan for “The Sound of Drums” to the motherfucking death.
I wanted to include The Eleventh Hour on my list last night. However I thought it would be best to allow series five to wrap up before I decide if TEH should place anywhere on my list. We are only going into episode four tomorrow. For all we know, we are still waiting for the BEST EPISODE YET™. So yeah it's only the first four series.
I hope everyone enjoyed my obnoxiousness, and I would love to know your top five (or ten or fifteen)