The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon

The 7th of November 1987 marks the date that Pete Tyler died. Paul Cornell's 9th Doctor story Father's Day is probably my favourite of Christopher Eccleston's episodes for very selfish reasons - at the time it aired it was only a little over six years since my mother had died - but aside from the purely personal reasons for it being my favourite, it's also a dramatic, tense episode which deals with it's subject matter with the sensitivity and understanding it deserves. Just as The Aztecs illustrated to Barbara Wright that you can't rewrite history, not one line, Father's Day shows Rose Tyler what happens when you take action and succeed. In a way, this follows on from The Long Game in setting up the rules of time travel for a new audience; whilst that episode had shown Adam using his trip to the future for personal gain, and the Doctor's (rather cruel) response, Father's Day puts Rose in a position where she can alter the past and save he...

Selecting a favourite 8th Doctor story is always going to be difficult simply because there is both an unfortunate lack of 8th Doctor stories and, at the same time, more 8th Doctor stories than any other!  On TV, he only officially appeared twice as the lead - first in the 1996 TV Movie and again in the 50th Anniversary short The Night Of The Doctor . Out of those, Night Of The Doctor is by far the better, giving a taste of his character in under ten minutes and leaving you wanting more. The 1996 TV Movie is a great runaround and far from terrible, but has as many things which make you wince as make you love what you're watching. The stunning TARDIS interior, the brilliant direction of Sylv's death scene (including the frankly horrific sudden last gasp after you think he's gone), the 8th Doctor and Grace working out who he is outside her home, McGann's breathless performance as they try to avert the end of the world in the TARDIS and Grace's possession, rel...

I always thought there was something quite ironic about my favourite 7th Doctor story. I view the Colin Baker era as the point where the show really lost its way making mistakes in the longevity of the effects of the 'difficult' regeneration, the personality of the 6th Doctor himself, and his relationship with his companions. There were hints at the warmth needed in one or two stories in Season 22 (mainly The Mark Of The Rani ), but it only actually showed in the high point of Colin's run - The Mysterious Planet . The following instalment of The Trial Of A Time Lord failed to maintain this partly because of the 'interference' by the Valeyard, inserting false sequences showing the Doctor torturing Peri, amongst other things, and the Time Lord at his most bombastic. The next serial suffered from the introduction of a rather grating companion to accompany the rather grating Doctor and the finale was an utter mess, largely due to the unfortunate events taking place b...

The Armageddon Factor: Part One (20/01/19) A very good start with lots going on. The Doctor, Romana and K9 have gone to the planet Atrios in search of the final segment of the Key To Time. The planet is in the middle of a nuclear war with its twin planet Zeos, its ruler - the Marshall - intent on winner no matter the cost. He's opposed by figurehead Princess Astra who is having a covert affair with Surgeon Merak, and colluding with him to try and contact Zeos and come to a peaceful truce. The Marshall is either insane or is being controlled by something (the Black Guardian?) behind a mirror - or both - and has had one of his guards lock Astra in a high radiation zone (then shot the guard to shut him up). The Doctor, Romana and K9 landed near where Astra was imprisoned and found her by using the Locator (I think the segment is Astra's coronet as it fell off just before her unconscious body was dragged into a transmat by a cloaks figure with a fucked up face) and K9 blasted a...