Series 7 Countdown: Series 1 Monsters

Yesterday, saw the conclusion of the first part of my Series 7 Countdown, which s me detail, day by day, my favourite and least favourite episodes from each series of New Who. But as promised, I am continuing my countdown posts with one article over the next six days detailing about the Monsters for each series of New Who. In these articles I will write a short passage about the main monsters from each episode in each series and I will conclude each article with my favourite and least favourite monster from that series. Today I start with the Monsters and Aliens from Series 1.

Autons  - Rose 

One of my least favourite aliens ever, just because of their rubbish plastic-like appearance! I hope the production team have realised this, so they never bring them back ever again. Also I feel they definitely weren't the best alien to be in the return story of Doctor Who as there were hundreds of other monsters they could have included which would have made the story much better. 1/5

Cassandra - The End of the World

I loved The End of the World for two reasons: a great story and the introduction of so many new , bizarre and brilliant aliens with one being the evil Cassandra. I really liked the idea of her being 'the last human' and her trampoline-like appearance showed that this was a woman who would do anything to stay alive, no matter how many people died... 4/5

Gelth - The Unquiet Dead

The gaseous Gelth were not great aliens and I feel started of the trend of all of Mark Gatiss' episodes being rather rubbish! Anyway, the Gelth looked like a gas hob more than anything else and I think because they didn't have the 'remembrance' factor, we won't be seeing them again. 1/5

Slitheen - Aliens of London/World War Three/Boom Town

The Slitheen were my favourite new monsters of Series 1 because they were everything humanity thought aliens would look like: green, blobby men! Plus their first story was all about mans first contact with an alien species that the public knew about. Well in the Whoniverse anyway... Also I am very disappointed that they haven't made another appearance in Doctor Who but I hope they do soon! 5/5

Daleks - Dalek/Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways

The return of the Daleks was fantastic and they couldn't have had a better two-parter at the end of the series. The Emperor Dalek returning was good, however I would have liked him to have survived because I feel his character had more to give other than the one episode he got given. The Bronze Daleks are my favourite's because they look brutal and whoever designed them has really put the fear back into them! 5/5 

Jagrafess - The Long Game

The Jagrafess was a good monster however I don't see how the Dalek's needed to install the Jagrafess into Satellite 5 in the first place as I feel it would have been much easier for them to control it! Anyway, back to the Jagrafess, this blobby pink monster looked the part but as it was stuck on the roof the whole time I don't feel it was that well protected and was easily defeated. 3/5

Reapers - Father's Day

The Reapers were average aliens and I don't think their part in the changing of time was that well put down as time has been changed many times after and they haven't dared make the slightest appearance. Anyway, in the one story they did appear, they weren't there that often and I didn't really like the idea that there was actual creatures who came to 'sterilize the wound' and I feel if time just blanked out (or something similar to what happened in The Wedding of River Song), then this would have made a better story. 2/5

Nanogenes - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

The Nanogenes were a great alien as they were only trying to help but in actual fact they were on their way to wiping out an entire species! The kind of monster that is killing people but doesn't actually know they are doing it, is a great kind and probably even more deadly... 3/5

And my favourite is...

The Daleks

Undoubtedly, the greatest alien to ever grace our TV screen and had a stellar two-parter at the end of this series!

And my least favourite is...

The Autons

The plastic menaces were pretty bad and were actually so bad looking it was almost funny! And that is something that I thought I would only do with some of the classic monsters!

In Conclusion...

A good range of monsters and aliens featured in this series and most are definitely memorable and deserve more episodes in the future.

Series 7 Countdown: Worst Series 1

As Series 7 draws ever nearer, I am going to start publishing countdown posts. For each post I will write about my most memorable episode from that series and also a separate article for my least favourite episode of that series. (The 2009 Specials and the Christmas Special's will both have there separate articles) Today's article is on my least favourite episode of Series 1.

The Unquiet Dead

This episode, for me, isn't great and is very weak overall. If you are disagreeing with me now, let me try and let you understand...

Setting

The setting of this episode was dull and I feel that the setting of a historical episode needs to have something strange about it, not just an ordinary street in the time of Charles Dickens like this episode.

Charles Dickens

When it was announced that there was going to be an episode about Charles Dickens, we though that we must be in for a treat here. But 45 minutes after the titles rolled, I felt thoroughly let down that such a great historical figure was given such a rubbish episode.

The Rift

The only good part of this episode was the introduction of the space-time rift in Cardiff, which leads onto Torchwood and Doctor Who stories alike.

The Gelth

The Gelth are one of my least favourite aliens to ever feature in Doctor Who because they were a very weak monster and if you are going to write a story about an alien entity then you need to have a stronger storyline than the one that was given for this episode. For example, the Isolus from Fear Her was a great entity as it was doing evil stuff but it only wanted to have friends and the mysterious entity from Midnight was great as it scared you and you wondered what the next step was going to be as it copied it's victims.

In Conclusion...

Besides the introduction of the Cardiff rift, this episode was fairly dull and has to go down as one of the worst episodes in New Who.

Tomorrow: Best Episode of Series 2

Series 7 Countdown: Best Series 1

As Series 7 draws ever nearer, I am going to start publishing countdown posts. For each post I will write about my most memorable episode from that series and also a separate article for my least favourite episode of that series. (The 2009 Specials and the Christmas Special's will both have there separate articles) So lets start with my most memorable episode from Series 1...

Bad Wolf

Bad Wolf is my favourite episode of Series 1 as it draws together drama, comedy and action so you get a fantastic episode that suits all. Throughout this article I hope that I will convince you of it's brilliance.

Game Shows

The game show part at the beginning is one of my favourite parts of Doctor Who EVER! The comedy about the Doctor being in the Big Brother house, Rose being in the Weakest Link and Jack with the seemingly harmless Trinny and Sussanah bots, is all great and also with the question that everyone is thinking: how are they there?

The Controller

The Controller was a mysterious character but I have to say I don't understand why she was in the episode in the first place. Why couldn't the Daleks just have controlled the Game Station from their ship so they couldn't be betrayed as they were by the Controller? They are clever creatures and could have disguised their control by putting some security around it.

The Daleks

I loved how the Dalek's were revealed at the end of the episode although I had sort of already guessed they were going to appear as the shadow of the one that killed the Controller gave it all away. I feel if they had just taken away the Controller and not bothered with the scene on the ship of her getting exterminated, then their reveal would have been much better and much more surprising. Apart from that, I couldn't wait till the series finale to see how the Daleks were defeated this time, or maybe they might have won...

The End

'Rose! I'm coming to get you!' was the line that finished this great episode and it left us all jumping with excitement for the next episode! The end with the Rose on the ship was a bit unconvincing though, as I don't see why the Daleks didn't just exterminate Rose, seeing as how she was connected to the Doctor. I know she was bait so the Doctor would come to the Dalek ship, but I feel he would have come anyway, even if she was exterminated.

In Conclusion...

This episode brought together all the elements that make a great Doctor Who episode: humour, action, great quotes and a great enemy! Overall not only my favourite episode of Series 1, but one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who EVER!

Tomorrow: Worst Episode of Series 1