Series 7 Countdown: Series 4 and the 2008-10 Specials Monsters

Today, I shall continue my Series 7 Countdown by detailing the main aliens and monsters that appeared in Series 4 and the 2008-10 Specials.

So lets start with Series 4...

Heavenly Hosts - Voyage of the Damned

The Hosts were average robots and I liked their line 'Information: You are all going to die.' because it shocked you as you thought 'Oh god, they're not heavenly at all!'. Anyway, the Hosts were pretty good monsters and I can't find many faults about them at all to be honest! 4/5

Adipose - Partner's In Crime 

In no way Monsters as they were just born, who can help that?! I loved their cuteness and the whole story of Partner's In Crime was great (apart from the title). The Adipose were a great use of CGI but did look a tiny but fake at times... 3/5

Pyrovile - The Fires of Pompeii

The Pyroviles were menacing monsters but the fact that they were simply defeated by a basin of water sort of took away a bit of the fear factor from them. But, they were greatly thought out and I loved how a real Earth event was written in, to be part of Doctor Who. 4/5

Ood - Planet of the Ood 

I loved how the Ood were given their own story at last after their medium-sized part in Series 2. Also, I really liked how were told the story of the Ood and why they want to serve. 4/5

Sontarans - The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky 

This highly unpopular two-parter re-introduced the Sontarans as cowards... in a way! If you are going to re-introduce something, then make sure that that story is fully about who the monster really is. Anyway, when the Sontarans were on a murder spree, it showed who they really were... shame this couldn't have been for the whole story. 3/5

Hath - The Doctor's Daughter

The Hath were strange creatures and I thought it was very unnatural for them to have green glass tanks for mouths! I didn't really like the Hath as you couldn't understand what they are saying, and I think language is something monsters need to be able to do well in, Judoon to the side as at least they can speak English in the end. 2/5

Vespiform - The Unicorn and the Wasp 

My favourite episode of Series 4 (excluding the Specials) saw a giant wasp take hold and I loved this as we were told later on in the series, they're not the only 'buzzing' creature to come fro, another planet... Anyway, a fantastic monster but the changing from human to wasp thing could have looked better. 4/5

Vashta Nerada - Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

The Vashta Nerada were another great invention of Moffat's as all you do to stop them from getting you is... RUN! Also loved how they kept the last words of their hosts constantly being said and this added to the eeriness of them. 5/5

Midnight Entity - Midnight

During the time of it's broadcast I highly disliked Midnight as I thought it was a cheap cop out but as I have re-watched it, I have started to really like it and I now love the mystery of the Midnight entity. Although, the thing that bugs me about it is we will never know what it really was... 3/5

Time Beetle - Turn Left

The Time Beetle was rarely seen but caused all the events to happen in Turn Left so it was a main monster. However, when we did see the Time Beetle, it looked like a cheap plasticky toy so this let the episode down a little bit... 3/5

Daleks - The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 

Finally after three series' we got a Dalek story with an empire at the height of its power! Absolutely fantastic from the Daleks as they were entirely ruthless and I liked how it rounded of the ending to the turbulent and some what controversial, Cult of Skaro saga with Dalek Caan nothing more than a Dalek traitor... Although they're cheated end did let them down a bit. 4/5

Davros - The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 

Couldn't decide whether to write about Davros or the Daleks so decided to write about both! Davros' reintroduction was good but not brilliant as it sort of took away the fact of the Time War never being able to be accessed by any living thing. But Davros' was pretty mad which I absolutely loved! 4/5

Now for the 2009 Specials...

Cybermen - The Next Doctor

The Cybermen were finally given another story after what had felt ages! I really liked the Cybershades coming back and the CyberKing was great as it once again got the Cybermen working at their best. 4/5

Stingray - Planet of the Dead

The Stingrays were good monsters as they were just ruthless creatures destroying entire planets to get what they want! They're look was great as for once I actually believed an alien with metal body parts to be natural. 4/5

The Flood - The Waters of Mars 

The Flood was a terrifying monster even though, it had no physical form. Definitely one of RTD's best episodes ever and The Flood's story left us wondering right to the end, what was going to happen... Also, I loved the whole just one drop thing. 5/5





The Master - The End of Time

The Master was back and this time was entirely MAD! His plan however was even better than his last and how he and The Doctor were deep down still friends, was great! At the end when the Master saved the Doctor's life, it was heart warming as we all knew that after all he had done to him, The Master was still the Doctor's friend. 5/5

Time Lords - The End of Time 

I thought I would just add these classic guys in as well as after all that time, we finally saw the Time Lords again! Their part in this episode was great as we finally found out the secret to why the Doctor had to kill them at the end of the Time War... 4/5

And my favourite is...

The Flood

It was just something about them and the great story they were given that I absolutely loved and they will be remembered by me, forever.

And my least favourite is...

The Hath

Not great monsters mainly because of the language barrier and they're unnatural appearance.

In Conclusion...

A fantastic collection of Monsters with ALL the classics: Daleks, Cybermen, The Master, Sontarans and Davros and also some one-off great monsters: Vashta Nerada, The Flood and The Vespiform. Definitely the best series so far for Monsters!

Series 7 Countdown: Worst Series 4

As Series 7 draws ever nearer, I am going to be 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 4.

The Poison Sky

The Poison Sky isn't a great episode for many reasons and I hope you too will think, that by the end of this article, The Poison Sky was pretty poor episode.

NOTE: Although Partner's In Crime had some weak points and isn't one of the best series opener's, I felt The Poison Sky was a little worse.

The Axe

I don't doubt for one second that Sylvia Noble would keep an axe in her house but the fact that it managed to get Wilfred out of the car when the Sonic Screwdriver couldn't, doesn't this tell us that the Sonic Screwdriver is rubbish? We all know that's not true but if you had just started watching Doctor Who at this point you would definitely think so.

Lack of Self-Confidence

When Donna was on the Sontaran ship, all she was doing was saying how she couldn't do anything the Doctor asked her to do! I felt this to be very annoying and the fact that she seems to have to be swayed to go out and face the Sontaran with the hammer, these seem to show us that Donna was a rubbish companion, when in fact she was just as good as Rose and Martha before her.

Sontar-Haha!

I've watched some of the classic series and when the Sontarans appear, they are ruthless and very deadly, but this episode seems to show how cowardly they were by stopping the bullets from the UNIT soldiers, when 'cowardly' is definitely not a word to describe a Sontaran. I hope the Sontarans are given a much stronger story some time in the near future, as I don't think the audience of today know quite how dangerous they really are.

Are you deaf, Martha?

At the very end of this episode when the TARDIS is going out of control, the Doctor is repeatedly telling Martha that he hasn't touched anything and that he can't stop it, but Martha seems to not hear him and just keeps on screaming to get her home. I found this quite weird and I think most other people would agree with me.

In Conclusion...

A poor episode that shows the Sonic Screwdriver, Donna and the Sontarans to be completely the opposite of what they really are. The ending just goes to show that Helen Raynor must have been shattered when she wrote this episode and that right at the end she completely lost the plot and I hope she doesn't write another Doctor Who episode ever again as she also seemed to be sleeping when she wrote another poor two-parter for Series 3, Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks.

Tomorrow: Best Episode of the 2009 Specials. (The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, The End of Time: Part 1 and The End of Time: Part 2)

Series 7 Countdown: Best Series 4

As Series 7 draws ever nearer, I am going to be 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 favourite episode of Series 4.

The Unicorn and the Wasp

This episode stands out for me as it twists together comedy, history and murder, none like I had ever seen before. The stand out bit for me was the murder mystery and I hope that Doctor Who does an episode around that plot again soon.

NOTE: Of course Series 4 saw the great two parter Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and almost every other episode was fantastic. Series 4 was by far the best series of the revival we had seen at that point. The Unicorn and the Wasp stood out for me for the plain reason that Doctor Who brought together aliens and Agatha Christie.

Chemistry

The Chemistry between The Doctor and Donna really shows in this episode because of the fact they both have a good sense of humour and the fact that Donna was the first companion of the revival to not fancy the Doctor, it was good to see the Doctor have a solid friendship without love getting in the way. Although this episode did see the somewhat compulsory kiss that takes place every series between the Doctor and his companion, it wasn't out of love it was to save his life.

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie's introduction in this episode was funny as the Doctor didn't seem to know who she was just by looking at her! Agatha also seems to be a match for the Doctor when they are trying to solve the murder and their partnership was great TV along with the 'plucky young girl who helps me out'!

Murder

Interviewing the suspects was a fantastic scene as it made us all wonder who done it as they were all lying about something but it was interesting to see who's actions lead to the murder. I thought it was Robina Redmond who murdered Professor Peach however she didn't in the end but she was the jewel thief, so I was half right...

The Wasp

The Wasp was a fantastic creation and I loved the fact that was seems a pretty dumb creature is actually very clever and in the end, the Vespiform was killed in a death which made you think, who else was a wasp going to die? You drown it.

The Lake

The scene going down to the lake was filled with suspense as we all knew what was coming: Agatha Christie's disappearance, but how that linked with the wasp was very interesting. I liked her disappearance being linked in with the episode as this was the second time it had been done in Series 4 (Vesuvius in The Fires of Pompeii being the other).

In Conclusion...

This episode was very strong and has to go down as one of my favourite episodes ever. The highlight wasn't the murder, the comedy or even Agatha Christie's disappearance, but the little fantastic quote 'A murder mystery and Agatha Christie'.

Tomorrow: Worst Episode of Series 4