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The Top 50 At 50

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The Doc
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« on: January 05, 2013, 01:46:17 pm »

When Saber came up with the idea for this section of the forum I was tasked with putting out my top 50 stories of Doctor Who. It's not quite a top ten, but 50 at 50 has a nice ring to it and so it's being added to this section.

As administator on the site I always try to stay as impartial as possible, never really listing my favourites or dislikes too often, so this list might seem quite interesting to some.

Now, when it comes to Doctor Who I have never pretended to be cool. In fact, I tend to find myself liking a lot of things that are deemed unpopular amongst fandom and not being overly impressed with things that are deemed to be the best. I think that is going to reflect in this list and I don't think it will be a typical 'best of' read where the same handful of stories are hovering around the top spot.

Choosing the top 50 was hard. I narrowed it down to my absolute favourite 81 but trying to lose 31 and then deciding on some sort of order was even more difficult. I think I changed the list about seven times before I decided on the rankings and even now I am not completely satisfied with it. The top 15 or so is more or less exact. The rest are the ones I was changing a lot. I've decided on an order now though so there is no changing now.

I will be posting an update every few days with the number 1 being announced at the anniversary. Please feel free to comment on (and berate) my choices as they are added to the list. If you would like to make your own, then please go ahead and do so within this section.

50. The Voyage of the Damned
49. The Keys Of Marinus
48. The Curse Of Peladon
47. The Mark of the Rani
46. The Gunfighters
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« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2013, 02:26:16 pm »

50

Voyage of the Damned


The Tenth Doctor
25th December 2007

I expected Voyage of the Damned to get a higher placing on my list. I love it. Quite a lot actually. That's part of the reason why making this list is so difficult. If I love the one in 50th position so much, can you imagine how hard it was trying to put the other 49 into order? I want to start by saying there was nothing I particularly disliked about this episode, I just liked the others a bit more.

VOTD, I remember, got a mixed reaction upon airing. Reaction these days doesn't seem to be any less mixed either, come to that. I'm not blind to it's flaws but everyone loves a trier and nobody can doubt the ambition behind this story. It had a bit of everything in it and was one of the first times the show went all out to make a mini-movie, which is something we are more used to seeing today under Moffat's reign.

For the entirety of it's run the show has been known to go in for a bit of stunt casting and I think Kylie Minogue is probably one of the biggest stars that the show has bagged. This, no doubt, probably played a big role in the episodes record winning viewing figures. It should have been a distraction. Pretty much everything about her playing Astid shouldn't have worked, but rather than the episode ending up being The Kylie Show, she was just a great addition to what was already a great cast and didn't steal the limelight away from story or the others. In fact, I'd say it turned out rather well.

The villains of the piece, Max Capricorn and the Host, were effective enough, though I think perhaps both would have worked better without the other. The Host seemed less scary when we realised they were being controlled and Max Capricorn seemed less convincing the more he had to rely upon them (though since the whole structure of the episode was based on his handicap there was little way around this).

The story itself brought nothing new to the table that we haven't seen done in the show before and arguably done better, but that didn't really matter when the whole thing was very obviously meant to be driven by the characters that we were given and ultimately had taken away from us, and in that respect the episode was a success. Russell T Davies didn't give us a script to make us think. He didn't give us the life changing Who of our times and he didn't really even come up with anything new, but what he did do was give us 72 minutes of pure entertainment, perfect for Christmas Day and most importantly for me, one that I always enjoy upon rewatch.
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« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2013, 04:00:10 pm »

It's a great story but I am not sure it would have made my top 50. Are you covering both eras? If I did one for NuWho it would be on there, I'm certain, but I am not sure with the classics included it would have made the cut.

This will be interesting though because as you say, you never reveal too much about the ones you like. I have my shocked face ready for your reveal that The Twin Dilemma is number 1 Shocked

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« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2013, 04:06:03 pm »

Yes it will cover both eras of the show Smiley

I think a lot of my choices will be unexpected. Whether The Twin Dilemma takes the top spot though you will have to wait and see Tongue
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« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2013, 05:54:04 pm »

This has definitely been one of the top Christmas specials, however when broken down and compared to all of the other stories I am not certain it is one that I would have picked for a top 50 of over 200 stories. I see it's appeal though, for sure.
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« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2013, 08:29:41 pm »

I think this is my favourite christmas special and one of my favourite episodes of Tennants run. I'd have definitely included it.
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« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2013, 12:23:28 pm »

It's not one that I would expect to see in my peoples best episodes lists, but there is just something about it that I really love. When I was trying to work out my top 50 there were a few times I thought I would get rid of it, but when I held it against some of the others I realised I enjoyed it more so it stayed.
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« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2013, 02:07:47 pm »

I think by the time I could come up with my all time favourite 50 the anniversary would be long past. I'm not sure if VotD is one that I would have included in my list, but it would be nowhere near the bottom of the list of all time stories either.
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« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2013, 11:49:46 pm »

I'm not sure that I would have the willpower to narrow all my favourite stories down to a small group, especially when there are so many. As has been said, in a top 50 of NuWho I think this would rank at a decent place, but I am not certain I would have had room for it taking the classics into account as well.
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« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2013, 03:20:17 pm »

49

The Keys Of Marinus


The First Doctor
11th April - 16th May 1964

The Keys of Marinus was never one that I'd have added to a list like this had I been tasked with doing it a couple of years ago. I remember the first time I watched it sitting there and waiting for it to be done. I was never much of a fan of it. Despite that though, whenever I was doing a First Doctor rewatch I would never skip it and the more I watched it the more I grew to love it. It just took a while for me to see how good it actually was.

Penned by Terry Nation, probably before he realised how much money the Daleks were about to make him, this story isn't without it's fair share of faults. Some of the pacing is a bit off and some of the characters come off as a bit two dimensional, but the overall plot is a strong one and Keys manages to give us something that is rarely done in Doctor Who. It gives us a planet. A whole planet. We aren't stuck in a tiny location where nothing happens beyond what we are seeing on the screen, but instead are treated to some wonderfully realised locations, really bringing a sense of size to this story and something that is obviously lacking in so many other stories, even in the new era. On top of that we are given real glimpses of just how capable these time travellers are and there are a great many scenes where the companions take the lead and outshine the Doctor. It's great to see, especially given how often they are overlooked and given little to do in other stories.

When it comes to the Keys of Marinus my only advice is to stick with it. At six episodes long it might seem a bit daunting, but the more you watch the more you will realise just what a little gem it is.
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« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2013, 04:54:52 pm »

I'm not sure about VotD, but TKoM would have been higher up my list, for sure. It's a great little story and all too often overlooked, I think.
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« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2013, 01:14:03 pm »

I'm with the Doc in that it took me a while to appreciate just how good this story is. I think that had I been doing this list I would have put it at a higher placing. Not too close to the top, but not hovering around the bottom, either.
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« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2013, 12:19:28 am »

Two great choices for inclusion there. Despite its mixed reviews, VotD has been one of my favourite NuWho stories and TKoM is an absolute classic.
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« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2013, 01:11:20 pm »

Both of those stories are brilliant, but had I done the list I think I'd only have had room for the latter. It's a great start to the list though and already shows how varied it will be because those two stories are complete opposites.
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« Reply #14 on: January 11, 2013, 05:11:04 pm »

48

The Curse Of Peladon


The Third Doctor
29th January - 19th February 1972

What you may find when watching a lot of Doctor Who stories, is that the writers often used them as a way of placing their own views into a story that is very obviously based on topical issues from the time. It's evident all through the series, even now, but seemed to happen a lot more frequently during the run of Jon Pertwee. This story is no exception. Sometimes it is more subtle, other times it is glaringly obvious. It's probably safe to say that this is one of those stories which still holds some relevence to situations today.

Peladon is visited twice by the Third Doctor (as a little spoiler, I will only be listing one of those visits) and here we have the original, and in my opinion best of those two, with it's popularity probably paving the way for the idea for the less well recieved sequel, The Monster of Peladon.

The story is a good one. A group of dignataries from various planets come together to try to convince the soon to be King of Peladon to join the Galactic Federation. Seems simple enough, but what we get is 4 episodes of prejudice, intrigue and sabotage, with the Doctor not always coming out as the good guy in situations. The atmosphere of the episode is spot on, with a great mix of characters thrown in for good measure. Of particular highlight is the work of Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning who, whilst always good, put on some of their best performances within this story and the Ice Warriors, who actually turn out to be good guys in this, despite the automatic assumption by everyone, myself included, that they won't be.

In an era set mostly on earth in factories and quarries, it's a nice change to get an alien world where the invasion of Earth isn't on the agenda for a couple of weeks. Letts and Dicks really bring Peladon to life, and while it suffers from the same setbacks as most planets in the show in that everything takes place within one small environment, this is one of those cases where what we get is all that we need and it never feels constrained.

The Curse of Peladon is one of those stories that balances everything really well and there is little to complain about (unless you just plain don't like the story, of course). It is grown up enough for the adults to recieve the message that it is trying to convey loud and clear, subtle enough that if that message goes over your head you aren't missing out, and has enough scares, funny bits and action sequences to keep the younger viewers entertained throughout. At four episodes long the pace is steady and the time is filled well, never outstaying it's welcome and dragging on, and the performances of everyone are top notch. It's easily the best story of Season 9.

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« Reply #15 on: January 11, 2013, 08:49:43 pm »

Perhaps an indication of just how good this story is is that the only thing that's wrong with it is it's awful sequel. It would have been on my list, for sure. Also, great review Smiley
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« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2013, 12:30:26 pm »

I love all the entries on the list so far. I have no idea what my top 50 would consist of. I'd have to really sit and think, but these three stories are as good as any and there is a good chance I would include them. I think Peladon may have ended up higher on my list though.
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« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2013, 12:38:19 am »

I can never remember which one of these is the one I like. I always have to check which companion is in it. This is the one I like though. It's a great choice for inclusion though not necessarily obvious. None of them have been particularly obvious so far. I'm liking how varied it is.
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« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2013, 03:57:49 pm »

TCOP is a fantastic story and I definitely can see why they wanted to revisit it. It's just a shame the return wasn't as good.
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« Reply #19 on: January 15, 2013, 08:03:53 pm »

I think The Curse of Peladon is a wonderful story with lots of good going for it, though I am not sure I rate it highly enough to include on a top 50 list. I still love it though.
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