My wife and I missed the reboot of Doctor Who when it originally ran. But recently we started watching it on DVD. The first two series blew us away – great characters, great stories, great writing.
However, as we’ve started watching series 3 we’ve been … underwhelmed. Partially it’s the departure of Rose, but that’s not all of it. We like Martha. The problem seems to be a decided drop in the quality of the writing. The first episode was pretty good, and the Shakespeare adventure was entertaining, but the Daleks in Manhattan was AWFUL. They took a really interesting (and scary) concept – the Cult of Skaro – and completely squandered it.
So, my question is: Does it get good again? Is this just a momentary lull? Or were series 1 & 2 the high point of the reboot?
I liked series 4 better than 3. Catherine Tate was brilliant Donna Noble was a very unique companion. She came close at times to being an equal with the Doctor. I also loved the humor that Catherine brought to the companion role.
Doctor Who constantly changes and reinvents itself. The actors change, the shows main writer changes. If you don’t like one season then you may like the next.
As time goes on I find I like martha less and less. She can be a bit smarmy. But it does get better. As aceplace57 says, each season is different. I loved Donna, too.
I would say that it was definitely a momentary lull. If you are watching season 3, you’ve got the excellent Human Nature/Family of Blood 2 parter to look forward to, and this is followed by Blink, widely regarded as the best episode of Who since it came back.
For me, there still hasn’t been a single season since the reboot that was consistent great. Every season has contained brilliant episodes and terrible ones somewhere else in the series. The good always outweighs the bad though, so its worth sticking with.
Daleks in Manhattan was probably a low point for the reboot. And I am really not a Martha fan in general. She grew on me a little by the end, but still…meh.
You have Donna Noble and some of the best episodes of the series still ahead. It definitely is not a downward trend from series 3.
I kind of liked 42 as a good “bottle episode.” I didn’t hate Manhatten but it was pretty mediocre. I think Martha is the sexiest companion, so that doesn’t hurt. Blink is awesome, so is Family of Blood, as Bakhesh mentions. Just IMO.
Many disagree, but I also love the ending of the season. Combine that with the Blink-Family of Blood sequence, and you get perhaps the best six consecutive episodes of any series I can think of - and certainly the most intense.
I’m the opposite. I much prefer Martha to Donna. I don’t like Ms. Tate. One of her other shows was constantly being promoted on the BBC before she came on and I just couldn’t stand her.
But I think Tenet as the Doctor is worth watching no matter who his companion is.
I think Season 3, especially mid-way, was kind of a low point for me, but there are some very good episodes towards the end. 4 was better overall than 3, but 5 and 6 are fantastic - even better than 1 and 2 in my opinion. I’d say definitely hang in there. You also have some great specials to look forward to, between 3 and 4 is Voyage of the Damned, which I liked, and after Season 4 there are four excellent 60 minute specials.
Season 3 has Family of Blood/Human Nature and Blink in it, doesn’t it? That’s three of the best Who episodes of all time right there. They’re really, really good.
Daleks in Manhattan was pretty poor, though, I agree.
Next series, Martha is replaced by Donna who is very different. And then, of course, you get the Matt Smith run after that.
I think series 4 was better than series 3 and series 5&6 better than either but YMMV. Having married companions (Amy & Rory in 5/6) changes the dynamic but I think in a good way as I felt the Doctor/Rose romance got in the way at times. And Donna, the series 4 companion, is more fun than Rose and brings a more interesting family to the party not the least of which is Wilf, her grandfather, one of my favorite minor characters in the entire show.
Thanks, guys. Your comments are very encouraging. We probably would have stuck with it anyway. (We’re also watching the old Tom Baker episodes in parallel since my wife had never seen those either.) I just had a sinking feeling last night after the ending of the Daleks in Manhatten arc. After the thrilling encounters with the Daleks in series 1 & 2, it was a horrible let-down.
I think Doctor Who (the reboot at least) has always been a show punctuated by lows and highs. I think Series 3 just has some of the lowest lows and the highest highs.
I completely agree! The next two after the Dalek episodes are The Lazarus Experiment & 42, which are OK, better than Daleks in Manhattan but nothing special. However then you get what is IMO the strongest 3 consecutive episodes of all 6 series, Human Nature/The Family of Blood and Blink, followed by IMO the strong Series 3 ending trilogy of Utopia/The Sound of Drums/ Last of the Time Lords.
Series4 is the strongest overall, I don’t think I disliked any of those episodes, though the Sontaran ones are my least favorite. After Series 4 are the 5 Specials (with The End of Time parts 1 & 2 being the strongest of the bunch)
Series 5 is very different in tone, due to the cast & crew change, but I still very much recommend it.** Vincent & the Doctor** is my favorite from that run. Series 6 however is my least liked series of all. There were a couple good episodes (The Doctor’s Wife in particular), but the stories get way too convoluted for my taste.
I liked The Lazarus Experiment but I really hate Martha’s mom. Just such a complete and utter bitch for absolutely no reason, and I cringe whenever she comes on screen because she is such a caricature of the Angry Mom.
Utopia is awesome, too. I like Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords but some of it gets depressing.
Stay with it. After Rose you do feel a bit let down and like Martha is a kind of poor substitute. I imagined the Doctor feeling the same way. But by god, you stick with it through Donna at least.
I hated Donna Noble the first couple times I saw her but I started warming to her by the end of The Fires of Pompeii (har har har). I hated her so much I wasn’t sure I’d continue watching. Family of Blood is one of my favorites - you get to see a side of the Doctor that is truly a bit frightening.
So no, it’s not downhill from here. It’s just a little weird and bumpy and different. Wibbly, wobbley, timey wimey, if you will.