It’s that time of year again when Blogtor takes a look over the Doctor Who telly offerings of the year and then places them, needlessly, into his ten favouritist. Yes, that’s right. I did just use the word favouritist. Get over it grandad! For your pleasure below is The Top 10 of 2011 as thunk by Blogtor (and you can find the 2010 Top 10 HERE if you’re completely bored).10. The Doctor, The Widow & the Wardrobe
The most recent offering manages to nudge out this year’s Pirate episode and the Ganger two~parter; mainly down to the vivaciousness of Matt Smith who starts the Christmas Special off in fine form. The Doctor, The Widow & the Wardrobe was pleasing on the eye and introduced us to, hopefully, future companion Holly Earl. Review HERE.
=7. A Good Man Goes To War / Let’s Kill Hitler / The Wedding of River Song
You know, it’s difficult to separate these episodes. Each one is bold and broad as the other with revelations and surprises packed into every possible Silent~filled corner. Each with stunning set pieces, eye~popping visuals and larger~than~life characters. And each with a paper thin story that made way for all of these fanciful facets. Great one~off viewing. Review of Let’s Kill Hitler HERE and what YOU thought of The Wedding of River Song HERE.
6. Closing Time
Although the ending (lurve defeating the Cybermen, in case you’d banished it from your memory) made me despair somewhat, the preceding thirty~five minutes had been greatly entertaining. Matt Smith and James Corden make for an excellent couple, eliciting laughs at every turn. The Cybes were a tad underused but we were treated to the awesomeosity of Stormaggedon… Review HERE.
5. Night Terrors
Mark Gatiss delivers his first modern~day telly tale and, backed up by some of the finest direction seen in a Doctor Who episode from Richard Clark, delivered chills, lurve but mainly laughs in this flat from hell scenario. More, I feel, could have been made of the creepy effin’ dolls but Daniel Mays put in a fine performance, bouncing well of Matt (and mentioned in my Actors Wishlist back in 2010 HERE) and plaudits also go to Jamie Oram who played George with Hammer Horror~esque kiddy scares. Review HERE.
4. The God Complex
Again, this is another story that was slightly floored by a pathetic resolution but the Hotel from Hell (didn’t I just say that?) was hugely entertaining with its nightmare rooms and doom~laden atmosphere. The cast were tops, especially future~companion~to~be Amara Karan (pur~lease?) though David Walliams was less than impressive. The ending, dropping off The Ponds, was inspired and hugely unexpected – though, sadly, it was not to stick. Review HERE.
3. The Girl Who Waited
A beautiful story with Karen Gillan performing as never before. Her “Old” Amy was a thoughtful portrayal that meant heartbreak was the only ending for this story. I have to say I did think, for one moment, that there was the distinct possibility of two Amys in the TARDIS – what fun they could have had! The episode loses points for the Macarena and thinking yourself into the same time zone. Review HERE.
2. The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
SteeMo’s bold opening contained some of the most memorable imagery and set pieces in the entire series (which didn’t live up to this tumultuous start). The American setting added some needed foreign spice and The Silence proved to be another excellent villain from the current showrunner. The boldness was matched in the two~parter’s gorgeous cinematic style and in one of Murray Gold’s most electric scores. Reviews HERE and HERE.
1. The Doctor’s Wife
An out~and~out classic. Suranne Jones’ performance as the ‘wife’ was a treat from start to finish and a wonderful folly to Matt’s Doctor Who. Director Richard Clark again proves that he has a masterful eye when it comes to Who; handling the scares, the laughs and the loves. And he does so with aplomb. The only downside? I really wanted more. An hour could have served the story far better, giving more time to House and his inhabitants. But still, a small point, and one hopes that Gaiman will return sooner rather than later. Review HERE.
RELATED POSTS
Series 6 – What Did YOU Think?
Top 10 Doctor Who Stories of 2010
The Readers’ Poll 2010
Series 6 Audio Commentaries
REVIEW: The Complete Sixth Series boxset
The Doctor, The Widow & the Wardrobe – What Did YOU Think?
I agree with this pretty well 100% a few I might have switched in order, but otherwise spot on. I had high hopes for several episodes and endings disappointed, though I think the ending of Closing Time was stronger than it's given credit for. The underlying flow of that story was the lack of connection between Craig and Stormageddon, that link being forged and giving Craig strength worked for me.
Doctor's Wife may be my favorite episode of Doctor Who ever though.
Night Terrors was one of the worse stories of the year, it was down right horrible
I agree that The Doctor's Wife was head and shoulders above the others as the best episode of 2011. Otherwise, too many stories (especially in the second half) were resolved by wishing/remembering/ thinking very hard, which is a very unsatisfactory way to wrap things up.
Anyway, Happy New Year Cam!
Stormageddon was the single most amusing character of the season to me, very funny that the Doctor, of course speaks baby. I think The Doctor's Wife was second best though- loved that the Tardis calls herself "Sexy". Cracks me up every time I watch.
Hmm, nope don't agree with your list there. Your top pick didn't even make my list and yes I have a list! For reasons of space I won't list them all here but top 3 were: Wedding of River Song, A Good Man goes to War and finally the best of the lot (IMHO) The Girl Who Waited.
Over-all a better series than last years (2010) but I do think there were too many easy answers to wrap things up – let's face it though DW has been doing that since 1963! 😀
My List (1 is the best, 14 is the worst)
14. Night Terrors
13. The Rebel Flesh
12. The Curse of the Black Spot
11. Closing Time
10. The Almost People
9. Lets Kill Hitler
8. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
7. The Girl Who Waited
6. The God Complex
5. A Good Man Goes to War
4. The Doctor's Wife
3. Day of the Moon
2. The Impossible Astronaut
1. The Wedding of River Song
Let's Kill Hitler, A Good Man Goes to War and The Wedding of River Song are placed far too low. Even if you didn't like them Cameron, below Night Terrors? really? I also wouldn't lump Let's Kill Hitler in with the other two. It had a clear, standalone story (the "birth" of river song) whilst tying up more loose ends than even the finale did, for my money.
For me, I'd list them, (from worst to best)
Poor:
12) Night Terrors
Mediocre:
11)Curse of the Black Spot
10) Closing Time
Good:
9) The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
8) The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People
Excellent:
7) The Wedding of River Song
6) The Girl Who Waited
5) The God Complex
4) A Good Man Goes to War
3) Let's Kill Hitler
2) The Doctor's Wife
1) The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon
Pretty much agree here, though I rated The God Complex above The Girl who Waited. I'd have also placed The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People higher than the A Good Man Goes to War/Let's Kill Hitler debacle.
Overall – too many parenting stories, too many doubles, too much dull foreshadowing and not enough monsters!
Sadly, I think the worst season since 23.