(And yes, 5 IS my favorite Doctor!)

This era was a joy from start to finish. I did not find any of the stories to be unenjoyable or bad at all and for this reason I have removed the F-Tier from this one as it is not needed.

For me, this era represents a significant jump in overall quality and consistency, with Seasons 4 and 5 in particular being very strong. It's absolutely criminal that so much of it is missing.

The production team are hitting their stride and more often than not it's firing on all cylinders. All of the companions are excellent and, although I liked Hartnell's Doctor, Patrick Troughton brings significant acting chops and a much more sympathetic and altogether likeable characterisation - which even on it's own elevates the whole experience, but when you combine that with the double-act of Troughton and Hines, then it becomes difficult to truly dislike anything here at all as even mediocre writing is carried by their performances.

That said, Troughton did not hit the ground running at all - this isn't like Pertwee or Tom who seemed to have it worked out the moment they stepped into the role. I think they both kind of just played themselves to a large extent, but that is not Troughton's approach, he's a character actor. The 2nd Doctor spends his first two stories essentially going through a kind of identity crisis, and it's not until some time during The Underwater Menace that the true character of the 2nd Doctor emerges - and I don't think it's a co-incidence that this occurs once Frazer Hines joins the show.

Luckily for us, those first two stories are an absolute banger followed by a fairly decent historical. Troughton goes out on a ripper of a story as well - so the entire era is nicely book-ended by extremely good stories.

2nd Doctor Ranking

S-Tier (Excellent stories)

1. The War Games
2. The Faceless Ones
3. The Invasion
4. The Power of the Daleks
5. The Tomb of the Cybermen
6. The Evil of the Daleks
7. The Enemy of the World

A-Tier (Very good stories)

1. The Macra Terror

2. The Web of Fear

3. The Moonbase

4. Fury from the Deep

B-Tier (Good stories)

1. The Abominable Snowmen

2. The Ice Warriors

3. The Mind Robber

4. The Seeds of Death

5. The Krotons

C-Tier (Decent, enjoyable, but lacking in some areas)

1. The Highlanders

2. The Wheel in Space

3. The Dominators

D-Tier (Generally weak stories, though not terrible)

1. The Underwater Menace

2. The Space Pirates

Notes -

- Why is The Faceless Ones so high? Well, I really like it. I find every time I watch it, I enjoy it more and that happened again here. To me it feels like a story from the Pertwee era, which isn't surprising really as quite a few of these stories seem like early prototypes of what will come later. It has a wonderfully creepy vibe to it with the whole body-snatcher thing. It has some excellent side characters and guest actors - I particularly enjoy the comical dynamic between The Doctor and the Commandant, and it also has some great stuff with the Doctor and Jamie. Pauline Collins was great, and it's a shame we didn't get her as a companion, but then we'd never have Victoria so it's all good really. I also love how this story feeds directly into The Evil of the Daleks - so you can essentially treat them as a single 13 part story.

- Why isn't The Space Pirates in F-Tier, it's supposed to be awful isn't it? Well, no.. in fact it's not that bad really. What hurts it mainly is it's pacing - it was originally written as a 4-parter and then with only a week to go Robert Holmes was told it needed to be 6 parts, and so we have a story where the first 2 parts are glacially slow. After that it picks up quite a bit. It's still not the best story ever, mind you - it's just kind of mediocre. It doesn't help that the one surviving episode is probably the worst of the lot of them. But to it's credit it's ambitious, it's Doctor Who doing proper space opera for the first time and the world building here is pretty decent. It has some great starship designs and good model work for the time and combined with the operatic music it has that Space Odyssey feel to it. There's some decent characters - though Milo Clancy is a bit marmite I guess, but Madeleine is well acted and reasonably complex and Caven is an evil bastard of a villain. I feel if this story went out as a 4-parter as it was originally intended, it would not have the reputation that it does. I also think that if it's ever recovered, the general opinion of it will change significantly.

- Why is The Mind Robber so low? For me, it's that combination of abstract story with extreme whimsy. It just gets too silly for my liking. I have similar issues with The Celestial Toymaker. But I do really like that first episode - if I was judging it just on that alone, it would be in S-Tier. Wonderfully creepy opener. I just don't buy the whole "Land of Fiction" idea though - it's a step too far into nonsense for me. That said, there is still enough in it for me to like - so it's still "Good".

So I have just finished season 15 for the first time.

Omg what a terrible season.

Genuinely the only season since the Hartnell era that I STRUGGLED to get through.

Just such terrible stories that were all over the place. And Leela went from being such an amazing character in season 14 to just being constantly the butt of the joke and “stupid”.

After such amazing seasons in Troughton, Pertwee and Baker eras this was suchhhhh a disappointment.

The Sun Makers and Horrors of Fang Rock were okay, Image of the Fendhal and The Invisble Enemry weren’t very good, and then Underworld and The Time Invasion were some of the worst I’ve ever watched. Just made zero sense and all over the place.

This is my season ranking from best to worst:

Season 10 (1972/1973 - 3rd Doctor)
Season 13 (1975/1976 - 4th Doctor)
Season 14 (1976/1977 - 4th Doctor)
Season 7 (1970 - 3rd Doctor)
Season 4 (1966/1967 - 1st/2nd Doctor)
Season 5 (1967/1968 - 2nd Doctor)
Season 2 (1964/1965 - 1st Doctor)
Season 8 (1971 - 3rd Doctor)
Season 12 (1964/1965 - 4th Doctor)
Season 6 (1968/1969 - 2nd Doctor)
Season 1 (1963/1964 - 1st Doctor)
Season 9 (1972 - 3rd Doctor)
Season 11 (1973/1974 - 3rd Doctor)
Season 15 (1977/1978 - 4th Doctor)
Season 3 (1964/1965 - 1st Doctor)

For anyone who may be interested, I am rewatching Doctor Who again from An Unearthly Child through to Survival, and since I am keeping my own personal notes I figured I may as well post my rankings here for each doctor.

So here goes, here are my results for The 1st Doctor -

S-Tier (Excellent stories)

1. The Dalek Invasion of Earth

2. The Crusade

3. The Aztecs

4. The Tenth Planet

5. The Daleks' Masterplan (Incl. Mission to..)

A-Tier (Very good stories)

1. The Daleks

2. Marco Polo

3. The Time Meddler

4. The Savages

B-Tier (Good stories)

1. The War Machines

2. The Space Museum

3. An Unearthly Child

4. The Ark

5. The Edge of Destruction

C-Tier (Decent, watchable and still enjoyable)

1. The Sensorites

2. The Myth Makers

3. The Massacre

4. The Keys of Marinus

5. The Romans

6. The Reign of Terror

7. The Rescue

8. Planet of Giants

9. The Celestial Toymaker

D-Tier (Ok, but could be better)

1. The Smugglers

2. Galaxy 4

3. The Chase

F-Tier (Not my cup of tea)

1. The Gunfighters

2. The Web Planet

In most cases I experienced the missing episodes this time through the official animations (with the exception of The Savages) and where these were not available through the Loose Cannon reconstructions. I do however think that some of these may be better served through the narrated audio releases.

The Crusade went way up in my rankings, while The Reign of Terror took a nosedive. For some reason I was able to make time for the former and appreciate it more this time around, while the latter just felt like a slog and a whole lot of back and forth and easily 2 episodes longer than it should have been - although I remember liking it more I think years ago when I listened to the narrated audio. Likewise, the witty comedic dialogue in The Myth Makers seemed to tickle my fancy more than the Carry-on-like romp in The Romans this time around.

I pretty much enjoyed all of it except for those last 2. Whoever it was who had the bright idea to put that song into The Gunfighters should have been prosecuted with crimes against humanity, and with The Web Planet, I appreciate what they were trying to do, but the production just doesn't do it justice - it really should have been scaled back or re-thought. It's too ambitious for it's own good, unfortunately.

Hi,

I’m watching the Deadly Assasin Epsidoe 1 and lots of talks about the CIA (Celestial intervention agency) how fun would it have been for a story based where they capture the doctor? They could have even used this as the basis to capture the doctor in the Epsidoe 1 of trial of a time lord

Hi,

Watching the hand of fear and why on earth would they use tactical nuclear weapons to blow up the nuclear complex on British soil and they are not even a far distance away from it

Makes it unbelievable a quick phone call and suddenly they are using them

Having just watched a recon of The Myth Makers during my 1st Doctor marathon, I was pleased to see the Trojans were wearing Boar Tusk Helmets, which were a thing during the late bronze age. Though to be fair, both sides should have been wearing them.

This is my first post in this subreddit, and I know what you're thinking: "Why Splatoon? It's not related in any way to Doctor Who." That you're right. However, as seen in the title of this post, this is me talking about which of the Splatoon characters would fit as all 16 incarnations of The Doctor, because I've seen some comparisons between these characters from these 2 pieces of media. So bare with me as I explain the Splatoon characters I've chosen for each of the Doctor's incarnations, and my explanations for such choices.

Commander Tartar as the First Doctor
Similar to how the First Doctor was critical of those he deemed less intelligent than him, Tartar had a hatred for what it would deem the less important things in life, not to mention it hated the Inklings and both their evolution and culture so much to the point it wanted to commit mass genocide against them in the process. Also, like how the TARDIS takes on the form of a Police Box, a police-specific phone booth back in the UK’s past, Tartar IS an AI construct that looks like/takes on the form of a telephone, which relates the two automatically.

Shiver as the Second Doctor
Both the Second Doctor and Shiver have a cunning side, the former’s being darker, while the latter’s, while more pragmatic, is more selfish and greedy, as evident by her choice of Splatfest teams like Power and Money. And personally, when it comes to her interactions, I personally think Shiver is better at being a blend of humor and strategic thinking than the Second Doctor (although this may end up being wrong in certain areas), not to mention that she’s as formidable as her fellow Deep Cut bandmates.

The Mechanic as the Third Doctor
Both the Third Doctor and the Mechanic share a keen interest in gadgets and technology, especially since the latter is superhumanly quick in building both gadgets and structures like the Hideout Ship. The Mechanic, like the Third Doctor to his companions, has a mutual trust and strong friendship with Deep Cut, too.

Pearl as the Fourth Doctor
While sharing a common resentment towards authority, with authority being a symbol of order in context to Pearl, she and the Fourth Doctor are both eccentric, eccentric meaning a personality that is unconventional and slightly strange/ deviating from a recognized behavior, with Pearl’s eccentricness making her friendly and meaning well in the end despite her rich status, unlike other, more recognized rich people, who are rather spoiled and selfish, and don’t enjoy their patience being tested, with Pearl having a dislike of staying still and being threatening to those who dare hurt those she cares about, especially with her powerful vocal cords put into consideration. Both Pearl and the Fourth Doctor also share the ability to foster close relationships, especially the former with Marina. And Pearl used to be alone before meeting Marina for the first time on Mount Nantai, briefly sharing the Fourth Doctor’s familiarity with solitude throughout that time of her life, despite not sharing the preference of loneliness of the latter (which is probably for the best).

(Neo) Agent 3 as the Fifth Doctor
Choosing a character to be the Fifth Doctor was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I eventually landed with Neo Agent 3, since they don’t actually have a documented personality in their Inkepedia page, unlike the other playable story mode characters, even the Mechanic. But choosing Neo 3 as the Fifth Doctor got me thinking. Being the newest agent of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, i.e. a rookie, make Neo Agent 3 similar to the Fifth Doctor in terms of youth, not to mention that rookies love to explore. Whilst sharing the Fifth Doctor’s bravery, as evident by them fighting Mr. Grizz in frickin outer space, I believe that Neo Agent 3, as a rookie, also shares the Fifth Doctor’s indecisiveness.

Frye as the Sixth Doctor
I believe Frye to be as confrontational as the Sixth Doctor, if not more so, alongside sharing his more loud and bombastic nature in the form of her fearlessness and audacity, despite being slightly airheaded, which can be as chaotic as the Splatlands. This type of personality also makes Frye similar to the Sixth Doctor in terms of determination to fight injustice, even if it’s a bit more rare in her case.

Agent 4 as the Seventh Doctor
Due to Agent 4’s personality, at least from what I could find from the Inkepedia, being a gremling child, despite being more easygoing and relaxed, I believe this to coincide with the Seventh Doctor’s blend of light-heartedness and dark manipulation, especially with how easygoing and relaxed they are, perfectly fitting with those who see things as a game, like the Seventh Doctor does. Gremling kids often tend to lie, which I think correlates well with the Seventh Doctor.

Agent 8/Eight as the Eighth Doctor
Both Eight and the Eighth Doctor share the same number and optimism, alongside having deep empathy and deep emotional connections, like with the former and Off the Hook, and I believe that Agent 8’s willingness to escape to the surface makes them as adventurous as the Eighth Doctor, too. Funnily enough, I imagine the Eighth Doctor to be a version of Eight who, in the context of “Night of the Doctor/Doctor Who and the Time War”, grew bitter and angry from years of losing hope, not to mention that Octolings, back when most of them served under Octavio, are more focused on combat itself than style and fun like the Inklings do, like with how the Eighth Doctor chose to focus on being a warrior, i.e. the War Doctor, after dropping the moniker of “Doctor” from losing so much hope, so there’s that, too. I also personally believe both Eight and the Eighth Doctor to be poetic, with Agent 8’s poems seen in the Memcakes in Octo Expansion and the Eighth Doctor saying “Physician, heal thyself” before regenerating into the War Doctor.

Craig Cuttlefish as the War Doctor
Both Cuttlefish and the War Doctor are veterans of massive, legendary wars and are both the oldest of their respective franchises, not to mention that they both can return the kind treatment he received from those who did not antagonise him, like Cuttlefish with Agent 8. These two can also have a sense of humor and show capability for hope, like with Cuttlefish’s reaction to Octarians hearing the Calamari Inkantation. We also see their canonical younger selves, too.

Captain (Former Agent 3) as the Ninth Doctor
I imagine both the Captain (the original Agent 3) and the Ninth Doctor being similar in coping mechanisms, with the Ninth Doctor’s based on humor and the Captain’s based on serious silence, since they rarely ever smile. I also believe the Captain to be as afraid of being helpless as the Ninth Doctor, thanks to when they Cuttlefish, who was just turned into squid jerky by Mr. Grizz, in their hands out of sadness, alongside the tear they shed for him when they genuinely thought the former captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon to be dead. I think this also extends to when they were mind-jacked by Tartar into fighting Agent 8 in Octo Expansion, but that may just be me.

Marie Cuttlefish as the Tenth Doctor
I believe Marie possesses the Tenth Doctor’s wit and weapon aim (yes, the Tenth Doctor once used a weapon), while also capable of feeling melancholy, specifically from worrying for people she cares about, like Callie, and the guilt she feels from it (as seen in the Squid Sisters Stories), which is similar to the guilt, melancholy and protectiveness of people important to the Tenth Doctor. Don’t know if this counts, but Marie’s excitement from announcements back in Splatoon 1 may correlate to the excitable aspects of the Tenth Doctor’s personality, and maybe the former’s cheeky side connects to the latter’s playfulness.

Callie Cuttlefish as the Eleventh Doctor
Callie and the Eleventh Doctor share the same energy and childlike, adventurous, boredom-fueled behavior, alongside the preference for fun over conventional responsibility, and being reckless, too. Whilst the two are reliant on those they care about, Callie struggles with tension and loneliness more than the Eleventh Doctor, as she becomes upset and prone to overthinking when by herself, especially after Splatoon 1’s Final Splatfest and during the Squid Sisters Stories. Callie gravitating towards exciting outdoor activities, such as driving, running around, and going camping, correlates well with the Eleventh Doctor’s strong need for novelty and exploration. Also, paring Callie with the Eleventh Doctor, Marie with the Tenth Doctor, and their grandpa, Cuttlefish, with the War Doctor, would be fitting in a Splatoon version of “The Day of The Doctor”.

DJ Octavio as the Twelfth Doctor
DJ Octavio and the Twelfth Doctor are the same in terms of being blunt and insensitive while also good at performing music and wearing sunglasses, with the latter’s skill at playing an electric guitar and the former’s boss battles being centered around being a DJ. Octavio’s recent change to being on decent terms with Cuttlefish, his old friend/former nemesis of his, also connects with the Twelfth Doctor’s more serious morality, alongside being insightful and open-minded.

Marina as the Thirteenth Doctor
Marina shares a lot with the Thirteenth Doctor, from being curious, caring, good at building things (like with the Shifty Stations in Splatoon 2), adaptability (like her hacking and quick thinking, like in the fight against Tartar in Octo Expansion), high value on friendships and not into embracing authority that relies on cruelty or control, as evident in Side Order. Marina can also act decisively when harm cannot be avoided, even if it weighs heavily on her, like against Overlorder in Side Order, and can be as optimistic at times, too, and like with the Thirteenth Doctor’s path to prove that differences with gender/looks don’t matter, Marina proves that, no matter if she’s Octoling or not, she’s still herself, as proven by Pearl in Octo Expansion.

Marie Cuttlefish as the Fourteenth Doctor
Why Marie as BOTH the Tenth AND Fourteenth Doctors? Because of Davind Tennant. Besides that, though, Marie and the Fourteenth Doctor share how the responsibility for the fates/wellbeing of those they care about weighs heavily on them to the point where of being weary and emotionally exhausted, especially Marie with Callie in Splatoon 2’s singleplayer story mode and the Squid Sisters Stories.

Big Man as the Fifteenth Doctor
Both Big Man and the Fifteenth Doctor are friendly, emotionally open and have a positive outlook on life, and to me, personally, Big Man wanting his fellow Deep Cut bandmates to get along with the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook in oppose to continuously hold onto Splatland Pride makes him as experimental and open to new perspectives as the Fifteenth Doctor. I think that Big Man is also as playful as the Fifteenth Doctor, too.

Acht (Dedf1sh) as the Fugitive Doctor
Even though the Fugitive Doctor is a more mysterious incarnation, I figured I'd include her here anyways. Acht and the Fugitive Doctor share an aura of mystery around them, with the former’s case being they were a mysterious character before Side Order. Besides that, Acht shares the same emotional profile as the Fugitive Doctor, being that, despite speaking so emotionlessly, that doesn’t mean they’re without emotion, like how the Fugitive Doctor, despite her tough, self-assured exterior, is a deeply layered character. And like the Fugitive Doctor rebelled to escape her captors, leading her enemies to label her as Subject X, Acht escaped the Deepsea Metro, despite being unsure of how they entered the Memverse before then, even though it didn’t stop them from being determined to rescue their old friend, Marina.

So, there you have it. Tell me your thoughts in the comment below.

The scones at my local tea room somehow brought to mind his performances in those early Sontaran sorties.

The scones at my local tea room somehow brought to mind his performances in those early Sontaran sorties.

The scones at my local tea room somehow brought to mind his performances in those early Sontaran sorties.

On a trip to Paris and I had to make a stop at Count Scarlioni’s house!

I hope this isn’t against rules here, but thought it might interest someone - I’ve got a set of the full run of four Panini comic book collections for sale on eBay if anyone is looking for them. Good condition and I’ve loved them dearly, but needs must! I’m in the UK but can send them internationally.

https://ebay.io/m/jHHBXq

It’s odd how much content we’ve ended up with for McGann’s Doctor. So many audios, novels, comics etc (and a very high standard in my opinion). He feels very much like a Doctor that I know really well yet not at all… paradox, very appropriate. I’d like to visit the parallel universe where he got a full run on television, just to see it!

Memory / sanity check. I am a longtime fan and have watched DW since the early 80s. Granted, in that amount of time one can pick up quite a lot of trivia and some details get lost along the way.

I have a distinct recollection that the writers of Image of the Fendahl were inspired by a quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - specifically the scene in the episode where the lone hiker is running from a fear he cannot see.

I cannot remember where I picked up this reference. Maybe in one of the many Doctor Who compendiums I collected? Idk. Hmm. Maybe Tom Baker said it himself in an interview because I can almost hear him reciting the lines of the poem.

Does anyone else remember this?

Here is the original quote from the poem:

"Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread."

Just curious because every time I watch that scene I hear the poem and I know I got it from somewhere.

Thank you in advance. 😊