Doctor Who (2005) 1-08: Father's Day (Quick Review)

Episode:

704

|

Serial:

163

|

Writer:

Paul Cornell

|

Director:

Joe Ahearne

|

Air Date:

14-May-2005

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching Father's Day, by veteran Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell. He only ever wrote two stories for the TV series, with this being the first, but he'd been writing Doctor Who novels, audio dramas and comics since the start of the '90s, so he'd had a bit of practice by this point.

The episode wasn't released on Father's Day, by the way. Wrong month entirely. Just like how the Christmas episode, The Unquiet Dead, wasn't released on Christmas. It's a weird thing to point out, but the series loves its holiday specials so much that these days that if you see a character eating an Easter egg, for example, the episode probably aired at Easter.

Alright, this is where the SPOILERS start, so it's your last chance to get off. Though I'll only spoil things that happen in this episode or earlier. As far as this review is concerned I've time-travelled back exactly 20 years to 2005, so if you're watching the series for the first time this will be safe to read.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-05: The Story & the Engine

Episode:

889

|

Serial:

317

|

Writer:

Inua Ellams

|

Director:

Makalla McPherson

|

Air Date:

10-May-2025

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about The Story & the Engine, the latest episode of Doctor Who.

It was put together by black writer Inua Ellams and black director Makalla McPherson, and I'm bringing this up because this may be the first time in Doctor Who history that the writer, director and Doctor have all been black. Though if you change 'Doctor' to 'one of the regular cast', then Rosa was first.

This is one of the episodes I've been most curious about this season. Partly because the middle three episodes were the best ones last time, partly because of all the new people involved. I think it's easier to get enthusiastic about seeing new names on an established TV series, as it's like a safety net. Whatever this is, it's going to be Doctor Who, and I typically like Doctor Who!

There's apparently a prequel story this time. Not a video like in the olden days, it's text on the website. But I generally skip the prequels unless everyone's yelling at me to stop what I'm doing and check them out right now (like with Day of the Doctor), so I have not seen it.

There will be SPOILERS past this point (and also SPIDERS) so if you haven't seen the episode yet you might want to go do that first (unless you don't like spiders).

Doctor Who (2005) 1-07: The Long Game (Quick Review)

Episode:

703

|

Serial:

162

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Brian Grant

|

Air Date:

07-May-2005

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching The Long Game, which is either the 7th or the 703rd episode of Doctor Who, depending on how you count it.

It's closer to 703rd to me, because I started in the Matt Smith era, continued watching the modern episodes as they aired, went back and watched all of classic Who, and now I'm here. Okay I did check out the big Russell T Davies era stories everyone mentions like the finales, Blink, Forest of the Night etc., but this never made the list. No one ever says "Hey, you've got to check out The Long Game, it's got Simon Pegg in it!" Even though he does turn up in it, I knew that much going in. I've also known how it ends for a long while, because it's a bit of a meme.

Okay, there are SPOILERS below for this episode and maybe earlier stories too, so stop reading now if you value your ignorance.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-04: Lucky Day

Episode:

888

|

Serial:

316

|

Writer:

Pete McTighe

|

Director:

Peter Hoar

|

Air Date:

03-May-2025

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, all I do is write about Doctor Who, constantly. This time it's the episode Lucky Day, from season 2. Or series 15, if that's how you're counting them. 41 is also an option.

I know something about this episode already (or someone, to be precise), because it was given away on the title reveal video... and in the thumbnail on iPlayer, but I'll not mention who because this bit up here is a spoiler-free zone.

I'll spoil something about Pete McTighe's previous Doctor Who episodes though: I didn't like them. Well that's not entirely true, as I thought Praxeus was harmless enough, it just fell short of what I expect from this series. And Kerblam! was actually pretty decent, except for the morally dubious resolution. Though both episodes were from the Chris Chibnall era, which could be a bit ethically wonky at times, so maybe this will be different. I do know that he's done a lot of work for the DVDs and Blu-ray collections, so his Doctor Who cred seems high.

This review will upload SPOILERS into your brain through your eyes if you aren't already aware what happens in the episode.

Doctor Who (2005) 8-02: Into the Dalek

Episode:

802

|

Serial:

243

|

Writer:

Phil Ford and Steven Moffat

|

Director:

Ben Wheatley

|

Air Date:

30-Aug-2014

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I already wrote the Ninth Doctor story Dalek and now I'm jumping forward exactly 100 episodes to write about the Twelfth Doctor story Into the Dalek. Not to be confused with Star Trek Into Darkness, which came out a year earlier and contains zero Daleks.

This is the second episode of the Twelfth Doctor's first series, coming right after Deep Breath, and the two stories were filmed by the same director, Ben Wheatley. He's more of a movie director than a TV director, specialising in horror, so he wasn't the worst choice for the job.

Phil Ford was the head writer on spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures for most of its run and wrote 11 stories, but he only ever wrote two episodes of Doctor Who: this and The Waters of Mars. Incidentally this is the first episode since Waters of Mars to have two writers credited under the title, though it became more common after this. I mean it was never uncommon to have two people working on the script, because the showrunner often did an uncredited rewrite, but after this point there's a lot of 'and Steven Moffat' or 'and Chris Chibnall'. I think part of the reason for this is that putting a bigger name on the script can entice bigger name actors.

Okay, I will be going through this episode scene by scene, sharing my thoughts and observations as I go. So if you want SPOILERS for this and earlier stories, keep reading.

Doctor Who (2005) 1-06: Dalek

Episode:

702

|

Serial:

161

|

Writer:

Robert Shearman

|

Director:

Joe Ahearne

|

Air Date:

30-Apr-2005

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm writing about the 702nd episode of long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who, called Dalek.

It was inspired by a Big Finish audio drama called Jubilee by the same writer, Robert Shearman. I don't know how similar they are as I haven't listened to it, but it has a Dalek on the cover so I wouldn't be surprised if they show up there as well.

You could argue that it spoils the surprise a bit to put the villain's name right there in the title, but it's basically a tradition. The Daleks turned up in 17 classic serials and 13 of them had 'Dalek' in the name. Plus Russell T Davies has no issues with giving a few things away if it's going to get them more publicity and viewers. If you've got one of the most iconic villains in British television history returning to screens after two decades you don't hide it.

If I remember right, the plan for this episode was that it could work as a jumping on point for people who hadn't checked the series out yet, but were curious about what they were going to do with the Daleks. Since the show's second ever serial the Daleks have been Doctor Who's biggest draw and they're probably the reason it survived its first few seasons. Funny thing is, the Daleks nearly sat this one out, as they're not owned by the BBC and discussions with the Terry Nation estate hadn't been going great. For a while the episode would've been called The Sphere and it would've starred a new, more spherical villain. Maybe we don't live in the worst timeline after all.

I'll be going through the whole episode scene by scene with screencaps and recaps so there'll be SPOILERS here, for this and earlier stories. I'll not say a thing about anything that aired later though. Not even if it shows up in the next time trailer.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-03: The Well

Episode:

887

|

Serial:

315

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies & Sharma Angel-Walfall

|

Director:

Amanda Brotchie

|

Air Date:

26-Apr-2025

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's another brand new episode of Doctor Who, called The Well. Not the most interesting or memorable title in the world, but at least it's straightforward. Years of excessive Doctor Who reviewing has left me able to type Praxeus, Tsuranga Conundrum and Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos off the top of my head, but I always have to stop and check afterwards that I spelled them right. Not a concern this time.

Okay, Russell T Davis is back writing for the third story in a row, Amanda Brotchie is back directing (because both this and Lux were produced in the same block), but this time Sharma Angel-Walfall is also credited as a writer. That's a new name that I have not heard of. Probably not one I'll need to remember for future episodes, considering how rarely Who writers return for another story these days, but who knows. I hope she's good at writing!

There will be SPOILERS below, for this episode and perhaps earlier episodes too.