Doctor Who (2005) 1-12: Bad Wolf

Episode:

708

|

Serial:

166

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Joe Ahearne

|

Air Date:

11-Jun-2005

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching Bad Wolf, the 708th episode of Doctor Who! It's also the 12th episode of this 13 episode season, so it's the penultimate story. Or penultimate episode anyway.

Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways started a tradition of two part season finales that has continued to this day... mostly. Okay classic Doctor Who ended a season with a two-parter a few times as well, but the show was all serials, so that just meant a story had fewer episodes than normal. Since this there have only been three seasons that ended on a single episode (or four if you split Heaven Sent/Hell Bent), so it seems like the idea was a big success!

Oh, I should mention that "Bad Wolf" is an interesting title, as it's this season's important phrase. It has been mentioned here and there in episodes but its meaning remains elusive. Personally it makes me think about the phrase "Big Bad" in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, which referred to the villain the heroes would have to defeat at the end of a season. Hey, that series is getting a revival soon as well, 20+ years after it left TV. That beats Doctor Who's 16 years absence!

Anyway, there are going to be SPOILERS below, but only about things that that happened up to 11th June 2005. If you're watching the series for the first time, you'll be safe. I won't give away anything that happens in part 2.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-08: The Reality War - Part 3

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've reached the end of my The Reality War review! It wasn't my original plan to split the episode into three parts, though it would've split into two pretty well. The way the episode is structured, the second half kind of works as a separate chapter, and that's the bit I'm covering this time.

Here, have some useful links:

• Wish World
• The Reality War - Part 1
• The Reality War - Part 2
• The Reality War - Part 3 <-- You are here. 

If you'd rather get through life without knowing anything that happens in this episode, or the previous stories leading up to it, I'd suggest that you stop reading now as there will be SPOILERS beyond this point.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-08: The Reality War - Part 2

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've reached the second part of the second part of Doctor Who's second season finale! It's also the end of the second chapter of Russell T Davies' second era as showrunner, so I'm taking a second to write about it properly.

Here, have some links to help you get around:

• Wish World
• The Reality War - Part 1
• The Reality War - Part 2 <-- You are here.
• The Reality War - Part 3

Beware, SPOILERS ahead.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-08: The Reality War - Part 1

Episode:

892

|

Serial:

319

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Alex Sanjiv Pillai

|

Air Date:

31-May-2025

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've reached the conclusion of Doctor Who season 2. Maybe even the conclusion of Doctor Who entirely! I doubt it, the brand is one of the strongest and most enduring that British television has, though anything can happen these days. We're definitely not getting a Christmas special this year, that much I'm sure of.

I usually try to write this bit before watching the episode so I can be authentically clueless, but I have to mention here that this turned out to be an extra long episode inspiring lots of words, so I'm splitting this review into three parts. This is going to make things confusing, because the episode is already the second part of a two-parter.

These links should help make sense of it:

• Wish World
• The Reality War - Part 1 <-- You are here.
• The Reality War - Part 2
• The Reality War - Part 3 

If you don't know what happens in the story and want to keep it that way, then I'd suggest you avoid reading any further. There will be SPOILERS ahead.

Doctor Who (2005) 1-11: Boom Town (Quick Review)

Episode:

707

|

Serial:

165

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Joe Ahearne

|

Air Date:

04-Jun-2005

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching another episode of the endless first season of the 2005 Doctor Who revival. 13 episodes, man; it just keeps going and going.

The writer this time was showrunner Russell T Davies himself, back after a three-episode break to land the season personally. Though those three episodes by other writers were Father's Day, The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, so the bar has been raised a bit.

RTD had actually brought in acclaimed writer Paul Abbott to script this one, but he had his own show, Shameless, and he was ultimately too busy. It would've had an entirely different story so I'm not sure how that would've affected the season finale.

Anyway I'm not talking about the finale right now, because this is only going to contain SPOILERS for this episode and earlier stories. If you're watching for the first time you've got nothing to worry about from me.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-07: Wish World

Episode:

891

|

Serial:

319

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Alex Sanjiv Pillai

|

Air Date:

24-May-2025

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching an episode called Wish World. I don't know why, but I get the feeling this may stray into fantasy a little bit. That's just the vibe I'm getting.

I'm at episode 7, so this is the halfway point of the season. Actually hang on, Doctor Who seasons are tiny these days, 8 episodes, so I'm already at part 1 of the finale. I suppose you could argue that there are 9 episodes in total, counting last year's Christmas special, though if you include it then something weird happens: it means that 'world' episodes always come in pairs, no exceptions.

Series 1: The End of the World and World War Three.
Series 10: The Pyramid at the End of the World and World Enough and Time.
Season 2: Joy to the World and Wish World.

The classic serial Enemy of the World doesn't have a pair, but it's a six-parter so you've got three pairs of 'world' episodes in that season. The pattern still works!

Here's another coincidence: the episode shares the same director as Joy to the World, Alex Sanjiv Pillai, though it's the big two-part season finale so this time showrunner Russell T Davies was the one who wrote the words. This is what we've been heading for this whole time, May 24th, the beginning of the end. Though hopefully not the end of the series, I don't want it to be cancelled.

There will be SPOILERS below.

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

---

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) 2-03: The Well

Episode:

887

|

Serial:

315

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies & Sharma Angel-Walfall

|

Director:

Amanda Brotchie

|

Air Date:

26-Apr-2025

---

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.

Doctor Who (2005) 1-05: World War Three

Episode:

701

|

Serial:

160

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Keith Boak

|

Air Date:

23-Apr-2005

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm reviewing the second part of Aliens of London, which is called World War Three. It's one of the rare part 2s to have a title that ends with 3.

Giving each part of a serial its own title was nothing new for Doctor Who, there are over a hundred classic episodes with individual titles. But it did get old and they stopped doing it three seasons in, back in the First Doctor era, which means this was a bit of a break from tradition. Plus there's no name for the complete story, the closest you can get is calling it "Aliens of London/World War Three" or "the Aliens of London two-parter", so that was unusual for the series too.

I'll be going through the whole episode scene by scene, so everything past this point will be SPOILERS.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-02: Lux

Episode:

886

|

Serial:

314

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Amanda Brotchie

|

Air Date:

19-Apr-2025

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the second episode of the second season of Russell T Davies' second lap of Doctor Who, and it's written by the man himself. Here's some trivia for you: Lux has the shortest title in Doctor Who's long history... almost. 42 has it beat. But second shortest is still impressive.

We've got a new director on this one, Amanda Brotchie. So that's some additional trivia. I don't know anything about them to be honest, I don't really know anything about this episode yet either. Well, except for one thing that I won't spoil here.

But it does have me worried that this is going to be this season's The Devil Chord. The one where the show just has fun at the expense of any shreds of reality it still has left. I just get that feeling that RTD has moved beyond stressing about plausibility. In fact he's even been cutting explanations out of the script as who cares about how the magic works in a fantasy show for kids? Turn you brain off, enjoy the ride, and under no circumstances try to analyse the episode scene by scene for the internet.

There will be SPOILERS below as I'm going to write the next bit after watching the episode!

Doctor Who (2005) 1-04: Aliens of London

Episode:

700

|

Serial:

160

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Keith Boak

|

Air Date:

16-Apr-2005

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm reviewing the 700th episode of Doctor Who! At least, that's how it works out by my count. Things weren't quite that simple when it comes to the production side however, as it was being filmed in the same block as the pilot episode Rose. In fact, the first scene that Christopher Eccleston filmed for the series was for this episode.

The episode's called Aliens of London, by the way, and it's a secret two-parter. There's no clue in the title, you just get to the end and find that there's no ending. I hope that doesn't count as a spoiler to anyone, because I'm supposed to keep all my SPOILERS down in the review below.

Doctor Who (2023) 2-01: The Robot Revolution

Episode:

885

|

Serial:

313

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Peter Hoar

|

Air Date:

12-Apr-2025

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about Doctor Who again. This time it's the first episode of the latest season: The Robot Revolution.

Hasn't classic Doctor Who used that title already? Hang on, no I must be thinking of The Robots of Death. Or maybe just Robot. I guess robots rebelled a lot back in the day. Speaking of ancient episodes, they brought the director of series 6's A Good Man Goes to War back for this one. Doctor Who directors typically direct a block of two episodes and sometimes another block next season, and then they're done. It's rare for a director to return years later like this. I think Graham Harper might hold the record with 21 years between 6th Doctor story Revelation of the Daleks and 10th Doctor story Rise of the Cybermen, but Peter Hoar is now in second place with 14 years. That's about the same amount of time that showrunner Russell T Davies disappeared for!

I wish I could say that the second coming of RTD has been my kind of thing, but so far it's been hit and miss, and stories like The Church on Ruby Road and Joy to the World have me feeling like it's not a series for me anymore. Starting season 1 with Space Babies should've been a clue that they were showing me the door and inviting the next group of fans in.

Just please let this be better than Space Babies, please let this be better than Space Babies...

There will be SPOILERS below and probably some earlier episodes as well if my thoughts go in that direction.

Doctor Who (2023): Season 1 Review

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about the latest first season of Doctor Who! It's also known as series 14 or season 40, depending on how stubborn you are.

Filming began on 5th Dec 2022, so it took a long while for this to finally reach TVs. In fact, the last full actual season of the show was in 2021. But it's finally out and now I have opinions about the dawn of the third age of Doctor Who.

Though maybe I should hang on until the next season's out. I mean 8 episodes and a Christmas special isn't much to review. This run of episodes flew by so fast that I'm not sure I was able to get a good enough look at them to describe what I saw. Then again, if I wait any longer I'll have forgotten what happened, so I should probably just get on with it.

There will be SPOILERS for this season, the recent specials, and maybe other episodes too.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-08: Empire of Death (Quick Review)

Episode:

883

|

Serial:

311

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Jamie Donoughue

|

Air Date:

22-Jun-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching Doctor Who's latest season one finale, Empire of Death.

It's weird to have reached the end of a season so soon, I'm supposed to get another five episodes! It's been two episodes longer than the Flux season though, I'll give them that. Also, the classic show's first season only had 8 serials, so that's basically the same length... if you don't count the fact that each of those serials had about 6 parts.

There will be SPOILERS below, for a bunch of things. I can't tell you what things exactly as that would be a spoiler, but it'll help if you're up to date with the series.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-07: The Legend of Ruby Sunday (Quick Review)

Episode:

882

|

Serial:

311

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Jamie Donoughue

|

Air Date:

15-Jun-2024

---

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm reviewing The Legend of Ruby Sunday, the first half of the Doctor Who re-revivals' two-part finale!

It's been a long time since we've gotten a penultimate episode written by showrunner Russell T Davies, but I have a pretty good idea what to expect from it. Everything will seem like the most important and dramatic thing to happen in the history of the universe and then it'll end with "TO BE CONTINUED".

But will it be as good as Bad Wolf, Army of Ghosts, The Sound of Drums, The Stolen Earth or The End of Time, Part 1? Honestly I think it's got a shot, as some of those episodes weren't the greatest. Especially on a second watch, when they became nothing but set up for something I'd already seen.

There will be SPOILERS below for the episode, the season so far, and any stories that get referenced.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-05: Dot and Bubble (Quick Review)

Episode:

880

|

Serial:

309

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Dylan Holmes Williams

|

Air Date:

01-Jun-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've reached the second half of Doctor Who's new season 1, with Dot and Bubble. The title isn't really filling me with optimism to be honest, but that's mostly because it reminds me of Short Treks' Tom and Jerry homage Ephraim and Dot. I really hated Ephraim and Dot.

I'm sure this is going to be something very different though, because Doctor Who episodes are always something different. The show keeps switching genre and tone, rarely giving you the same thing twice. Anyway, Dot and Bubble was written by Russell T Davies, same as the last episode, and it was directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, the same as the last episode. I thought 73 Yards looked fantastic, so I'm expecting some pretty visuals at least.

There will be Doctor Who SPOILERS below, but I won't spoil anything that happens later.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-04: 73 Yards (Quick Review)

Episode:

879

|

Serial:

308

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Dylan Holmes Williams

|

Air Date:

25-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's one of the few episodes of Doctor Who to feature a number in the title. I've no idea what it means though, something to do with sports maybe? It's yards, not metres, so I'm thinking that this is going to be set in the US or the past, but that's all I've got.

I usually try to write all of this intro bit before watching the episode so I can be properly clueless, but I have to jump in from the future to talk about how this is one of the few stories to be missing the opening titles entirely. I can only remember two other regular episodes that do this: Sleep No More and The Woman Who Fell to Earth. So it's a sign that an episode is doing something different... though not a sign that it'll be any good.

Incidentally The Woman Who Fell to Earth was the first episode filmed for the Jodie Whittaker era and this was the first filmed for the Ncuti Gatwa era. It even predates last year's Christmas Special. Gatwa had already made a brief appearance in The Giggle, but this was Millie Gibson's first ever work for Doctor Who.

There will be SPOILERS here for this and earlier episodes. And I mean way earlier, like 1981.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-02: The Devil's Chord (Quick Review)

Episode:

877

|

Serial:

306

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Ben Chessell

|

Air Date:

11-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm reviewing another episode of Doctor Who already. They went and aired two of them on the same day and it's not even a two-parter. Now that I've seen Space Babies I'm wondering if a decision was made to pair it with another story to show new viewers that Doctor Who had some range to it and it wasn't always going to be... babies in space.

In fact, I'm not even sure this was originally meant to air so early in the season. The series is filmed in two-episode production blocks, each handled by a different director, and this was shot in the same block as episode 6. Then again, maybe everything is going as planned. After all, Doctor Who hasn't filmed a season in order since 1987. The classic series didn't even end with the last serial produced.

Okay, there will be Doctor Who SPOILERS below, but only as far as this episode. I won't spoil what happens next. I actually have no idea what happens next.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-01: Space Babies (Quick Review)

Episode:

876

|

Serial:

305

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Julie Anne Robinson

|

Air Date:

11-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the first proper episode of Doctor Who's third volume, Space Babies! Like An Unearthly Child and Rose before it, it's the start of a whole new regeneration cycle for the series, so this is a major event here.

Though there were four specials leading up to it, so this is actually showrunner Russell T Davies' fifth episode in a row, and that's... a concern maybe. I mean, it's only a matter of time before even the best writer comes up with a terrible story, and he's churning out scripts right now.

Alright, there are going to be SPOILERS below, but only for this episode and the stories leading up to it. And maybe something from the movie Aliens. Oh, plus the Ray Bradbury story A Sound of Thunder.

Doctor Who (2023) - Christmas 2023: The Church on Ruby Road (Quick Review)

Episode:

875

|

Serial:

304

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Mark Tonderai

|

Air Date:

25-Dec-2023

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about The Church on Ruby Road. Because I said I would, and it'd be weird not to after covering the other three 2023 specials. Plus this is a big deal. It's the first episode of the Fifteenth Doctor's era of Doctor Who!

It's going to be hard for Ncuti Gatwa to follow David Tennant, one of the most beloved Doctors in the series' history, but Matt Smith has already proved that it can be done. I'm not worried, as there has never been a bad Doctor in the series' entire history. Though sometimes good Doctors get stuck in a string of mediocre stories that prevent them from really shining. I'm sure there's no way that's going to happen to Ncuti though. Probably.

There will be SPOILERS below, but nothing for stories that come after this.