The Anorak Zone Forums

[Zarius]

'Rack gave me the go-ahead for this thread

Name RTD's best mid-season episodes.

Top three for myself

Midnight: Largely considered RTD's finest hour in years. One set appraisal and annalysis of what happens when humans realize The Doc is a dick.

Turn Left: Another great episode that leaves things ambigious not just with The Trickster, but the way the universe compensates for different kinds of changes in history or reality. There's "changing history=reapers", being a fact (wibbly-wobbly), and now "Alternate dimensions created around an unprotected victim=Universe deposits present version of dead character in limbo". Maybe that's where The Doc was before he came through the tent and knew of The Trickster? Stuff in this really is a wonderful exploration of possibilities in and out of Donna's altered history.
It also elevates The Trickster further and enriches the nature of time travel (there are ..just how powerful is this guy that he can change history, yet keep time the way it is by depositing Sarah Jane or (probably) The Doctor in a pocket dimension?

Gridlock: It was goregous. Nice commentary on indulgence being a drug to be cautious of. The Doctor visiting the various themes and worlds inhabiting each car was a nice concept. Macra had no buisness being there, but otherwise didnt hurt the story telling what it needed to. It takes the very thing "Bliss" took away, willpower, to save everyone.

[Edzeppelin]

Tooth And Claw, Utopia and probably Midnight on the strength of its ambition, even though I only gave it a two myself.

[frillyshirtcyberman]

'Rack gave me the go-ahead for this thread

Gridlock: It was goregous. Nice commentary on indulgence being a drug to be cautious of. The Doctor visiting the various themes and worlds inhabiting each car was a nice concept. Macra had no buisness being there, but otherwise didnt hurt the story telling what it needed to. It takes the very thing "Bliss" took away, willpower, to save everyone.

You should ignore the Anorak, it's not like we have forum concensus

1) Utopia (fangasm and the best supporting actor in the show's revival)
2) Midnight (A cheap story like a play... atmospheric and well done).
3) Gridlock (for the same reasons you state).

[Anorak]

If we count Utopia in this then I'd definitely have to have that... I really liked Turn Left as well.

I'll have to go through the list... stuff like Tooth and Claw wasn't remarkable but it was solid IMO. Even though it wasn't my thing I also rated L & M for the first thirty minutes.

Gridlock, I wasn't so keen on.Talking cats, shit jokes (jokes literally about shit, not bad jokes), the year squillion and a magic button. But hey, each to their own, it was alright.

But yeah, some okay stuff.

[Paul_R]

Is Utopia really a good episode? It's like something out of the first half of the final Blakes 7 season. In fact, it's fukking awful. It rates highly for the (rather pathetic, imho) final five minutes. It's like saying On The Buses was a great sitcom because you like green buses.

[Lance]

It's like saying On The Buses was a great sitcom because you like green buses.

I never understood why the buses were all green on the television series, but they were all red in the three movies. That's a terrible continuity error for a series which is otherwise quite faithful to its telly counterpart (certainly more so than most films-of-classic-sitcoms were -- yes Steptoe and Son: The Movie, I'm looking at you).

[Paul_R]

Aaah, you've seen the Restoration Team's On The Buses Trilogy boxset?

[Anorak]

Aaah, you've seen the Restoration Team's On The Buses Trilogy boxset?

[Lance]

In fact, they'd do it to the original tv material as well. "It was obviously the intention of the programme makers that they be red, so to help sell the shot.... and then I superimposed a CGI spanner on Blakey's face...."

[Anorak]

In fact, they'd do it to the original tv material as well. "It was obviously the intention of the programme makers that they be red, so to help sell the shot.... and then I superimposed a CGI spanner on Blakey's face...."

Incidentally, re: Zarius's "rack gave me the go-ahead"... it makes it sound like you need my permission to make a thread praising RTD or summat.

I just came up with the idea for the thread when I was pming Zarius about something else... it suddenly dawned on me that if he doesn't like seeing RTD get dissed so much, why not ask about the middle stuff? Cos it's really the beginnings and (particularly) the ends that get the most scorn, innit?