RoyReno

It is no secret that this episode is the one that cemented the revival era of "Doctor Who" as capable of some brilliant and gripping drama. "Dalek" is a masterpiece that reintroduces the show's best villain in a terrifying yet somewhat sympathetic way, in a setting that allows the humanity in ever character to shine through, regardless of whether their human traits are good or not. Eccleston gives a powerful performances that showcases what makes this incarnation of the Doctor unique, but not to the overshadowing of the other actors. If you re-watch this show as much as I do, you will notice how many episodes take inspiration from this one. The fact that this was an adaptation that left a good amount of the original story out is a testament to the writing mastery of Robert Shearman. Let us hope that he will grace this program with his genius again in the future.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A futurized retelling of A Christmas Carol is just the best idea for a Doctor Who Christmas special, and the execution is just as perfect as possible, with incredible performances, beautiful bittersweet moments, subtle foreshadowing for the upcoming season, and a darker Eleventh Doctor. The setting and production values are beautiful, and this is overall a magical story that utilizes the sci-fi to its full potential.

The Big Bang is an episode that should be bad, because on paper it's bad. I mean, a Doctor Who series finale that is set in a museum. How could that ever work? Well, Moffat's clever ideas are interesting, and these four main cast members have too much charm and chemistry together that it's impossible not to have a good time. The last ten minutes are also just absolute gold that wrap up the series arc really well, and promise greatness in the future. In summary, it works.

The Pandorica Opens is how to do a finale-staging episode. Start wrapping up the series arc, introduce big stakes, write incredible dialogue, hit us with amazing twists, and end off with a killer cliffhanger.

Many will disagree, but for me, The Lodger is the big ol' skip of Series 5. It's just a forgettable filler story with nothing to offer in terms of characterization or plot, and James Cordon is here, which speaks volumes more about the episode than my criticism ever could. At least Matt Smith trying to blend in with a normal life keeps this one watchable.

Vincent and the Doctor is masterpiece of themes that tackles depression incredibly well while still managing to be one of the most magical episodes of the show ever. Finally giving us a sweeter ending to the more tragic approach to time-travel is brilliant and the eleventh Doctor's normal fun and whimsical nature making him struggle to deal with more dark matters is the most unique take on this incarnation of the character that no other episode even attempts.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

If you can get past the uninteresting setting, this is a tightly-written and mysterious story with good set-up for part 2 and entertaining character drama. Surprisingly, Chibnall writes the Doctor at his very best this season.

Amy's Choice is one of the most fitting and original episodes of Doctor Who ever. The story of having to choose between two realities is great on its own, but the excellent twist at the end furthers the overall quality. Toby Jones' expert portrayal of a deliciously cheesy villain brings out the true morals of our main trio, which ensures we resonate with them.

The setting change from spooky catacombs to cyborg forest really shouldn't work, but it absolutely does. In terms of story, Moffat delivers excellently, as he is the king of payoff in two-part episodes and the overall tension and horror is maintained well. But the final scene at Amy's house is still truly awful and ruined the entire episode for me in the past.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Victory of the Daleks is a rushed mess of good ideas with bad execution. The great World War II setting being replaced by a war-room is criminal, and the climax is cartoonish and unearned. Only good thing about this episode are the Daleks, who are still well-written, cleverly devious villains.

The Beast Below is an over-hated Moffat powerhouse of a script. A fairytale-like yet dystopian city is the perfect setting for a mysterious government conspiracy, a disturbing comment on animal cruelty, and a story that shows why Amy is a great companion and how capable Smith is as a darker Doctor. The dialogue and tone are on point in this one.

Boom Town is remarkably good for a filler episode. The physical comedy is hilarious, and it gets extra points for being the first NuWho episode to question whether the Doctor's attitude of always moving on is ethically correct. But balancing all these elements makes this one a bit tonally confused.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The Empty Child is a perfect first part, as Moffat delivers his best horror in an expertly paced and natural narrative with the show's best Earth location.

The great alien invasion plot is carried well into this second part, except stuff gets a little darker, yet still maintains an exciting level of bombastic action. This story would work a lot better if these characters were more developed.

Father's Day perfectly weaves adult themes of family drama with time travel. The depths this episode goes to proves that the show has grown up. The character development for Rose and Pete is next level.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The best I can say about the Idiot's Lantern is that its fun '50's setting and Tennant's angry acting make it enjoyable to watch. However, the good aspects don't really redeem the cheesy dialogue and side caricatures. The worst crime of this episode is that the genuinely good idea for what could have been a terrifying villain, is wasted on a TV that screams, "hungry!" which makes it memorable for the wrong reasons.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

It's clear Moffat thinks he has another Empty Child on his hands (and that he certainly does), as his ability to make unnerving villains out of everyday things and use time travel cleverly is still unmatched. The slow pacing works in developing these characters and delivering scares. Anyone who does not like River Song is not a true Whovian.

Doctor Who does Knives Out and it's actually really fun. The mystery is beautifully unraveled and the comedy is uncontrollably funny. Classic Who and Poirot vibes are accurately captured.

This generic script is whipped into shape by fast pacing and some well-delivered twists. But the real meat here is the relationship between Jenny and the Doctor, which is a good representation of Classic Who vs. NuWho. We absolutely need more stories that explore the Doctor's pain caused by him losing his family.

While it starts out with all the same problems as the first part, it quickly evolves into an action-packed alien invasion plot in which UNIT actually is put to good use, and Mark Zuckerberg gets a nice character arc.

If you can past the slow pacing and clunky dialogue, you get a solid and sobering comment on slavery with some exciting action, uplifting moments, and good acting. The Ood are such lovable aliens that they deserved their own episode.

The Fires of Pompeii might be the most effective Tenth Doctor story that no one talks about. The location is one that should have been used years ago in the show (but I'm happy it wasn't), and this rare depressing approach to time travel brilliantly shows us Donna's empathy and the Doctor's trauma. The dialogue and production values here on spot on.

A survival story in which the Doctor and crew climb through a wrecked Titanic is fun, but not very Christmas-y. The episode starts out solid, but gets more melodramatic as it goes on, with lame twists and more unwanted companion-Doctor romance. The biggest flaw is that Astrid and the Doctor's relationship is treated as a series long one, when it has just been developed over one episode.

The Runaway Bride is one of the most entertaining episodes of Doctor Who ever with action that is unlike anything we have ever seen in the show. The story is compactly written with good dialogue and the twist villain is good, but the main villain is another generically evil and over-the-top Russell creation. Donna is funny, yet unlikable.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I have very mixed feelings about this episode. On one hand, the Doctor being a goblin in a cage is both stupid and goes nowhere, we are constantly told all the bad stuff the Master did, with very little actual showing, and the Doctor becomes a literal Deus Ex Machina in the climax. On the other hand, the build-up to the Doctor becoming so over-powered is pretty solid and makes the moment really satisfying to watch, the episode still feels like a season finale, and we get some great reveals and characterization for the Master, Martha, and the Doctor. I think the Face of Boe twist sums up how I feel about the Last of the Time Lords. The twist itself adds so much depth and emotion to previous episodes, but it also doesn't make much sense since Martha literally mentioned the Face in front of Jack in Utopia and he didn't blink.

While this episode is sometimes too preoccupied with setting up the next one, it ultimately delivers action, dark storytelling, and some truly gut-wrenching moments. That cliffhanger is just excellent.

I've warmed to this Chibnall story over the years, despite it sharing a bit too many plot beats with the Impossible Planet. The actors are doing a good job and the great villain maintains the tension quite well. But, there are some moments forced in to make the episode more interesting and memorable that ultimately make it come off as a little bit desperate.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Evolution of the Daleks has all the same problems as its first part with few of the redeeming qualities. The Cult of Skaro is the only good element of this story as Tennant flips from believable acting to over-acting, and somehow the episode makes Martha unlikable. The mess of a script is so ridiculously bad that it is kind of embarrassing.

While many Whovians have come to love this story, you'll have to call me old-fashioned because my opinion stays the same as it always has been. But I'll be nice and talk about the positives first. The historical aspect of the story is executed pretty solidly, the pacing is good, and the Cult of Skaro are fairly well-explored as characters. However, this is not enough to excuse terrible dialogue and acting (excluding Tennant and Garfield), pig-men, and the Daleks's rarely interacting with the '30s, New York setting.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The Shakespeare Code is a clever and charming historical with good dialogue and villains. Despite some lines that haven't aged quite so well, this story is different from our usual adventure, and adds a good amount of originality to the series.

Smith and Jones feels like the era-opening episode that the Tenth Doctor never got. Martha is great and the script is solid, despite the rather boring setting and the typical overly silly, under-developed Russell T. Davies villain.

A promising premise and an interesting plot are held back by an unearned ending, the return of one of Series 1's weakest villains, and over-the-top uncomfortable sex jokes.

People are mean to this one. Sure, the side characters aren't great, but Elton is an interesting and nicely developed lead, and Russell's usual cheesy, one-dimensional villain actually contrasts well with the more serious, well-rounded protagonist of the story. This episode feels like a breath of fresh air while at the same time very much being another episode of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who has been in several similar situations in the past in which the previous actor to play the Doctor was so beloved that many believe that the show cannot continue without him. In 2010, this was the crisis the show was in, and it was so bad that the BBC was seriously considering cancelling the show, but everyone behind the scenes of Series 5 gave their very best and the result was another magical, unique, exciting, and worthy season of Doctor Who. Let's talk about the acting and characters first. Matt Smith brings endless amounts of eccentric charm and humor to role that make him a delight to watch, yet at the same time we have glimpses of darkness that contrast his mostly fun and childish personality that generates interest about who this new Doctor really is. Karen Gillian is a sassy and funny redhead whose romance with Arthur Darvil's Rory makes the adventures sweet, dramatic, and tragic all at the same time. The only problem with these two characters is the unnecessary love triangle between them and the Doctor that even the writers admitted was bad. But other than that, the show makes the them well-rounded and likeable characters in just a few episodes. Moving on the stories, there are plenty of strange and original concepts for most of the stories that are ones that only Doctor Who could do. There is also genres for everyone. There are light-hearted comedies like the Eleventh Hour and the Lodger, tragic romances such as Vincent and the Doctor and Cold Blood, and dark think-pieces such the Beast Below and Amy's Choice. The overarching story-line is also a plus, as every episode sets up something that is important to the finale, which gives the series a bow to wrap up any loose threads. This type of tight writing is very much something you would see in the RTD era. Finally, I would like to talk about the music. Murray Gold had already written countless masterpieces during Davies's time, but this time no pieces from the previous era return and are instead replaced with more beautiful and magical themes. Seriously, the amount of awe-inspiring, wonderful, and downright masterful new pieces of music Gold composed for this season is impressive. To close everything off, Doctor Who Series 5 is a refreshing love-letter to the show that proves to viewers that the show is in safe hands. My number scores for each episode are: The Eleventh Hour 7/10, The Beast Below 9/10, Victory of the Daleks 2/10, Time of the Angels 7/10, Flesh and Stone 7/10, Vampires of Venice 7/10, Amy's Choice 10/10, The Hungry Earth 7/10, Cold Blood 7/10, Vincent and the Doctor 10/10, The Lodger 4/10, The Pandorica Opens 8/10, The Big Bang 7/10.

The Eleventh Hour is a mostly great opener for a new era. Smith brings unique energy, charm, and humor to the role, which is perfect for hooking viewers, both those who are already fans and new-comers. It isn't perfect however. The villain is silly, the foreshadowing is super forced and obviously not subtle, and the companions are not quite likable yet. That being said, this episode doesn't lose focus of the main goal of just trying to be fun in order to promise more from this new era, and so I give it credit there.

The perfect under-the-base-story continues, this time with more scary action, satisfying and tragic character directions, tense moments, and philosophy discussions with the Doctor. This is the crowning jewel of Series 2.