OK, seriously hear me out on this. It would have the potential to be very messy but could also be a very satisfying direction to take the Timeless Child arc in if it went well.

So, let's think through the logic of the Timeless Child/Fugitive Doctor being pre-Hartnell. After being captured by Division, the Doctor is essentially forcibly regenerated back into a child, their memories are wiped and their regenerations are set to the limit of 12 total which has become standard for Time Lords. That child self grows up with The Master, and goes on to become the 1st Doctor we all know and love.

However, there remains a very strong contingent who would prefer The Master to be the Timeless Child. It remains the most straightforwardly fitting approach, as it ties into the Masters madness, although it doesn't fill every gap. It doesn't explain why Tecteun believed The Doctor to be The Timeless Child, or the nature of the Fugitive Doctor. It is an incomplete solution, like it's just missing another half to complete a whole.

I propose a third solution, a middle way if you will. The secret ingredient? *Bi-generation*.

The Fugitive Doctor is eventually captured by Division, and subject to a forced regeneration. However, they don't regenerate into *one* child, but **two**. Both the Master and the Doctor grow up so intimately close, like siblings, because without realising it they are two halves of a whole. They go on to live their own lives, with The Doctor assuming the original mantle subconsciously encoded in both of their very being, meanwhile the Master having been forcibly driven mad, jealously sets out on their own path to create an archetype wholly of their own.

This also ties into the early plans from the Pertwee-Delgado era to reveal that The Master and The Doctor were brothers. In a very real way they are siblings. Something even closer than that, they are both halves of The Timeless Child, split in twain long ago in a life they've both forgot as a punishment for their impertinence.

Perhaps the Timeless Child pocketwatch contains the secret for their reunification as one whole being. Perhaps the tragedy of the natures they have developed for themselves is that can *never* happen anymore, as independent beings they are now too irreconcilably different.

Idk, this just occurred to me in another thread. As long as bi-generation is a thing there is no particular reason they couldn't have both been one being as The Timeless Child, once upon a time.

Season 17, Episode 2

City of Death(4 parts)

-Written by "David Agnew", actually Douglas Adams, Graham Williams, and David Fisher

-Directed by Michael Hayes

-Air Dates: September 29th-October 20th, 1979

-Runtime: 100 minutes

Or as I like to call it...

The one where an alien tries to steal the Mona Lisa, and that's the least crazy part about it

We Begin!!! At the beginning, of Earth that is, where a Jagaroth space ship, piloted by Scaroth who is on a mission to try and save his people, attempts to take off but ends up doing so too early and explodes. Much later in Earth's history, The Doctor and Romana are admiring the city of Paris, having a grand old time seeing the sites such as the Eiffel Tower and going to the local restaurants. After Romana accidentally spoils a nearby artist's sketching of her, time suddenly goes strange and the pair end up repeating the exact same event again which only they, as Time Lords, seem to notice, thinking there is some sort of disruption or a crack in time. This likely has to do because elsewhere in the city, the enigmatic Count Scarlioni is funding the secret and highly advanced experiments of Professor Kerensky which he has quite a great interest in it, ready to finance anything needed and seemingly having possession of various rare artifacts for him to sell at his leisure. The Doctor decides to take Romana to see some real art after she talks of "computer pictures", going to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, where another strange time disruption occurs. During this, The Doctor bumps into a woman and steals her bracelet, with him recognizing it and Romana doing the same, as a scanner which she's using to scan all the security systems around the Mona Lisa and which very much isn't of Earth. This woman is the wife of Count Scarlioni and together with his henchmen they plan a heist of none other than the Mona Lisa.  The TARDIS crew get cornered by a detective, Duggan, who sees them as suspicious but manages to prove their innocence and catch his intrigue when mentioning the theft of the Mona Lisa. The Doctor and Romana, with the help of their new friend Duggan, are on the case trying to stop this heist from happening and figure out just what's going on with all the time disruptions, finding that even with the theft of the most priceless painting in the world, there's a lot more at stake than just that picture.

Episode Proper

Yup, this was a good one. City of Death, one of the most acclaimed episodes of Classic Who, and one of the highest rated episodes of the entire series, with this being probably Douglas Adams' most adored addition to the show. I find City of Death such an interesting episode to be so highly rated since normally it seems that the sillier, more comedy focused episodes get typically middling reviews, with it usually only being serious powerhouses like Inferno, Genesis of the Daleks or The Caves of Androzani that reaches these levels of acclaim amongst Who fans, especially when looking at Classic Who where the silliness of it all is not always looked at the most fondly. However here comes City of Death, a comedic powerhouse of an episode, that while nothing really all that deep or containing heavy themes like a lot of the most acclaimed episodes, still reaches up there just because of how fun and creative it is, being an absolute blast to watch from start to finish.

Though there have been highly regarded episodes that are relatively lighter and more fun than the episodes I mentioned like The Mind Robber, The Invasion, and The Dæmons, City of Death's reputation is still an incredibly impressive one, likely due in no small part to the creative input of one Douglas Adams. While I might not be as well versed in Adams as some other people, though I'm certainly interested in looking at more of his works, I do consider myself a fan of his works, really loving The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and its sequel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, both great books. Yes I see the irony of never getting to Life, the Universe, Everything given that the story around its production originally meant to be a Doctor Who movie, I'll get around to it eventually, especially before I review Doctor Who and the Krikketmen, which I do plan on reviewing.

Ok, enough rambling about that. I really liked Douglas Adams work, with his previous episode The Pirate Planet being a lot of fun even if it did end up petering out by the end, with this episode being even stronger than his last work, building on The Pirate Planet to make something truly special. There was also Destiny of the Daleks where Adams clearly had an influence on the script and it's comedy, which I did find entertaining even if it did clash at points with the story attempting to be told, so it's nice to have a story that can just dedicate itself to that type of humor which is so much fun.Of course Adams isn't the only writer on this episode, with Graham WIlliams and David Fisher also pitching in for the story, and I have to give them serious kudos as well for their contribution to this fantastic tale even if I, like most people, will mainly be talking about Adams' contribution since his finger prints are all over it.

Douglas Adams style of comedy is ripe in this episode with his usual humor and wit being seen all throughout the character's dialogue and interactions with one another. I adore it, with it leading to so many hilarious moments all throughout the episode, like the scene where John Cleese randomly makes a cameo in an art museum as he and another actress who I'm less familiar with, Eleanor Bron, both admire the TARDIS, which was parked among the gallery, and talk about its artistic value before The Doctor, Romana, and Duggan all run into it and disappear to which they consider marvelous. Great comedic scenes like that are placed all throughout the episode making it one of the most entertaining and funny episodes I have seen thus far, with the comedy just being nailed so well.

The back and forth between the characters is so good this episode, primarily with the trio of The Doctor, Romana, and Duggan, with them being placed in so many scenarios throughout the episode for incredibly fun results. I was laughing a good bit all throughout this episode, with all this being fully intentional on the episode's part, since Classic Who can often be laughable for the wrong reasons, it was nice to be able to get a good chuckle for all the right reasons this time around. Douglas Adams style of comedy is just very amusing to me as it is for many people and it works wonders in this episode to make it as fun and hilarious as it is, with each bit of this episode just having that Adams charm that I just couldn't help but adore. There really isn't too much to say without just listing all the brilliant comedic scenes littered throughout the episode, which I'll probably end up doing any way as I continue to talk about, but suffice it to say, City of Death is absolutely hilarious; a "wild" take I know, but hey there's a reason it has the reputation it has, it's very funny stuff.

I love the main premise of this story, just the idea of an alien planning to steal the Mona Lisa, is such a simple yet wild concept for a story that I couldn't help but be enrapured in this tale right out the gate, especially as the episode builds on that even more to do more crazy fun stuff. The setting of Paris is so much fun, with the episode taking full advantage of the location, getting some fun action in the Louvre, or at least a look a like set of it, some funny scenes on the Eiffel Tower, and a lot of great chase scenes throughout the city streets which are also a lot of fun. This is of course used to great effect with the Mona Lisa being the central item around which the entire story revolves, with it being so cool and exciting to see the TARDIS crew have to deal with yet another heist after The Ribous Operation of last season; it's nice to see it done again as heists are so much fun and it feels like DOctor Who does it so rarely that I enjoy whenever they do get the chance.

The set-up for the episode before they even get into the heist bits are great, with the strange time shenanigans making for some funny moments, while also doing well to clue The Doctor and Romana into the elaborate scheme going on, especially with the suspicious woman and her bracelet in the Louvre. The chase with Duggan afterwards is so much fun which only leads to more funny moments inside the cafe and more of an understanding of the crime going on. I loved slowly learning more about the mysterious Count Scarlioni and the conspiracy going on surrounding the Mona Lisa and the greater scope scheme behind even that. The idea of this enigmatic man selling rare artifacts to fund a time travel experiment that are at first considered fakes but are actually the genuine article, despite how unbelievable that sounds, is such a cool hook that only builds as we learn of the Mona Lisa heist. His artifact selling scheme reminds me of Edward Waterfield from The Evil of the Daleks, which was also a solid hook there as well; I found it a funny connection between that amazing story and this one.

The Mona Lisa scheme was such a fun portion of this story with it being so thrilling watching this whole thing develop. It has such a cool Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego vibe which I just loved to see done here, with the concept of someone retrying to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre being such a great adventure premise that is great fun to see Doctor Who tackle in such a great way as we see here. I really enjoyed the way we get to see the heist built up over the course of the story, with it being so exciting seeing the different pieces of the heist itself. I enjoyed seeing the planning of the heist in action, with Countess Scarlioni testing its defenses with the high tech gadget she was given to get her information, with the way she loses it to The Doctor giving the TARDIS crew the thing to clue them in on what’s going on was great to see, with the rest of the way we see the heist develop over the course of the story being really entertaining.

I loved the scene where we get to see Count Scarlioni guides his henchmen through a practice run of the heist itself, with it being so much fun getting to see all the defenses placed upon the Mona Lisa and the way that Scarlioni’s high tech facets manage to bypass all of them in order. I really enjoyed the methodical nature of the whole scene, seeing the crime done step by step; as a huge Columbo fan, it’s always fun seeing the various steps a criminal takes to pull off their crime, with that definitely being the feeling I got watching this portion of the story. I liked that we only get to see the aftermath of the actual heist with it being cool seeing Romana and Duggan stumble upon the theft, we already saw how the whole thing went so there’s no need to repeat it, and it serves as a great next development for the story setting up the last portion of it well as Scarloni’s plan nears its fruition.

The heist aspect of this story was a lot of fun, with the whole portion of the story dedicated to it being excellent, and I especially love how they mix this Mona Lisa heist to everything else going on in the story, which only added to my enjoyment of it. I really enjoyed the larger plot of this story investigating the strange activities of Count Scarloni and trying to stop whatever plan he has in the works. It’s really thrilling watching the developing investigations into Scarlioni’s activities with the way the nature of his scheme continues to build as we learn more and more about it over the course of this story is so engaging and well done, with the eventual end point we get from the start never feeling like a massive leap and instead was wonderfully built up over the story.

The set up is so well done, as I’ve said a fair bit already, with the introduction to Scarlioni and his activities being excellent, with the mystery of this strange man casually selling incredibly rare artifacts being such a great hook for the story. The strange time disruption in Paris with the experiments he’s funding for mysterious purposes is an excellent way to start building up these experiments, their importance to Scarlioni, and relation to time, as well as getting The Doctor and Roman’s clued in to the strange happenings underneath the notice of the Parisian populace. I loved diving in more to this enigmatic billionaire’s activities and just what these experiments he’s funding are for. That question of funding serves excellently as the motivator for the Mona Lisa heist and driving that whole Carmen Sandiego plot thread and allowing for even more fascinating and creative developments as we get to see the true plot had with the Mona Lisa and the revelations that provides for Count Scarlioni. 

This structure of the continued confrontations and investigations into the activity of the Count by the TARDIS crew and their many back and forths throughout this story reminded me a fair deal of how the way Goldfinger structures itself with this being a lot of fun seeing their interactions and how the latter slowly uncovers the true nature of the scheme and just why Count Scarlioni is funding these experiments. These time experiments were actually quite interesting in and of themselves, with the details we learn of what exactly is being done being pretty interesting. The chicken demonstration was a lot of fun seeing the egg grow into a chicken and then from that into a skeleton, making for a cool visual. It also leads to an interesting question of what exactly the purpose of this is because while the scientist claims it’s for helping world hunger with this cellular accelerator but it’s clear there is much more to it than that. 

I loved the revelation of the 6 Mona Lisas stored in a secret room in the basement of count Scarlioni. It’s such a cool image and alongside the ship taking off in the opening is probably the shot I associate most with this episode in terms of story and not just comedy. It serves as such a great shake up to the plot, making for a really interesting historical mystery since all of these paintings are the genuine article, with it being a really interesting question to see the story explore further. The scheme to steal the Mona Lisa hanging in the Louvre and then sell it and the 6 duplicates, each thinking they're buying the sole original, is such a fun and clever scheme that added just another great twist to the whole heist portion of the story. I love how this revelation of the 6 Mona Lisas leads to more fascinating revelations in regards to who exactly Count Scarlioni is and why Da Vinci painted 7 Mona Lisas.

I love how we get to take this detour from the contemporary action in Paris to have The Doctor hop in the TARDIS and go back in time to try and figure out what’s up with the 7 Mona Lisas. Such a fun thing to do in the story to just hop in and travel in the middle of the action to try and get more information on the situation, with it leading to an excellent cliffhanger of The Doctor being confronted by a guard while trying to look for Da Vinci and then having the guard’s captain and person who communicated the paintings to come in with it being none other than an exact double of Count Scarlinoni. It’s an excellent mid episode twist that serves to really re-contextualize and understand what exactly is going on as we get the explanations of who exactly the Count is and what exactly he seeks to do which are all incredibly interesting revelations that were so cool to see revealed.

The idea of this alien trying to go back in time to fix their mistake, no matter the consequence it may have, is very interesting and I love how the story utilizes this to contextualize everything it had set up with it being such a good twist and explanation for everything from how Count Scarloni got ahold of the various Mona Lisas to why exactly he’s funding these strange experiments with time in the first place. I love the dual action that follows with The Doctor in Renaissance Italy dealing with being cornered by one of Scaroth’s splinters and Romana and Duggan continuing the heist portion of the story and trying to stop that. The story handles both sides really well, with both flowing naturally and working really well together, especially with how the latter story eventually leads into the use of Romana by Scaroth to complete the Time Machine which leads into the wonderful finale for this story once Scaroth has taken off in the machine.

We get some cool build up leading up to Scaroth taking off in the Time Machine with it all being quite fun. The finale is so exciting with a fun running around sequence through Paris as the TARDIS crew get to the TARDIS, which was entertaining and didn’t feel like filler, with some funny gags along the way. This leads to such a cool story ending confrontation near the beginning of the Earth which was just so much fun, seeing the back and forth between The Doctor and Scaroth as the former tries to stop him from changing the course of creation by preventing the primordial soup of Earth from starting. It’s such a creative and interestingly high stakes finale for this pretty chill story to have and it’s a lot of fun to see, especially with how Scaroth is ultimately defeated which is both narratively satisfying and incredibly funny to see. The ending scenes on the Eiffel Tower serve nicely to wrap up everything and nicely cement this story as an incredible ride from start to finish.

Themes

These ending scenes also serve to nicely wrap up the themes this story had been building towards, as while City of Death is a pretty comedic story there are also some pretty beautiful themes on the value of art that it's trying to convey throughout. The idea of art's value is a sort of continuing throughline throughout this story, which is not a surprise given that it pretty much centers around the Mona Lisa for most of the story. I really loved the way this story tackled art, with it being a really nice and interesting examination into the value of art, that it doesn't just come from monetary value or just the end product itself, but the human creative that poured their efforts into the art itself, with how it looks being a product of those efforts and appreciation for what is being done with the piece and the work put into it instead of it just being a product; found that surprisingly deep for what is mostly just talked about as a comedy story.

This dichotomy in the importance of art can really be seen through Scaroth and the way he treats it, unlike The Doctor who sees great value in the efforts of the artist and appreciates the works in and of themselves, Scaroth's only care for these priceless works he's collected throughout history is merely their monetary value, with his whole reason for stealing the Mona Lisa just being to get himself even more money to fund his plans. The lack of care Scaroth treats art outside of its monetary value, not even batting an eye at selling it, being really emblematic of the people who only care about art for its price and value and little for the actual works themselves outside of maybe their prestige and historical value. There is little care for art and the act of creation for Scaroth, and I find it really compelling seeing this disregard of art in the face on one of the most famous and widely beloved art works of all time, while to some it's only notable because of its priceless value and its popularity, the effort of the painting itself and its historical worth was also something that shouldn't be overlooked since it's where it's true value lies, not just the price tag on it.

I like how this story puts value in all works of art, no matter how much they cost, with the nice scene in the diner where Romana is being sketched is described by The Doctor as a "priceless work of art". While it is spoiled by her turning around, notably showing her accidental interruption of the process of creating art, I did find it notable for The Doctor describe what was just a simple sketch of his friend in a diner by some sketch artist as "priceless", with it really helping me realize what this story is trying to say about art and it's true value outside of the just the price it's sold for; we get to see those efforts in capturing that nice moment and I found the whole scene rather nice. This idea is nicely coupled with The Doctor's distaste for "images generated by computers" that Romana shows, with it really speaking to the fact art isn't just a product to be created so people can give a passing glance, but a much greater human effort that was put into crafting the piece, the work's look and what eventually comes of that is what art is, not just a product; honestly as time went on, this is really applicable to AI art nowadays, with the importance of art not just being a product but a greater effort to create that look, has become nicely relevant.

I love that ending scene on the Eiffel Tower for so beautifully tying together all these themes about art, with the fact that only one copy of the seven made of the Mona Lisa survived the fire, and it not being the original hung in the Louvre but instead one of the duplicates which The Doctor wrote "this is a fake" on. I really liked that while Duggan at first is concerned about this being a fake Mona Lisa, The Doctor and Romana remind him that despite it being a copy it was still painted by Leanardo Da Vinci and that the writing doesn't affect the original beautiful art work of the piece. The whole comment on the x-ray serving them right was really cool, with it being a good acknowledgment of the people who see art only for the price as a product, instead of the art for itself and its look. That ending shot of Duggan buying and looking at a small souvenir photo of the Mona Lisa was fantastic, and nicely serving to encapsulate what this story was trying to say about art, finding value in that small souvenir even if it's not the actual piece; art as more than a product or it's price but just having the artwork for himself in that little way. Maybe I thought too much into this but the whole message about the value of art I found incredibly compelling, and really does serve to help solidify this story's status as a great.

Pacing, Sets, and Special Effects

The pacing in this story was utterly superb with the humor, quick wit, creative and exciting scenes and imagery making this easily one of the breeziest of watches in all of Classic Who. Even during the two extended chase scenes throughout Paris, it never felt like padding or filler because, first thing they didn’t go on for that long, and they were doing some fun comedy or building up to a good joke, all while giving some beautiful shots of Paris. The location filming in this story was positively amazing, as one would hope for since this is Paris after all that they decided to go out of their way to go aboard to shoot and film. As I mentioned earlier, they make great use of the relocation in this story with them getting some fantastic shots all throughout the story especially when they utilize the Eiffel Tower in the opening and closing shots with both of them being some wonderful looking shots and easily some of the best location filming done in Classic Who up to this point.

The sets used for the story were also pretty good even if obviously the location takes the most focus, with the ones they have here working really well for what is required of it for the story. The ones for the ancient start of the planet Earth look pretty good and used well for the opening and climax. The special effects for this story were solid stuff with some fairly good laser effects alongside some excellent model work, especially for the Jaggoroth ship we see at the beginning and end, with the way it flies off looking really cool. The costume for Scaroth’s true form is solid, while there is no way in hell his head fit under the normal human mask he was wearing, must’ve been using that Siltheen technology, the mask used for him looks so good with such a great striking look that works so well for the reveal. I love the vine look of the face, it really makes the Jaggoroth design stand out compared to other aliens even while using the humanoid look. One more thing I want to mention is the music which is simply amazing, and worked wonderfully for the story; I especially adore that melody that plays when The Doctor is taking Romana and traveling about Paris in part 1.

Scaroth

Count Scarlioni/Scaroth was such an absolutely fantastic villain for this story, being a really interesting character with a cool concept while also being incredibly fun and charming. I really loved the mystique surrounding him, being this eccentric millionaire who mysteriously has possession of a variety of rare, priceless artifacts which he sells like they're nothing and having his own motives for funding these time experiments that he has in his, with its completion being clearly what he cares about most of all, having great urgency in doing so. There's such a great charm to Count Scarlioni that I really get sucked into and makes him work so well as this sinister man of mystery, who definitely feels like the kind of person who would try and steal the Mona Lisa.

Scarlioni is just such a great presence in this story with him being such an excellent villain to see The Doctor and rest of the cast work off of, with him really having that level of charm and villany that I really liked to see. I mentioned Goldfinger earlier, and I feel similarly with the titular character in that movie to Scarlioni here, with him also being this sinister yet fun larger than life villain, with a complex plot that's so much fun to figure out and an excellent dynamic with our main hero, The Doctor, with this almost cat and mouse game that they play with one another being very entertaining to see; it's also fitting given his actor, Julian Glover, was played a villain in a Bond movie himself in For Your Eyes Only which he also did an excellent job in. It's really engaging watching him plan and work to facilitate his scheme, both for the experiments and the Mona Lisa heist, with his interaction with his underlings making these parts pretty entertaining. I especially liked whenever he breaks from his cool demeanor and gets angry, like when he learns his wife lost his gadget or his poor treatment of the scientist to make him hurry up the experiments, really show his villainous nature quite well.

He's a great threat for this story with him being pretty darn clever, making for an excellent adversary who can easily stand toe to toe with the TARDIS crew, having them on the ropes many times , with much of the TARDIS crew being in his clutches at one point or another throughout this story which was cool to see and really showed how hard it was to touch him and investigate his dealings. I loved learning more about Count Scarlioni the more this story goes on, with the big revelation with him being wonderfully done and incredibly interesting to follow. I mentioned it already, but the part 2 cliffhanger where we see him, or rather one of his splinters, was fantastic and such an interesting twist to the story that made Count Scarlioni an even more interesting and creative antagonist.

The revelation that Count Scarlioni is actually the alien we saw at the beginning, Scaroth, while not all too surprising is a solid one, working well for a part 1 cliffhanger and even more for part 2 where we learn more about him, and does well to tie in to why exactly he wants these time experiments done, with the explanation of how he's both in contemporary Paris and Renaissance Italy being very interesting.  I love the concept of Scaroth being splintered in time, with it being such an interesting and cool idea, having multiple versions of him all across human history. This is made all the more fascinating by the incredibly creative concept that all these splinters seem to be acting simultaneously with the Count Scarlioni splinter able to project himself to the Captain Tancredi splinter and interrogate The Doctor them, with that being so cool to see especially with that amazing scene where all the different splinters of Scaroth all chant that the centuries that divide them will be undone with it just being such an incredible shot to witness and really drives home that interesting concept.

I really enjoyed the way Scaroth utilizes these splinters and has them all work together to facilitate this plot to discover time travel and go back in time to stop his initial mistake. The whole Mona Lisa scheme is incredibly clever and inventive and I like how even with that planning, he's able to work on the fly and force Romana into helping him complete the time machine to finish his plan. I found Scaroth's whole plan really interesting with it not on its surface feeling like an entirely evil one, with the reason behind it making Scaroth rather pitiable as he well and truly does just want to go back in time and stop the mistake that led the ship's explosion and the end of the last hope for his people, the Jagaroth, as they would go extinct due to the failure of their mission. It's honestly rather sad to think about that Scaroth is the last of his kind and trying to save his own people, with it being a mistake on his part during take off that led to that last hope being squandered and his people dying out; makes him rather pitiable.

Scaroth would be sympathetic due to this, but I find it interesting how he's not due to his cruel and abrasive attitude, treating the scientist incredibly poorly, gleefully having two his henchmen executed after they ceased being of use to him, and his poor behavior towards his wife which he initially acts loving to but it's clear he's not and ultimately kills her in a rather grim scene after making it clear how little she actually mattered to him; pretty sad to see. It's these cruel traits that make it clear that Scaroth is not a good person despite his mission, with that being made all the more so given the consequence of him actually preventing the destruction of the ship would stop humanity and all life on Earth from forming from the original primordial soup. It's clear Scaroth doesn't give a shit about humanity one bit, seeing them pretty much as just tools to facilitate his plan to go back in time and stop the explosion, caring not one bit that they and all other life on the planet will be erased by doing so, firmly cementing his status as a villain.

I do just want to go on a brief aside since I remember talking with a friend about Scaroth, with it being really funny that we once again have another alien race manipulating Earth's history, which Scaroth quite clearly claims in this story, in order to pursue their own ends. Honestly, part of me likes to imagine Scaroth and his splinters playing cards with the Dæmons, the Fendahl, and the Silence, who I won't see eventually, to decide what manipulation of humanity they are planning on next. During this convo she said something I found really interesting and kind of profound, with the fact that Scaroth and the Jagaroth died in the explosion triggering the primordial puddle and eventual life, that means, at least in part, humanity is kind of the descendants of the Jagaroth, or at least has them to thank for their eventual creation.

I decided to mention this because I find the implications of that very interesting, and I really do like the idea that in some way, humanity are the descendants of the Jagaroth thanks to that explosion; part of me honestly headcanons that's the reason humanity has latent psychic powers which we see mentioned in a couple of stories, it's because of the contribution of the Jagaroth. I really liked it also because it recontextualized to me the whole dismissal of humanity by Scaroth in the attempt to save his people, given that humanity was in a way a continuation of them; kind of similar to what was done with the Minyans in Underworld which I thought was interesting. Ok, that's enough of that, it's just a headcanon and little to do with the story proper, just thought I'd mention it since it was some interesting food for thought for me; honestly kind of compelled to write a fan story involving this premise since I do personally think it's neat.

Scaroth is honestly incredibly successful which was cool to see, with him succeeding in stealing the Mona Lisa, and even getting the time machine working ahead of schedule with him kidnapping and forcing Romana to do so, allowing him to go back in time and get incredibly close to preventing the whole of life on Earth's creation. The final confrontation between Scaroth in the TARDIS crew is a lot of fun, leading to a great satisfying defeat as Duggan punches him, using up the time to send him back and him accidentally getting blown up after his henchmen, not recognizing him and scared, disrupts the field he's in causing an explosion taking him, the henchmen, and most of his Mona Lisas with him; great end for the character. Scaroth was a fantastic villain for this story played wonderfully by Julian Glover who excellently captures all the charming yet sinister character of Scaroth.

Supporting Cast

The supporting cast in this episode is absolutely fantastic with all of the characters, even the most minor ones like the tour guide at the Louvre or the one guard that holds The Doctor captive in Renaissance Italy, being a lot of fun, all of them performed well by their actors and fulfill their role nicely. His main henchman Hermann was a great muscle for the story, being the primary guy we see Scaroth and the Countess rely on to get jobs done, with him being a good henchmen to their schemes. Hermann is the subject of The Doctor's iconic line "what a wonderful butler he's so violent", so he already has points for me there, with him also working pretty well off of Scaroth and the rest, getting an amusing moment where he express confusion how he's supposed to sell a Gutenberg Bible discreetly. He serves well for Scaroth's final defeat, being freaked out due to his monstrous appearance and accidentally causing the explosion is a good way to send him off. Kevin Flood gives a pretty good performance in the role, working well alongside Julian Glover.

The Countess was also an excellent character in this story, with her very much fitting that sort of Carmen Sandiego vibe that feels very much in line with this whole scheme to steal the Mona Lisa. She has great charisma and charm much like Scaroth does, with her feeling very in line with that sort of rich bourgeoisie pulling this crime just for the thrill of it. She's good fun, working well off the rest of the cast and having some solid interactions with The Doctor and Romana, really like the interrogation scene early on when she's trying to interrogate them but gets bothered by Romana picking up the box and finding the bracelet, that was funny. I really liked how beneath that fun, thrill seeking exterior she has with this life of crime with her husband, there is clear doubt and unease with her in regards to her relationship with Scaroth.

It's very clear that their relationship isn't as healthy as it appears on the surface, and while she has fun with Count Scarlioni, it's very clear that she isn't seen as his equal partner in crime, but more or less just another human there to do his bidding. It's honestly rather sad to see her being misled like this since she clearly enjoys this life and Count Scarlioni but it's clear he couldn't care less about her, which coupled with the doubts of the secret he hides really does show their relationship is a bit hollow. I really liked that conversation between her and The Doctor near the end pointing out how she doesn't really know all that much about him and what he's planning in the cellar, clearly showing her doubts that were always at the back of her mind, which only get confirmed by The Doctor and her own snooping. The Countess' final scene is pretty sad, seeing her frightened upon realising the Count isn't who she thought he was and is actually an alien, with the way he says how easy it was to keep secrets from her before killing the Countess with the bracelet he gifted to her being pretty cruel. Catherine Schell does an excellent job as the Countess, being great fun while also portraying that doubt and unease quite well.

I also rather liked the character of the scientist Kerensky, with him being a fun character who serves nicely as the overworked servant to Scaroth's greater plans. It's made very clear how poorly he's treated by Scaroth, with it helping me feel for him, especially with him being mislead of the actual outcome of his work, with him having the noble goal of wanting to help with world hunger instead of what Scaroth's true intentions are, which greatly shocks him and I liked how he objected to how monstrous it was and confusion on what his work has been leading to. I enjoyed his interactions with The Doctor, especially with how the latter calls him out for failing to be a proper scientist and ask the real questions of where Count Scarlioni is getting all this money and falling into his trap; also funny seeing his expertise on the subject be vastly outweighed. His death is pretty grim, being aged to death with his own machine, a sad end for the character. Kerensky was played well by David Graham, who did a good job capturing this overworked scientist and his fun dialect.

Duggan

Now I can't talk about City of Death's cast without mentioning the MVP, Duggan, who was an incredibly fun and entertaining addition to this story. Duggan is such a fun guy to have around here, being a British private detective who is on the case of the Mona Lisa heist and ends up running into The Doctor and Romana after they visit the Louvre and the former pick pockets the Countess. I like the confusion initially, with it also showing that Duggan is a little thick despite being a detective, to the point of believing that two thugs whole held the three of them at gun point were just hired by the TARDIS crew so they can make themselves look innocent; though this would be soon cleared up. It was great seeing Duggan tag along with The Doctor and Romana all throughout this story, with him effectively being like another companion tagging along here; he also gives useful information to further the investigation like the 7 potential buyers of the Mona Lisa.

-For such a widley beloved story such as this, I of course had a lot to say about it, so this review once more went pretty long. As is usual, I'll link the rest of the review here and put my closing thoughts in the comments, hope you enjoy!:

The Doctor Who Saved Me Reviews #105: City of Death(S17, Ep2)

Isn’t it time to accept the facts behind the demise of Dr. WHO it’s time to stop pretending. The truth is Jodie and Chris killed this series every single aspect of what they brought to the show stripped out the DNA of what this program was about. The show runners creative direction was every bit creative. I remember an article around their first season stating they wanted to consecrate on Earth based storylines like come we are watching a time travelling alien we want outer space, couple this with almost ever storyline having to some how relate to a real world issue like I am watching this program to escape the mess we are living though I don’t want to reminded in everything I do. Also Jodie’s acting was awful it was like she was trying to hard to be a female Tennant and at what point when she was reading the script she thought “let’s call the cast fam that will make this feel authentic” and I should say I watched Jodie in the series Trust me before she became the Dr. and found her acting in that to be amazing but she messed up Dr massively. Then for Dr who to become some kind of transgender gay alien like what’s going on why was this forced onto the show I don’t think the Dr needs any of this be it gay straight bi whatever that is not what Dr who is about granted the old series learned on the sexualisation of it companions but that never aged well that was of it time and that no excuse it was wrong. And I am aware that for many years the Dr. Has often related to his relationships in the past hinting at different sex’s and relationships but that’s all it needed a hint I believe until the series can get back to its core storytelling it will never recover

Had to post about this! There is a media tracking app called Movie Paradise — r/MovieParadiseApp — that as of this week includes all the NuWho specials in the correct order, along with the regular seasons, instead of shunting them off into a "Specials" category with all the DVD extras and "Fan Show" episodes. This is the only app I know of that a new Whovian could use to make sure they see everything and see it all in the proper order.

Every other show-tracking app (save for Reelgood, which hasn't been updated in 4 years, and has many shortcomings) shunts all the ±30 arc-vital holiday episodes etc. into a "Specials" category, mixed in with 150-odd making-of DVD extras and episodes of "The Fan Show." But Movie Paradise has the specials amended to the end of their preceding seasons — and even includes "The Night of the Doctor."

This app was launched last year, and I've sent a metric nut-ton of feedback to the very receptive developer (shout out u/Croco_Grievous), who has built an app I genuinely think is great, but now is great for "Who" fans specifically.

If you're familiar with TV Time (RIP) and Ava Assistant (Android), it's like the best of both those apps, plus some really good features neither of those had/have. There's quite a bit of social-community stuff built into it that I personally don't use (however, TV Time refugees will definitely be happy to see it) — but it's highly customizable, so I can mostly just see the features I want and use.

Anyway, I'm genuinely not here shilling for the app. I'm actually excited that there's a media-diary app that doesn't do "Doctor Who" fans dirty.

This post is part of a series of reviews. To see them all, click here.

Historical information found on Shannon Sullivan's Doctor Who website (relevant page here) and the TARDIS Wiki (relevant page here)). Primary/secondary source material can be found in the source sections of Sullivan's website, and rarely as inline citations on the TARDIS Wiki.

Story Information

• Episode: Series 7, Episode 8
• Airdate: 13th April 2013
• Doctor: 11th
• Companion: Clara
• Writer: Mark Gatiss
• Director: Douglas Mackinnon
• Showrunner: Steven Moffat

Review

Hair, shoulder pads, nukes. It's the eighties. Everything's bigger. – The Doctor

Mark Gatiss is the most confusing Doctor Who writer of all time.

Nobody can take an excellent concept and turn it into a mediocre episode quite like Gatiss. There are exceptions, his first Doctor Who novel, Nightshade was genuinely excellent. On the other hand, "The Idiot's Lantern" is very much on the lower end of Series 2's offerings, itself a weaker series. And today's offering "Cold War" is a bit better than most of Gatiss' work. But even with that I'm still left with a lingering sense that this concept, dropping one of the Ice Warriors onto a Russian nuclear submarine at the height of the Cold War, that should have led to a better episode than what we got.

Okay, maybe I'm being unfair. I'm on record with the opinion that the Ice Warriors are the most generic of the Doctor's rogues gallery. Given that, can it really be said that any concept involving the Ice Warriors has potential by virtue of it having the Ice Warriors? Well, my opinion on that has shifted slightly. I still feel like the two black and white Ice Warrior stories – The Ice Warriors and The Seeds of Death – fail to make the Ice Warriors particularly distinct from most one-off villains of the era. But then we get the two Peladon stories, and everything changes. The Ice Warriors are given nobility, but also, in Monster of Peladon we learn that there is a faction of Ice Warriors that wants a return back to the old empire days. And, bear in mind, that's half of the Ice Warriors classic appearances. The Ice Warriors, at least by the end of their pretty limited appearances in the Classic era, do have a lot going for them.

From their origins, the Ice Warriors were loosely based on Vikings, so a warrior culture is natural to them (plus being from the planet named after the Greek god of war). With the context of the Peladon stories, we can infer a Martian culture that has at its core a lot of emphasis on honor and an uncompromising but balanced sense of justice. So that setting, it has a lot of juice. There's this moment that really does give a sense of that potential, when our Martian, named Skaldak, has the Cold War explained to him and seems genuinely confused as to how "mutually assured destruction" hadn't happened yet.

And look, this episode is mostly good. Moments like that one pepper the whole thing, from fun little character beats to serious moments, including pretty much everything the Doctor does or says from the moment he realizes who he's dealing with. In fact, I've got very little to criticize about the episode as a whole. But it just ends up feeling a bit forgettable. Which is the thing with Gatiss' writing. I've described it before as "sufficient", and that's kind of the issue with his work. It's all technically solid but often lacks real impact.

Still, it's a story with an Ice Warrior trapped on a nuclear submarine, in which the Ice Warrior tries to set off World War III. All the while the crew are trying to repair the submarine. The episode doesn't have to try very hard to build tension effectively. Oh and this isn't some anonymous Ice Warrior grunt either. This is Grand Marshal Skaldak, and while you've never heard of him (because he was invented for this episode), the Doctor has and makes it abundantly clear that Skaldak showing up is Serious Business.

The presentation of the Ice Warriors for their introduction to the Revival era feels like it's striking a balance between their 2nd and 3rd Doctor eras' portrayals. This is a Martian from before Mars joined the Galactic Federation, so naturally he's not as interested in peace as those Martians were. At the same time, the 3rd Doctor era characterization does pull through by humanizing Skaldak and emphasizing his sense of honor. The old Martian law is apparently "harm one of us and you harm us all", a code that Skaldak takes very seriously. When he's attacked, the Grand Marshal, after spending some time learning about the Earth, decides to launch nukes and trigger World War III. The episode ends with a standoff between the Doctor and Skaldak where Skaldak is threatening to enact his plan with the subs nukes, while the Doctor is prepared to blow up the submarine to prevent it.

And yet there's that humanization that Skaldak gets (I really wish we had a species neutral word for that, but I guess that's only a problem in speculative fiction). There's a lot of talk of his daughter. And it's worth remembering, he is essentially grieving the loss of his world. He is a Martian from the time that his people ruled their home planet. It's not to say that what he does is proportional…in any way. But it helps explain why he hesitates to kill an old man. Which Clara is able to use to get through to him at the end of the episode, for long enough at least for some Ice Warriors to show up and pull him out of the submarine (and, conveniently, pull the submarine out of the water). And then, although we don't see it, Skaldak shows mercy, not trying to get his fellow Martians to take revenge for him, tying a nice bow on the whole thing. And I just wrote that out and I think I've nearly convinced myself that this is an amazing episode…except, I have to again point out in practice it's just not as memorable as you think it is.

Oh and I can't wrap up talking about Skaldak without mentioning that he leaves his suit of armor, something never seen before on television. It's mostly decent effects-wise, largely because we only ever see parts of the creature in question. Martians apparently have long spindly fingers, which are rather creepy. However in the light things don't hold up as well. At the end of episode he takes off his helmet and the Martian face just kind of looks goofy unfortunately. It's a combination of unconvincing animation and a fairy generic reptile-head design. Probably should have kept on the helmet.

The rest of the secondary cast is pretty solid. Most memorable is Professor Grisenko, the old man that Skaldak spares. Grisenko is the one who dug up the Ice Warrior, and wants to bring it back to Russia to study, not realizing it's still alive under the ice. Mostly he's memorable for being a lot less serious than the Russian naval types who are running around. He still knows how to take care of himself, but isn't interested in all of the drills and the like that the ship's crew are doing. Oh and he's played by David Warner, who had, and would continue, to play an alternate "unbound" version of the Doctor for Big Finish, which is neat. Warner does deliver quite a good performance in this as well.

The captain of the sub is Zhukov, who gets another good performance from Liam Cunningham. Beyond the performance though there's not a lot to say about this one. He's a reasonable man, though he's still got the bearing and attitude of a warrior, appropriately for a story about war and warriors. But he's really just kind of a generic reasonable military authority figure for the most part. On the other hand you've got Lieutenant Stepashin, warmonger extraordinaire. Stepashin is definitely the weak link of this cast, just because he's so eager to get World War III started. Mind you, he's the one who explains the whole concept of Mutually Assured Destruction to Skaldak, but he still seems to want MAD to happen. He ends up getting killed by Skaldak shortly after giving his explanation.

As for our main cast, the thing that sticks with me most from this episode is the Doctor's reactions to Skaldak. From his initial switch from his usual hyperactive self to deadly serious once he sees he's facing down an Ice Warrior to his horror at realizing which Martian he's dealing with, that initial scene very quickly sells the Ice Warriors as to be taken seriously to those who were being introduced to them through this episode. His anger at Stepashin for electrocuting Skaldak is promptly followed by an ice cold "Lock…him…up". The ending confrontation between Skaldak and the Doctor is really good as well, though I think you can argue that Matt Smith slips a bit into the melodramatic at times.

Clara meanwhile…once again I find myself looking at a story that on paper does a lot to build up her characterization but in practice just kind of feels a bit flat. What's most notable here is how much less eager she is to put herself in danger than the typical companion. She's willing to if the situation calls for it, but she doesn't seem to relish it like many do. Particularly obvious is the part where the Doctor does his usual spiel of telling the companion to stay behind…and she actually does. We also see a lot more open fear from her than most companions. Still, she shows bravery by going to talk to Skaldak, even if that doesn't amount to much. And I guess that's ultimately the thing…none of it really amounts to much. Sure she's fairly active all things considered, and even forms a solid bond with Grisenko, but it still doesn't feel like the character has much depth. I can't even say much on Jenna Coleman's performance this time around, as while it's not bad, Coleman doesn't quite find the highs that she has in her previous Doctor Who work.

On the whole, "Cold War" is a solid enough story. But it feels like it should have been a lot better. On a conceptual level this is an excellent episode, and it's not like it's got any massive failings. But it ultimately ends up feeling pretty insubstantial, and aside from some elements of Matt Smith's performance, and a fun turn by David Warner as Grisenko, none of it is really memorable.

Score: 6/10

Stray Observations

• Clara is the only female character in this episode. This hadn't happened since The Power of Kroll in 1979. It feels a lot more forgivable here, seeing as this one is set on a Cold War-era submarine. There's no reason why there couldn't have been multiple women in Kroll besides Romana.
• Showrunner Steven Moffat was reticent to bring back the Ice Warriors, feeling they were stereotypical of the Classic era's goofy monsters. Writer Mark Gatiss was a fan of theirs however, and pushed to have them return. Moffat was eventually convinced due to Gatiss pitching the submarine idea and the prospect of seeing an Ice Warrior out of its armor.
• The earliest drafts of this episode were written when the companion would still have been Victorian Governess Beryl.
• This episode was the first televised story to include the Ice Warriors not to be written by their creator, Brian Hayles, as all four of their Classic-era appearances were written by Hayles.
• The Ice Warrior design in this episode remains pretty consistent to the original. This was done partially because Gatiss insisted on keeping the same design, and partially because Moffat felt that the Ice Warriors weren't well-known enough to put a new spin on their design.
• Early versions of the script had Skaldak as a time traveler seeking the wipe out humanity with their nuclear arsenal before they could take control of Mars in his era.
• Professor Grisenko was going to be a villainous character until the later stages of scripting. He would be trying to preserve the Ice Warrior as a weapon for the Kremlin.
• This episode might just have the most chaotic TARDIS landing ever, as the submarine is sinking and the crew are mid-attempt to fix it when the TARDIS just kind of shows up, the Doctor yelling "Viva Las Vega-aaa!". You can barely hear the TARDIS noise over the soundtrack and the crew yelling.
• The Doctor explains the TARDIS translation circuit to Clara. Honestly, a bit weird that she didn't realize something was up when in last episode all of those aliens were all speaking English.
• The Doctor mentions resetting the HADS (Hostile Action Displacement System) as the reason why the TARDIS flew off. Those haven't been mentioned on television since, unless I'm forgetting something, they were introduced in The Krotons, a 2nd Doctor story which aired in 1969.
• Said HADS sent the TARDIS to the South Pole, almost as far as you can get from where the Russian submarine was. It would have taken Clara and the Doctor months (at least) to get all the way to the South Pole, and they would have had to deal with the hell of taking on an Antarctic expedition. Of course, they might have found some other way of getting to the TARDIS or attracting the TARDIS back to them, but we don't see that, and honestly, that feels like an oversight.

Next Time: The Doctor and Clara go ghost hunting. Naturally this somehow results in a romantic reunion

Appreciate any help! I'm looking for the Blu-rays but I've seen so many posts talking about this version, and that release, and this disc error... I'm at a loss of which versions I should be looking for (and how to actually determine whether or not I'm holding the correct one in my hand).

I'd like to pick up the discs while I'm here so that I don't have to pay for shipping back to the States. And I know they might be Region B while I only have a Region A player, but I'm not concerned about watching them immediately - I know I'll have a region-free player in the near-enough future.

Any info would be amazing - and discounts wouldn't hurt either! Can go to stores or buy online.

Anyone know where I can get the type of leather wallet thing that the doctor keeps the psychic paper in or what prompts to put into something like amazon or ebay etc?

Why does the doctor grow frustrated when their meddling makes things worse like with the hoothi,cybermen,daleks and fendhal them using draconian methods covering them and erasing everything and them putting lucie under eighth doctor care

I dont know if this is the right place to post this, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the recently released Battles in Time cards.

First, I want to talk about the the topper cards. These are enlarged versions of 6 different cards from the set, and the characters are really obscure. Theres Missy which is the best one, and then in order of obscurity theres Cyberking, Wrath Warrior, Kerblam Man, Missbelindachandrabot and Nephew. I dont get why they chose obscure characters, when a much better idea would have been to do the 5 Doctors present in this set (11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th).

Second, I want to talk about the cards themselves. I was always disappointed that Battles in Time didnt continue after Series 4, and the cards that followed never felt the same to me (eg. Monster Invasion, Alien Armies). I feel this set fills the gap left behind well, with a lot of memorable characters and the slightly more obscure ones Battles in Time was known for (Anybody remember Ribbons?) They could probably do a follow-up set, as there are still enough aliens, villains and characters to pick from. These cards also feel higher quality, being made of a thicker material and having a nice gloss/shine to them.

Now, I want to move onto one unforgiveable error made by Master Replicas. When I was opening my packs of cards, I noticed a pattern occurring. A significant number of packs had 3, 4 or 5 identical cards in them, and I opened 3 packs that had all 6 cards in the same order. Out of 36 packs in a box, I have 33 cards that had 3 or more duplicates. The worst offenders were:

1)Sutekh (Common)- 7 cards

2)War Doctor (Rare)- 7 cards

3)1st Doctor at Ypres (Common)- 7 cards

4)The Shreek (Common)- 7 cards

5)Nephew (Rare)- 6 cards

Now, you could just put this down to bad luck. But I have seen 4 unboxing videos on Youtube where they have video proof of them opening all 36 packs and getting a high percentage of duplicate Commons,  Rares and packs with identical cards in the same order. I am also reading a lot of online comments and seeing photos where people are getting their box/boxes and sharing the same issues. 

Clearly something went very wrong in the factory, and if they produced 2,026 limited edition boxes worldwide then this is one major cluster-... from Master Replicas. They clearly cannot be trusted with selling collectible cards, and they conned everybody at over £100 per box.

As well as infamously cancelling Dr Who.

He lost a fortune on Bruce Forsyth's Big Night

He nearly cancelled the sitcom Blackadder,

Canceled The Tripods

Brought Neighbours to the BBC

He commissioned Eastenders, Howards' Way and Casualty

Cancelled After Dark

Brought Friends and ER) to Channel 4

Attacked Chris Morris's Brass Eye

Her was also behind the dreadful Millennium Dome experience

Hey guys, this has been a pain in my side for years at this point. As stated in the title, I'm trying to find a youtube video/series that focused on the 9th doctor (Pretty sure...) swearing a lot and the classic era doctors living in some kind of retirement home set outdoors.

Would be a huge help if someone knows what I'm talking about or can help point me in a direction.

Thanks.

Hey guys, I'm learning sign language and I'm a massive Whovian. I live outside the UK so I'm not able to access the BSL translations of the episodes. Can someone pls give me the sign names of major characters/objects/villains or anything else notable? Thank you!!!

I'm trying find the following particularly evasive, obscure/out-of-print material. Is anyone able to point me in the direction of:

1. It's Even Bigger on the Inside by Quinn and Howett (this is an expanded version of the original, plain old It's Bigger on the Inside)
2. Cybermen by David Banks
3. 'Doctor Loo', a strip from The Dandy (featured in a few issues, starting with #3,516: 'Desperate Dan vs a Pig!')
4. The Beano Special #24: 'The Bash Street Kids: Dr. Wotsit' (1990)
5. The Portuguese-language text of Doutor Who e os Zarbi and Doutor Who e a Invasão dos Autones
6. Disney's French Le journal de Mickey #2,494 (April 2000) - features an English-language Doctor Who-spoofing strip called 'Lost in the Jungle'
7. ‘Dr. Hu’: an unlicensed 1980s comic from South Korea featuring an East Asian version of the 4th Doctor, published in the Treasure Island anthology (보물섬)
8. Disney's Topolino #3,300, from 2017 (features a Doctor Who spoof called "the Engineer", in the strip ‘Topolino e l'Inseguimento Epocale’)
9. The 'Doctor Who: Time Lady' comic strip from the Star Begotten fanzine (starting with #16), which featured a pre-'Curse of Fatal Death' Joanna Lumley-inspired version of the Doctor
10. Unofficial Jim Mortimore anthologies The Book of Shadows (https://www.deviantart.com/jimmortimore/art/The-Book-of-Shadows-PPB-cover-392674520), The Age of Broken Miracles (https://www.deviantart.com/jimmortimore/art/The-Age-of-Broken-Miracles-PPB-cover-392672306), and The Sun in the Bone House
11. An online version of Crackerjack: '2000⅜ A Space Odyssey' (1976)
12. -
13. Planet Mirth: ‘Doctor Who and the Dialects’ (ITV, somewhere between 7th August and 30th December 1997, Milton Jones portrays the Fourth Doctor)
14. Doktor Hoo and the Buttercups of Doom (1984/1985) - live-action fan film starring a pair of junior-high siblings
15. Fan film: Paul Mark Tams’ The Image Makers
16. Fan film: Ocean in the Sky
17. Any of Randy J. Leblanc’s Professor What series (1990 to 2009)
18. Female-Doctor fan films by Stone Circle: 'Rutan’ and 'The Alliance'
19. Fan film: 'Resurrection of Evil' (1993)
20. 'MTV, Doctor Who Style', by the Federation (https://shillpages.com/feds/fed-prod.htm) - a fan film including a version of Rocky Horror's 'Time Warp'
21. Doctor Wow: 1960s Doctor Who, muppet style - by Barry and Belinda Noble.

Any leads very much appreciated. Thank you!

Talk about whatever you want in this regular thread! Just brought some cereal? Awesome. Just ran 5 miles? Epic! Just watched Fantastic Four and recommended it to all your friends? Atta boy. Wanna bitch about Supergirl's pilot being crap? Sweet. Just walked into your Dad and his dog having some "personal time" while your sister sends snapchats of her handstands to her boyfriend leaving you in a state of perpetual confusion? Please tell us more.

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Has Russell done what Michael grade did in the 80s or did Russell plan to destroy the show himself.