Tag: Homework

The Eleven/Future viewing list

One again we’ve been so busy we almost forgot to deliver a text version of the viewing list! You still have four days until Eleven/Future, though, so here’s your homework viewing for the last of our regular Doctor/Theme episodes, which will be recorded on November 21st at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne (full show details here). Also, a quick reminder that this show is sold out – sorry if you didn’t manage to get a ticket! But it will be released, by hook or by crook, on the Day of the Doctor, November 23! (Good luck John!)

Your homework viewing for Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor is:

  • The Eleventh Hour
  • Vincent and the Doctor
  • The Girl Who Waited

If you’ve never seen Matt Smith’s Doctor before, we realise you might miss a few things, but don’t worry – these episodes mostly work on their own!

To experience THE FUTURE! as envisioned by Doctor Who, we suggest:

  • The Enemy of the World (Patrick Troughton, 1967-68; six episodes)[ref]Note The Enemy of the World is currently only available via iTunes[/ref]
  • Day of the Daleks (Jon Pertwee, 1972, four episodes)
  • Frontios (Peter Davison, 1984; four episodes)
  • The End of the World (Christopher Eccleston, 2005; one episode)
  • Utopia (David Tennant, 2007, one episode)

There are plenty of others, of course, including The Tenth PlanetInvasion, arguably the entire UNIT era[ref]As previously stated, Splendid Chaps policy is to not engage in discussions of the UNIT dating controversy.[/ref], most of Tom Baker’s first season – The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment and Revenge of the Cybermen – The Robots of Death, The Invisible Enemy, Kinda, Snakedance, Terminus, Vengeance on Varos, The Mysterious Planet and Terror of the Vervoids (from Trial of a Time Lord), Paradise Towers, Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol, Battlefield, Survival, Dalek, Fear Her, The Beast Below and The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. 

But we’re sure you have your own suggestions – so let us know in the comments!

The Ten/Sex viewing list

Uh-oh! It’s been so busy around here, what with theatre productions, Pozible campaigns and mini-episodes, we’ve neglected to write up the viewing list for our next episode! But in case you want to cram in your homework in the few days left before the show, here is your homework viewing for Ten/Sex, which will be recorded on October 13th at the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne (full show details here).

Your homework viewing for David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor is:

  • The Girl in the Fireplace
  • The Shakespeare Code
  • Partners in Crime

We’ve made sure there’s one from each of his full seasons, so you can see him in action with Rose (and Mickey!), Martha and Donna.

To experience something of the spectrum of sex and relationships in Doctor Who, we suggest:

  • The Green Death (Jon Pertwee, 1973; six episodes)
  • Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (Christopher Eccleston, 2005, two episodes)
  • Human Nature/The Family of Blood (David Tennant, 2007; two episodes)
  • The Unicorn and the Wasp (David Tennant, 2008; one episode)
  • The Name of the Doctor (Matt Smith, 2013, one episode)

We’d also recommend some previous homework, including The Aztecs (the first time the Doctor gets engaged!), The Dalek Invasion of Earth (and anything else where a companion falls in love and leaves the TARDIS – reasonably or out of the blue!), The Romans (for that post-coital scene between Ian and Barbara, and the French-bedroom-farce style antics of Emperor Nero), The Caves of Androzani (if you want to think about the creepy side of this topic, with Sharaz Jek), Captain Jack’s debut in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, and the reframing of Sarah Jane’s relationship with the Doctor in School Reunion (both recommended last month for Nine/Women).

Other possibilities include The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (for both Martha’s exit, which frames her relationship with the Doctor, and the Master’s relationship with his wife), The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End (for…well, you know what for), and anything with River Song in it (but especially Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and The Wedding of River Song).

But we’re sure you have your own suggestions – so let us know in the comments!

The Nine/Women viewing list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Eight/Science, here is your homework viewing for Nine/Women, which will be recorded on September 15th at the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne (full show details here).

Your homework viewing for Chris Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor is:

  • Aliens of London/World War Three
  • Dalek
  • The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

Of course, as The Ecc only had the one season, you could just watch all thirteen of his episodes. Watching our list you’re nearly halfway there!

For a crash course in how women have been represented in Doctor Who, we suggest:

  • The Dalek Invastion of Earth (William Hartnell, 1964; six episodes)
  • Robot (Tom Baker, 1974, four episodes)
  • The Stones of Blood (Tom Baker, 1976; four episodes)
  • Survival (Sylvester McCoy, 1989; three episodes)
  • Rose (Christopher Eccleston, 2005, one episode)
  • School Reunion (David Tennant, 2006, one episode)
  • The Runaway Bride (David Tennant, 2006, one episode)
  • The Girl Who Waited (Matt Smith, 2011, one episode)

…and that’s only scratching the surface! Other stories and episodes worth considering include Spearhead From Space, Terror of the Autons, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Mark of the Rani, Paradise Towers, The Happiness PatrolThe Curse of FenricNew Earth, Human Nature/Family of Blood, and so many more…

Got suggestions of your own? Let us know in the comments!

The Eight/Science viewing/listening list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Seven/Religion, here is your homework viewing for Eight/Science, which will be recorded on August 11th at Bar Open in Melbourne (full show details here).

Your homework viewing for the Eighth Doctor is:

  • Doctor Who: The Movie

…okay, no surprises there. While we’ll mostly be sticking with discussion of Grace: 1999, you might enjoy listening to some Eighth Doctor Big Finish audio adventures. We suggest:

  • The Chimes of Midnight
  • The Silver Turk
  • Shada
  • the BBC7 series beginning with Blood of the Daleks

We’re talking about science in Doctor Who; here are some good (or bad) examples of science and scientists in the show:

  • The Daleks (William Hartnell, 1963; seven episodes)
  • Terror of the Autons (Jon Pertwee, 1971; four episodes)
  • The Masque of Mandragora (Tom Baker, 1976; four episodes)
  • Four to Doomsday (Peter Davison, 1982; four episodes)
  • The Lazarus Experiment (David Tennant, 2007; one episode)

There’s so much “science” in Doctor Who, though, that we could easily list dozens of other relevant stories; if you’re feeling enthusiastic, you might also want to watch The DaemonsCreature from the Pit, Logopolis, Aliens of London/World War Three, New Earth or The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. Please share your own suggestions in the comments below!

The Seven/Religion viewing/listening list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Six/Clothes, here is your homework viewing for Seven/Religion, which will be recorded on July 14th at The Public Bar in Melbourne (full show details can be found here).

To discover the secrets of the Seventh Doctor, we recommend the following three television stories:

  • Remembrance of the Daleks
  • Ghost Light
  • Survival

We realise we’ve already recommended Ghost Light, for fear…but it’s so good! We had to double up. You may also like to watch Delta and the Bannermen to get the measure of Mel.

Since many of us feel that Sylv and Sophie were cut off in their prime, we’d also like to recommend some Seventh Doctor Big Finish audio adventures:

  • Colditz
  • A Thousand Tiny Wings
  • Magic Mousetrap
  • Live 34
  • Bang-Bang-a-Boom

We’re also exploring the theme of religion in Doctor Who, on which topic we reckon the following stories probably have the most interesting things to say:

  • The Aztecs (William Hartnell, 1963; four episodes)
  • The Daemons (Jon Pertwee, 1971; five episodes)
  • The Face of Evil (Tom Baker, 1977; four episodes)
  • Planet of Fire (Peter Davison, 1984; four episodes)
  • The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit (David Tennant, 2006; two episodes)

We’ve revised this list a little since the podcast, to avoid doubling up too much; other relevant stories include The Crusades and The Myth Makers (well, what you can find of them), and the previously recommended stories The Curse of Fenric (Sylvester McCoy, 1989; four episodes), and Gridlock (David Tennant, 2007; one episode). If you have any other suggestions, please share them in the comments below!

The Six/Clothes viewing (and listening) list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Five/Fear, here is your homework viewing for Six/Clothes, which will be recorded on June 15th at Agent 284 in Melbourne (full show details can be found here).

If the Sixth Doctor is new to you, we recommend the following three television stories to see him in his prime:

  • Revelation of the Daleks
  • Vengeance on Varos
  • The Mysterious Planet (aka Trial of a Time Lord episodes 1-4) 

Fan wisdom, of course, suggests that Colin Baker really hits his stride off television – in his extraordinarily popular run of Big Finish audio adventures, where he has found a new legion of fans. We’d like to suggest a few of those, too:

  • The Holy Terror
  • The One Doctor
  • Jubilee
  • Doctor Who and The Pirates
  • Davros

And there’s some thought that the Sixth Doctor’s greatest adventure is actually in print: the comic Voyager from 1984, collected and reprinted in 1989 and 2007.

We’re also exploring the wonderful world of clothes – costumes, fashion and design – and while it’s hard to really pick just a few stories, here’s what we’ve come up with as a sampler of the show’s rich history of sartorial elegance and variety in design:

  • The Chase (William Hartnell, 1965; six episodes)
  • Robots of Death (Tom Baker, 1977; four episodes)
  • The Talons of Weng-Chiang (Tom Baker, 1977; four episodes)
  • Black Orchid (Peter Davison, 1982; two episodes)
  • Gridlock (David Tennant, 2007; one episode)

We freely admit to including The Chase entirely for Barbara’s cardigan. We wanted something from the new series, but nothing particularly stood out to us that wasn’t just a more recent example of something from the classic series (e.g. historical costumes, space outfits etc.). So we picked Gridlock for its variety – the Cats, the occupants of the cars, etc.  We welcome your suggestions! (The End of the World is good for the same reasons, but we’re saving it for Nine.)

A few stories we’ve already listed as homework for previous episodes also fit this theme rather nicely, including Snakedance and Ghost Light. Can you think of any others? Share your suggestions in the comments below!

The Five/Fear viewing list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Four/Comedy, here is your homework viewing for episode Five/Fear, which will be recorded on May 19th at The Public Bar in Melbourne (full show details can be found here).

If you’ve never experienced the Fifth Doctor, we think the following three stories will show him – and the style of his era – at their best:

  • Earthshock
  • Enlightenment
  • The Caves of Androzani

For “Fear”, we’ve decided that these stories and episodes cover the theme best:

  • Planet of the Spiders (Jon Pertwee, 1974; six episodes)
  • The Ark in Space (Tom Baker, 1975; four episodes)
  • Snakedance (Peter Davison, 1983; four episodes)
  • Ghost Light (Sylvester McCoy, 1989; three episodes)
  • Blink (David Tennant, 2007; one episode)

Some of these stories are terrifying, some are about facing or overcoming fear, and one probably isn’t all that frightening but keeps getting mentioned by our guests as the scary one they remember. With a history of being frightening, however, there are many other Doctor Who stories that fit this theme; if you’re keen, here’s Doctor Who TV’sTop 5 Scariest Doctor Who moments” from the classic series, and – as part of the promotion for the recent episode Hidethe nominations for “Spookiest Ever Doctor Who Story” over at the official BBC Doctor Who blog.

Have any other stories made you cower behind the sofa? Share your suggestions in the comments below!

The Four/Comedy viewing list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Three/Family, here is your homework viewing for episode Four/Comedy!

In the unlikely event that you’ve never seen the Fourth Doctor in action, we suggest viewing the following three stories to get a good idea:

  • The Pyramids of Mars
  • The Talons of Weng-Chiang
  • Warrior’s Gate

That’s only a small sampling of his seven years, but we think it hits the best of all three periods of the Tom Baker era – something we’ll not doubt talk more about in the podcast itself.

You’ll find two more Baker stories (from his “middle period”) in our “Comedy” list – it’s no coincidence we picked this theme for him! We think you’ll have a good laugh with (and occasionally at) these stories:

  • The Romans (William Hartnell, 1964; four episodes)
  • City of Death (Tom Baker, 1979; four episodes)
  • Creature from the Pit (Tom Baker, 1979; four episodes)
  • Paradise Towers (Sylvester McCoy, 1987; four episodes)
  • Love & Monsters (David Tennant, 2006; one episode)

You might also like to watch The Gunfighters (we talked about it quite a bit in episode one), and for bonus points, the explicitly comedic specials like Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death and Time Crash. Plus there’s this handy list of “10 of the funniest Doctor Who moments” from BBC America’s Anglophenia blog.

Have any other stories made you giggle? Share your suggestions in the comments below!

The Three/Family viewing list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Two/Evil, here is your homework viewing for episode Three/Family!

If you’re not familiar with the ways of the Third Doctor, we reckon the following three stories will give you a pretty good idea what he’s about:

  • Spearhead From Space
  • Carnival of Monsters
  • Death to the Daleks

There’s lots to choose from, of course, so feel free to watch as much as you can!

For the theme of “Family”, we suggest watching the following:

  • The Rescue (William Hartnell, 1964)
  • The Daemons (Jon Pertwee, 1971)
  • The Keeper of Traken (Tom Baker, 1981)
  • Father’s Day (Christopher Eccleston, 2005)
  • Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (Matt Smith, 2012)

As always, please feel free to share other suggestions in the comments below.

The One/Authority (retroactive) viewing list

Hi all! Only a couple of days to go before our first live show episode becomes available – and so we’re getting in just in time to give you a list of viewing for the First Doctor and the theme of Authority, as requested by a few people on our Facebook page. (We’re nothing if not responsive to your suggestions.)

For the First Doctor, we’d suggest the following three stories for a taste:

  • An Unearthly Child (though we won’t mind too much if you skip the last three episodes, aka “Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Cavemen!”)
  • The Time Meddler
  • The War Machines

As an extra post-recording bonus, you may also wish to watch the stories we most talk about: The AztecsThe Keys of Marinus, The Romans and The Gunfighters. Oh, and special extra credit for watching The Tenth Planet – though if you have a copy of that final episode, please do share it with the world, won’t you?

For the theme of “Authority”, our five picks are:

  • Day Of The Daleks (Jon Pertwee, 1972)
  • Genesis Of The Daleks (Tom Baker, 1975)
  • Snakedance (Peter Davison, 1983)
  • The Waters Of Mars (David Tennant, 2009)
  • The Pandorica Opens (Matt Smith, 2010)

Keeping these lists to just five is killing us, but really, we can’t ask you to watch more than that. Let us know what other stories you think fit the theme in the comments!