Game Changing TV Stories

Isn’t that the entire premise of The Ark?

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We really should mention The War Games here. First time the Doctor’s people are named and shown to be very powerful. It also set the ground for the retooling of the Pertwee era.

Also Planet of the Spiders. This is the first time the Doctor’s change of appearance is called regeneration and explained as something that his people do. Prior to this it was “part of the TARDIS” and a forced change of appearance as part of his sentence.

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I did think about “The Ark” but since we see the Doctor’s arrival AND his return in the same story, I think of it differently. In “Face” it’s a reference to a past and unseen adventure. Everything that happens on “Face” is a result of the Doctor’s prior intervention whereas only the second half of “The Ark” fits that bill. Plus, “Face” is seven shades of awesome. I think even lovers of “The Arc” would admit to its (many) shortcomings. For these reasons, I feel “Face” has been a far more influential episode for later writers than “The Arc” was.

A good example that the first instance of a thing is not necessarily the game changer (in my opinion, at least). :thinking:

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Both excellent calls. Yes!

“The War Games” is the better story (much as I love elements of “Planet of the Spiders”) but the impact of the way the Pertwee story presents regeneration has carried right the way forward to the present day. Indeed, “The End of Time” revisited the slow death by radiation (and swan song in the TARDIS - though not shown in “Spiders” it is made clear he’s been lost in the vortex for a time) as well.

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I love love love the timeless child arc.

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Funny, I was thinking of suggesting The Brain of Morbius. Despite the pre-Hartnell Doctors being possibly no more than a joke at the time, it led to some Ruthian consequences later.

I would also argue that whatever story had the Doctor start to be able to steer the TARDIS was a massive game-changer (and frankly in a bad way, IMO).

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Me too. I enjoyed it from the off and never really understood why it was met with such… controversy! The potential seemed obvious to me, and RTD has (rightly) grasped it with both hands.

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Yeah same like, something along the lines of giving/having the doctor have infinite regenerations was going to happen eventually, the time lords just conveniently giving them a new cycle would get boring really quickly. Not to mention it technically doesn’t retroactively affect the current “canon” of the show, while also giving writers an even bigger sand pit to play in. While it definitely could’ve been written better, it’s honestly such a fantastic concept and i also don’t understand the hate

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It also, and I think this is so important, re-establishes the question mark at the heart of the Doctor. Doctor Who? Indeed!

I genuinely hope that they never ever answer it.

It really is better that way!

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It’s answered in the title of the show :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

And the credits :sunglasses:

“Doctor Who?” “Yes, quite right”

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Because we all know that…

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WOTAN is infallible!

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Let me add a game changer that wasn’t…

In The Wedding of River Song, the Doctor erases himself from memory or whatever, stepping back into the shadows. A seismic shift that returned mystery to…wait…no, it did nothing. Nothing at all. Made a big deal and then…diddly.

But it could have been, and in my opinion, should have been, a game-changing, um, change.

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The Wheel In Space. Jamie calls the Doctor “John Smith”, which he then proceeds to use practically any time he needs an alias.

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Yes, I agree. Really should have been a key moment but it just wasn’t. It’s a wannabe game changer but that’s all. Like, I also see it as a wannabe finale. It tries to be as audacious but just… isn’t. It’s a weird episode. Some elements I really love but it doesn’t work as a whole (in my opinion).

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Rose is a game changer for introducing the Time War which would be a defining part of the character for the next decade.

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Dalek was a game changer for establishing that all the Daleks had been wiped out in the time war, and that we’d never see another Dalek in the show…

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I would point to the finales of series 1 and 2, 2005 and 2006.
Long post incoming. Sorry.
Both feature massive amounts of CG space aliens shooting eachother with beams contrasted by much more interesting interpersonal drama. I would say, up until about series 9, the show has followed this formula in its series finales, to varying degrees of effectiveness.

I actually don’t like the series 2 finale as much as series 1. I like 10 and Rose, but hordes on hordes of CG aliens makes me feel nothing.
The series 3 finale was bad. Go back to Utopia and rewrite it from there. While watching, my thought process went from “What?” to “Why?” to “Noooo.”
Series 4 was… Fine? The DoctorDonna stuff was good, I like many of the ideas put forward, but the execution is not the best.
Series 5’s finale was bad.
I could not physically bring myself to watch past series 6 “Let’s Kill Hitler”. I found that episode to be offensive on every front. Sorry.
Series 8 was another blunder. It hinges on me caring about Danny Pink and Clara Oswald’s relationship, when Clara had done nothing but take Danny for granted and belittle him. I’m not against Clara Oswald being a bad person - In fact, I don’t think I would much like hanging out with her - But I would like that to be reflected in narrative. However, Missy is a national treasure.
Series 9… Heaven Sent good, Hell Bent bad.
Series 10 perfect.
I will stop from here to preserve everyone’s time and bandwith.

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Essentially the point I am trying to make: The show saw great success from Parting of Ways/Bad Wolf and attempted to follow similar formulas across the later years. Daleks and Cybermen, bringing back familiar faces… I do think it worked sometimes! But I’m not a fan of when anything spends lots of money to show me hordes on hordes of CGI anything. Am I being coherent? Is this a legitimate pattern?

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Actually, I agree that Dalek was a game changer, but for the way that the Daleks were portrayed. I’ve always enjoyed Dalek stories, but in the classic series they often felt rather flimsy. That changed with ‘Dalek’. In that single episode we saw our favourite pepperpots reborn as much more convincing battle tanks. This was something that RTD maintained effectively throughout his first tenure.

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