General Consensus on the Ninth Doctor: Series Three

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I’ve pre-ordered every release from this range, but hadn’t really bothered listening to the most recent series - none of the episodes stood out to me.

Was wondering what the general conensus is on Series Three?

Are there any stand-out episodes? And what should probably be avoided.

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Currently listening to ‘The Green Gift’… and good God, is it boring!

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I quite liked The Green Gift but I also spent the whole time laughing at Louise Jameson’s atrocious Northern accent - I love her dearly, but her accents do leave something to be desired. The second episode of Pioneers, I couldn’t begin to tell you what happened because it was dull. The third was pretty decent, but no better than anything else this range pumps out - written by Katharine Armitage, who imo is a writer to watch for the future.

I rated 3.2 pretty well, but the only episode that stands out in my memory is Run, the one with Alpha Centauri. I almost wish they had made that episode the whole boxset and done three episodes with it because it was pretty interesting. But it was still the same, standard Nine poilitcs that one has come to expect from this range - of course with a happy ending.

3.3, I gave them all 7/10, but I think I was generous with the middle episode and again, swayed by it being set in the north. I think it actually deserved a 6/10 at the best, but I remember the end didn’t suck. The first episode of that box was fine. I don’t know why I gave that one 7/10 either. The last one is the Benny episode, and I adore her so 10/10 for that, but as I’m sure you’ve seen echoed elsewhere, it was actually a little disappointingly generic. Like, it could easily have been any other person there than Benny, which was a shame to me.

I haven’t listened to the River set yet, but I’m hoping her being in all the episodes will improve the overall vibe of the box.

All that said, and it pains me to say this, I’m almost glad the 9DAs as they are are coming to an end. I love Eccleston deeply, he is my Doctor, and I’m delighted to have more of him, but the latest boxsets have seemed very by the numbers and I think him dipping in and out of scenarios in every episode is hurting the range overall (just like the recent Eight stuff).

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Series 3 isn’t all I wanted it to be. I have stood by this range from the start and been one of its biggest defenders, and I don’t know how I feel about it on the whole, but to give it a bash:

  • A general trend is that it avoids the low lows of Series 2, I still think most sets come with a story I’m less keen on, but it’s not a quality vacuum the same way I felt was previously the case.
  • Travel in Hope was the standout release, it’s business as usual for the range but nonetheless it’s a collection of 3 very strong episodes, perhaps the best lineup since Respond to All Calls even.
  • Buried Threats is the biggest disappointment of the range to date, I wouldn’t single out any of the stories as being the range at its worst, but I wouldn’t call any of them good. The final episode is the best of the trio but Lisa Bowerman is really doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
  • Northern Lights was the standout story of Pioneers to me, though I wish it had been a pure historical, it’s perhaps the closest we’ve gotten to one in the range and it only further ignites how much I’d like one.
  • Star-Crossed was a very welcome surprise. I was still feeling the regret of the previous set and I wasn’t really excited for River but I really enjoyed the stories and was shocked at just how much I enjoyed their dynamic. It’s something fresh for them both, Kingston is great, it brings something new out of Eccleston and his performances here are among his strongest on audio.

With Star-Crossed I do feel the middle story is a weak link, but it’s still very much entertaining. Archipelago is as strong a story as you could hope to end the range on and of course it’s Tim Foley working his magic yet again.

Series 3 was a good run, just not what I needed to fall in love with the range all over again. I hope that when it comes back it comes back swinging and doing something new. Star-Crossed felt a good step in the right direction.

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To be honest I stopped listening to these after a while, I will get through them all of course but they have gone down in priority for me as the quality have gone down. And as there is no big arc to follow, it feels like I could just dip in and listen to the highest rated ones sometime.

Having said that I pre-ordered the 9 & River set, of course I did, and thoroughly loved the first and last in that set. The second was just okay, but still move River is great for me!

I just hope if he comes back for more they can do a proper arc, maybe even involving Rose :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I feel like this is one where I disagree. Personally I just felt like the story had no drive.

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