Just finished The Ark. I love it when early Doctor Who uses time travel for more than going to a location. It is fun to see how things change between episodes 2 and 3. I also feel like the conflict feels realistic and good. A good story!
Now I will watch the new animation for the Celestial Toymaker for the first time.
Watching Part 1 of The Sun Makers.
Yeah, The Ark is a cool use of time travel, yet it’s not a favorite of mine. I think each half only getting two episodes to work with means the two substories don’t get as much development time as I’d have liked. I think a rare case where a 6-parter may have worked better, each half getting an extra episode.
Toymaker though, not one I really like at all if I’m being honest. But the animation does at least make it visually more interesting, and I think the more absurd take in the animation works in the story’s favor.
I’m a bit of a Toymaker defender and really thought the animation accentuated the story really well.
Watching The Horns of Nimon, and while “good” is probably the wrong word for it, I do love this one. I especially think Lalla Ward was a great choice to play the Doctor, and Tom Baker made for a good Time Lord companion. It’s certainly far from the worst Season 17 serial.
To be fair, they’ve all lasted about four yearsit’s just been less seasons:
9 - 1 year (2005) 1 season
10 - 4 years(2006-2009) 3(ish) seasons
11 - 4 years (2010-2013) 3 seasons (two with split releases)
12 - 4 years (2014-2017) 3 seasons
13 - 5 years (2018-2022) 3(ish) seasons
14 - 1 year (2023) 0.5 seasons
15 - 2+ years (2024-) 2+ seasons
I dont think they would have been that much better if there were more episodes. Maybe the second part could have benefited from that but I think the first part was perfect as it was.
Yeah I meant 3 series I guess!
I finished The Toymaker during my lunch break today. While the story isn’t exactly my cup of tea, I can appreciate what it’s trying to accomplish. The concept is intriguing, and it feels surprisingly modern for its time. However, I don’t think it fully succeeded—though it’s still an interesting story to experience.
I have mixed feelings about the animation. On one hand, it enhances the story’s atmosphere and aligns with what I imagine was the creators’ vision. On the other hand, it feels outdated and unappealing. Personally, I prefer when they stick closer to the style of the original episodes.
Next up: The best in universe song of all of Doctor Who!!!
I couldn’t disagree more. I think the creative choices they made were brilliant. I especially liked the different ways the Toymaker’s minions were depicted.
Obviously it’s not Pixar level of polish but then the budget would have been tiny compared to those sorts of things.
I see what you mean by it being a choice, but it looks more like a PS2 video game than a modern animation.
To be fair though the second best original song on TV Doctor Who is “I’ve got a dog”…
It’s not a tough competition 
I’ve seen this criticism before and I just don’t think it’s fair because it implies the people doing it are either unskilled or happy to settle for substandard work. I am more inclined to believe they did they best they could with the budget they had.
I do think that they did the best with the budget they had, and they were probably talented. I just prefer other styles of animation because it gives a better result for the money.
I think this is true.
But if the budget is a limitation in terms of which level of animation can be realised to properly bring the story to life, then a different artistic direction is probably called for.
I think 3D animation for the Celestial Toymaker was an interesting choice as it could bring the Toymaker’s realm to life in a way 2D animation wouldn’t be able to do. But the budget only allowed for a level of animation resembling that of PS2 games, which I do feel is a bit grating to look at beyond videogame cutscenes.
Yes, this is a fact way too few people have realised!
Oh god - the song!
It’s actually okay in the early episodes but when it starts narrating everything that happens on screen with some torturous lyrics it really does start to outstay its welcome. I love it when Purves sings it though.
Just watched The Doctor Who Proms 2024.
I can’t believe they ended with There’s Always a Twist at the End 
I loved it though.
Really want to go to one of these some day!
Hope the soreness is subsiding now. I had mine out 25 - 30 years ago; I felt so out of it the first few days.
I liked The Gunfighters a bit more the last time I saw it. I still think that it is a fun story but I think that it could have benefited from being a bit shorter. The song is still a banger!