Rob over at The Medium Is Not Enough started a meme asking for bloggers to post their Top 3 Nu-Who episodes. So, in the spirit of virtual co-operation, here goes:
Honourable mentions: "Doomsday", "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead", "Father's Day", "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit", "Dalek", "The Unquiet Dead" & "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances".
1. "Human Nature" / "The Family Of Blood"
by Paul Cornell
Two-parters are one story, so this counts in my book! Why do I like these episodes so much? Easy: the story drops you into the action without spoon-feeding you the set-up like a dummy (for once), the villains are probably nu-Who's most successful, the companion (Martha) has a nice role-reversal in looking after The Doctor, it still manages to involve classic Who-style baddies (the Jack Straws), David Tennant gets to stretch his acting muscles (the realization he has to sacrifice mortal love to save the planet is his best moment on DW, imo), love-interest Jessica Hynes and villain Harry Lloyd are both excellent, and the resolution to the Family's threat is deliciously creepy. A very strong, solid, intelligent, entertaining, and involving story.by Paul Cornell
2. "Blink"
by Steven Moffat
A BAFTA winner, and nu-Who's most intelligent and unusual use of time-travel. Spooky house, frightening statue villains, spine-tingling catch-phrase ("whatever you do; don't blink!"), and a plot that plays with the logic of time-travel to wondrous effect. It's all the more memorable because The Doctor and Martha are practically absent, with guest-star Carey Mulligan shouldering the whole episode as the intrepid Sally Sparrow -- a character so popular she's been on wish-lists to become a proper companion ever since. Haunting, memorable, clever, emotional and very scary.by Steven Moffat
3. "The Girl In The Fireplace"
by Steven Moffat
Another Moffat episode, once again taking great pleasure in playing around with time-travel, but also leaning heavily on Moffat's other interest: romance. A distant future ship with time-portals leading back to 18th-century France, involving clockwork robots and a delightful love story for The Doctor -- it's pure, wondrous imagination on every level. Sophia Myles makes a beautiful, enchanting love-interest, and the ending will definitely tug at your heart-strings. This episode cemented Moffat as the best writer of nu-Who, and the only decent choice to succeed Russell T. Davies.by Steven Moffat
Honourable mentions: "Doomsday", "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead", "Father's Day", "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit", "Dalek", "The Unquiet Dead" & "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances".
1. The Girl in the Fireplace
2. Human Nature / Family of Blood
3. Father's Day
Has anyone else noticed that Cornell's episodes are basically retellings of 'The Last Temptation of Christ': Man has to sacrifice himself for the sake of the human race, given glimpse of what his life could be like if he refuses...
And I'm apparently alone in not thinking 'Blink' was amazing. It was certainly great, but the plot made little sense and statues weren't that scary.
It wasn't so much the statues, but the fact that they could move at phenomenal speed towards you (in silence) and zap you back into the past with a single touch... if you so much as blinked! And, of course, you can't NOT blink forever.
Although, yes, nobody thought to just alternate their eye-blinks ;) But we'll let that slide...
Nope. Still not feeling the scary vibe from them. Might just be me. :-)
I liked 'Blink', but, scariness aside, the whole letting people "live to death" never really grabbed me. And, as, I think, Moffat himself has pointed out, the idea of turning to stone as a defence-mechanism is a bit naff (he may not have used those exact words). And what were they hanging around that house for? And who threw the stone at the beginning? And why did the angels sometimes freeze when only the camera was watching them?
I sense another nitpick session coming on...
Well, "Blink" was apparently written in quite a rushed daze, and Moffat himself was surprised it turned out as well as it did (and won lots of kudos and a BAFTA). I still love it, but can see the problems. But it gets so MUCH right, I can't dislike it. Clever, atmospheric stuff.
I for one think you picked a great trio of episodes. I picked exactly the same trio over at Rob's site myself.
Thumbs up!
LOL. Looks like we're on the same wavelength! A few episodes stick out in my mind, but many just have VERY good moments (Utopia's reveal of the Master, Stolen Earth's "regeneration", etc). Those 3 were rock solid throughout, I think.