3 Seasons. That's enough to start judging, methinks...

[Flyboy]

So what have been your ups and downs? Your favourite seasons, your favourite eps?


Season-wise I'm going to say S3/29 was the strongest, followed by S1/27.

S3/29 contains one of the strongest long running plots. Instead of just a word or phrase bandied about, there's a definite plot brewing over the episodes and you can tell the series is working towards something. it has a superb villain in the final three episodes and the quality of the individual episodes has remained extremely high with two exceptions (Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks). We saw some to rat acting from Tennant, imo stronger than in his previous season, with a larger range of emotions and some truely dark moments. Let us also not forget Family of Blood which had potentially the most powerful ending ever. And Blink, which was just.. legendary.

S1/27 re-introduced us to Doctor Who, and Eccleston certainly makes a unique and interesting Doctor. At this stage the stories are unique and definitely gripping. The Dalek presence in the series is welcome and works extremely well, both in the mid series episode and the finale. The "ongoing plot" of Badwolf is fairly week, but at this stage, it isn't required that much. The series benefits from some excellent guest stars, ie Simon Pegg, and general great characterisation. It also introduces Captain Jack, who, well... 'nuff said. This series is left down in places however, such as Aliens of London/WW3. A two parter that could have been extremely dark and terrifying about an alien infilitration of government and a plot to play major nuclear powers off against each other is weakened by fart jokes and excessive "unzipping" sequences.

S2/28 is for me the weakest of the three series. Beginning strongly in the Christmas Invasion, and introducing Torchwood spectacularly, it continues to begin on a high note. New Earth, Tooth & Claw and School reunion being extremely good episodes with both a fun and dark nature to them. The girl in the fireplace is also not bad at all. Rise of the Cybermen is where it goes down hill, many, including myself, aren't happy with the execution of the Cybermen, describing them as tin-soldiers. The cheating method of setting it in an alternate universe thus escaping any ties to previous cybermen has also dissapointed classic fans. By this time the interaction between Rose and the Doctor has become infuriating, aside from T&C (trying to get the Queen to say We Are Not Amused), Rose begins to get stupidly jealous in RotC over Lucy, and prior to this blatantly disregards the Doctor's orders. The Tyler Family story arc is arguably a hinderance on the series.

The Rose/Doctor interaction worsens in the Wire, with some horrific scenes such as "Hiiiiiiiiiiii" at the front door of a London resident. Arguably the strongest story of the series (The Satan Pit), shows exactly how good the writers are, and this arc puts the series up high, again with unnnessacery ship. Love & Monsters however represents the bane of every Whovian's life. Fear Her again, a substandard episode with an excessive amount of ship that jsut isn't required. Finally we reach the two part finale. The Torchwood references over the series haven't been subtle, and in some cases have been rather out of place. Unfortunately Torchwood itself doesn't redeem this fact as it is shown to be an extremely annoying happy friendly corporation that lacks the sinister nature of Torchwood 3. The return of the Daleks was imo unnessacery and cheapened the victory in the first series. The actual "war" was also nowhere near as epic as RTD said it was. The human resistance appeared to be a few infantry men on a bridge with SA80s. Not special at all. The actual ending itself was also, horrifically shippy.

So there we go, my review complete. S2/28 fails miserably due to the amount of TRUELY awful episodes (Love & Monsters, Fear Her, The Idiot's Lantern) and the week nature of other eps (Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, Rise of the Cybermen).

What about you guys? How would you rate each series?

[gopher65]

I have a slightly different point of view having never seen ANY classic Who (as far as I know it has never played in Canada on any major channel). I've read up on it a bit, but I still don't know much.

Season 1:
I like Christopher Eccleston. I liked the Bad Wolf Story line. What bothered me about this series as a newcomer can be seen using the example of the Face of Boe. The Doctor specifically pointed out the Face of Boe and made a big deal out of his presence. This made me think that it was a character that had been seen before, and that this was a tie-in with Classic Who. But it wasn't. Boe was just some random alien of the week. I had gone into the 2005 series thinking that I wouldn't catch the many references to Classic Who, and that I'd probably need to do a lot of reading to catch up (or purchase some classic Who seasons. I didn't know at the time that not all of them had been released, that some had been destroyed, and that even those that were on DVD were un-freaking-believably expensive).

But there were hardly any tie-ins. The first time the Doctor mentioned the Great Time War I rushed to Doctor Who forums to get an explanation of what that was, but it turned out that the entire thing had happened off-screen! WHY?

I also didn't like the somewhat... not random... ummmm....what's the word... illogical (I guess) flow of the episodes. Not the illogicalness of the plot. I recognize and accept that Doctor Who is one of those scifi shows that has an element of the ridiculous in it. I even like that. No, I mean that the plot of each episode tend to be jumpy and not entirely... all there. It feels like the writers are amateurs who don't understand how to create a self-contained episode (note: just because an ep is self-contained doesn't mean it can't have external references (like to other episodes). It just means that the plot makes sense inside the episode itself).

Also, Who suffers from the same problem that many shows do, especially episodic shows like Star Trek and Stargate. I call it the Many-Writers Syndrome. Too many writers who apparently don't bother to read one another's episodes. Even though a producer will often go over the episodes and smooth them out so that they fit in overall, the Many-Writers Syndrome leads episodes to have small inconsistence in dialogue and character actions that just don't make sense. Those things bother me.

Season 2:
I didn’t like this season overall. It felt really Blah to me. I liked the fact that they brought back Sarah Jane (I like tie-ins even when they have little meaning for me). There was only one episode that I really liked, and 2 that I didn’t mind. I loved The Girl in the Fireplace. That’s my second favourite episode after Blink.

I didn’t mind Army of Ghosts or Doomsday, although I will admit that I had been hoping for more from Torchwood and for a real fight. Everyone just gave up. Where were the F-18s hitting the Cybermen with air to surface missiles? Where were the ships firing long range shells at the big concentrations of Cybermen? I guess it was all a budget issue, but still. That’s what I wanted. Don’t try something big like that unless you pull it off. They didn’t manage it.

I actually liked the reintroduction of the Daleks, although you’re right that it cheapened the Doctor’s sacrifice in Season 1. He was ready to destroy Earth and kill himself (permanently?) in order to destroy the Dalek fleet, and it would have all been for naught. Still, I have to wonder: what would have happened if the doctor had failed both times? If the TRUE Daleks had met the human Daleks? I bet they’d have tried to kill them. They were impure after all.

Season 3:
Season 3 was definitely the best overall. I liked Martha, and Tennant really picked up in this season. Plus the return of my favourite character, Captain Jack. The Dalek episodes were weak, but I didn’t dislike them. I especially liked that showgirl song in Daleks in Manhattan. The Lazarus Experiment was my least favourite episode, with 42 following closely behind (though 42 did have some awesome visuals). Every episode after that was good, although I wasn’t pleased with the last 15 minutes of Last of the Time Lords. And as I mentioned before, Blink is definitely my favourite episode of the 2005 series so far. It was just awesome.

[Madeleine]

Series three, then one, then two. (Sorry, I've gone from being a traditionalist calling it 27 etc, to using the easy-to-remember numbers. It's just easiest )

I think the third series was best. The theme of the mysterious Harold Saxon and the Master's impending return was so well done. I particularly like how one of the major plot points that allowed this to happen (the introduction of the fob watch idea) was so beautifully 'disguised in plain sight'. The Family of Blood eps didn't feel like an excuse to wriggle the fob watch maguffin into the mix. Derek Jacobi was excellent as Yana, and his transformation as the Master's memories return was probably the most exciting thing the show has yet produced

Martha's introduction was very strong, and although the series faltered with the Dalek eps, it picked back up. The last six eps were easilly the best string of eps yet, and my only quibble is that I've been so spoiled with those six that almost anything that comes next will be a comedown.

Series One was next best. It benefitted from the novelty and from being the return of my childhood hero - I was predisposed to like it. The Empty Child eps were the highlight. It takes special skill to write such a bleak and chilling first parter, and end it in a way which is happy without being contrived or out-of-place; they managed really well.

Series Two was good, especially Girl in the Fireplace and School Reunion, but there has to be a last place . What tips the balance is the Doctor/Companion dynamic: I prefer DT to CE, but Rose was designed for CE and I think she's less successful with DT.

[Flyboy]

What tips the balance is the Doctor/Companion dynamic: I prefer DT to CE, but Rose was designed for CE and I think she's less successful with DT

Quite right. I REALLY liked Rose with CE, but alongisde DT the writers made her less of a strong and independent woman, and more of a clingy, whiney girl. But not even in a good way. She just got sickly.

[AvatarIII]

I also didn't like the somewhat... not random... ummmm....what's the word... illogical (I guess) flow of the episodes. Not the illogicalness of the plot. I recognize and accept that Doctor Who is one of those scifi shows that has an element of the ridiculous in it. I even like that. No, I mean that the plot of each episode tend to be jumpy and not entirely... all there. It feels like the writers are amateurs who don't understand how to create a self-contained episode (note: just because an ep is self-contained doesn't mean it can't have external references (like to other episodes). It just means that the plot makes sense inside the episode itself).

i think we should all blame Russell T Davies for that, hes an awful writer and since hes head writer and producer you can sometimes feel his influence in episodes he didnt write, i really dont think i like any of the episodes hes written.

i think i'm going to have to agree with FOB for the most part too, there was a big gap between mid season 2 and mid season 3 where the episodes werent all that good. i did like the season 2 finale and the shakespeare one but that was about it for that era, the runaway bride was awful, and now i'm hearing rumours that tghe woman from that is going to be the new companion!! i've never liked her. bovvered? no!!

[Reefgirl]

Ok here's my Tuppence worth

Season 1 - was a good starter, Christopher Ecclestone played a blinder and I really wish he'd have played more than one season. It was never going to be easy for the writers but they carried it off well. High points, the first half a dozen episodes and The Empty Child/Doctor Dances, I'll watch that again and again. Low points Boom Town and Jackie and Mickey I could have done without the Soapy stuff.

Season 2 - I have to go with the majority here and say it was definatly the weakest, the Shipping irritated like sand in your underwear, it got to the point where I felt like screaming "For God's sake her and get on with the action". High Points - Girl in the Fireplace, New Earth (sorry but I liked it) and School Reunion. Low Points - the rest of it

Season 3 - This is more like it, it wins hands down. Low Points Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks, 24 (sorry 42) Martha's unrequieted crush (Back to the sand in the underwear) and the mooning over Rose from both of them. High Points - Where do I start? Blink was fantastic as was Human Nature/Family of Blood and the Utopia trilogy, Gridlock had me in tears (That was really because the Old Rugged Cross was played at my Dad's funeral) and Jack came back and the return of the Master but in The Last of the Timelords I think John Simm went OTT. Apart from the ropey Dalek episodes I couldn't fault this series.

[Alipeeps]

I have a slightly different take again. I firstly have to admit that I haven't actually yet seen all of Season 1/27. I remember being aware that the Beeb had brought Dr Who back and being interested but I didn't watch right from the start and I missed some episodes and saw only part of others (I have just recently ordered the DVD boxset and intend to rectify this). What I saw I definitely enjoyed but I'm afraid I didn't really warm to Eccleston in the role. He's an excellent actor and I've enjoyed him in other shows and he was definitely good in Dr Who and brough some great stuff to the role but I just didn't warm to him. I found the gruff humour and overly wide smiles a little jarring and.. meh.. it's hard to describe. It's just a personal taste thing. He just wasn't quite "right" for me. The episodes I saw were good and I loved the fresh spin they had put on the show... I loved the worlds and mythology they created and the characters, from the Face of Boe to the tree lady and Cassandra in the same ep, the the Slitheen etc. I'm afraid I found the Tyler family somewhat annoying right from the start (bless her heart but I don't think Camille Coduri can actually act all that well.. ). I watched the classic series as a child and loved it but have never been involved in the fandom or a big fan of the show in adulthood (unlike my brother in law!) and so any changes to the mythology etc mostly passed me by. I find myself now, as something of an addict of the new show, wanting to go back and explore those connections and references that I didn't get in that first season (such as exactly what the Dr told Rose about the Time War etc), hence the DVD buying. All in all I found the new show interesting and mildly enjoyable but it didn't rock my world.

My interest really picked up with Season 2/28. I'd not seen David Tennant in anything before, though had heard the name, and didn't really know what to expect but was definitely interested... and he seemed more intruiging to me in the role than Eccleston. I watched The Christmas INvasion and was hooked. I loved what he brought to the role and found him much more "fitting" as the Dr, in my eyes. His zanyness, enthusiasm, the random and constant non-sequiturs etc just all worked incredibly well for me. I felt the series continued well with New Earth and Tooth & Claw (which I ADORED) and School Reunion - and The Girl in the Fireplace was just wonderful. I have to say a lot of my enjoyment in the show comes from Tennant's superb acting and the depth he brings to the character. He manages to portray an infinite range of emotion and really brings to life an incredibly complicated, quixiotic character, full of energy and enthusiasm and sorrow and darkness and power and vulnerability... I could go on...

I didn't enjoy Love and Monsters and it's the only episode I have never rewatched. Blink has proven that a Doctor-lite episode can be INCREDIBLE but sadly the characters in L&M simply were not appealing or engaging to me and I found Peter Kay's character/creature over-acted and annoying and, no.. just not at all interested. I didn't mind The Idiot's Lantern or Fear Her.. objectively speaking probably weaker episodes than the rest of the series but I still found lots to enjoy in them. The concept of the shipping thing never really bothered me in Dr Who and I wasn't even really aware of it as an issue until coming online and seeing it debated. I liked the closeness of the relationship the Dr had with Rose and I thought it was an interesting way to update the character and to somewhat humanise him, make him accessible for new viewers, by having him share human emotions and to feel attraction and love... and that gave the added bonus of creating all the more contrast to the Dr's darker moments when we catch a glimpse of how truly inhuman he is. I also wasn't bothered by the AU aspect of the Cybermen episodes and I actually really liked their reinvention. Much as I remember and loved the classic series I don't have any deep attachment to it in that way and I probably actually prefer that they updated the look of the Cybermen for this new series... they looked modern and industrial and more "believable" and if they had stayed with the old design then I fear the Cybermen would have looked laughable in a modern show. I wasn't overly thrilled by the much-vaunted Cybermen/Dalek battle at the end of the series and felt a lot more could have been done with that. In fact, my current feeling, over Season 2 and 3 combined, is that the Daleks have not been well used and have sadly somewhat lost the fearsome reputation that they had in my memory. The dalek storyline in Season 1 worked very well and they felt menacing and dangerous... I never really felt that from them in Season 2 or 3. I enjoyed the finale of series 2 though and again didn't mind the shippy elements. In fact, I loved the final scene... I thought Billie did an excellent job of acting and David, again, just blew me away. The absolute emotion tightly held in place behind that melancholy smile as he said, "Quite right too". *dies* Wonderful, powerful stuff. A heck of an ending to the series.

And then to Season 3 which I have pretty much adored. The only episodes that I felt let the Season down were the Dalek eps. The storyline simply didn't engage me, the secondary characters were 1-dimensional or annoying and again, I felt no real threat or danger from the Daleks. And I;m sorry but the human form Dalek just looked... stupid. Not scary, not anything. Just meh.

Every other episode though I have thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the opening with SMith & Jones, great storyline, loved Martha and how she was introduced. The Shakespeare Code was wonderful again, I loved the concept of Gridlock and though it wasn't one of the best episodes in the season it was a good solid one and with some truly wonderful moments. I adored 42 (what can I say, I'm a whumper! ), Blink just blew me away and was so good I hardly even missed the Dr not actually being there. There are no words for how good that ep was! The HUman Nature 2 parter was brilliant and the season just went from strength to strength. I loved how cleverly they worked it that elements were carried through into future episodes (never saw the watch coming in Utopia - what a wonderful reveal! Who would have suspected the events of Human Nature had a bearing on the build up to the season finale?!) Utopia was a slow build up to a terrible reveal (the only thing about that ep I felt we could have done without were the Futurekind - they were pretty pointless really) and then it was a roller-coaster ride to the finish. The last two eps were really quite dark and depressing in tone and had me utterly hooked wanting to know how on earth they could fix everything. I didn't mind the deus ex machina ending though, on a purely shallow level, I would have liked a bit less of old and wrinkly Dr. I didn;t mind martha's crush too much adn the only thing that niggled me a little about it was how quickly she fell head over heels for him. Though, having said that, it feels perhaps a little hypocritical to judge her for that because I can honestly say if the Dr was real and took me away to the satrs in his TARDIS, I'd probably be more than just a bit starry-eyed for him too!

Overall just a wonderful, engaging, thrilling series and probably my favourite so far. Certainly the series that had confirmed me as an utter utter utter addict of the new incarnation. So my preferred order of the series would be:

1. Season 3/29
2. Season 2/38
3. Season 1/27

[Alipeeps]

Gridlock had me in tears (That was really because the Old Rugged Cross was played at my Dad's funeral)

Oh gosh, me too and for a similar reason. The hymn at the end (For Those In Peril On The Sea) was played at my grandad's funeral...

[The Signal]

Okay, my take on things. After eleven years off screen, and a whopping 16 years after the last episode of the classic series ended, Doctor Who was still popular enough to be considered worthy of a revival. This was a little bit of an issue for the staff, because it restricted what they could do.

Television is not the same as it was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, it just isn’t, things change over time and television was no exception. That meant that the revival team had a challenge on their hands, they had to bring the show back, and change it to suit the audiences of today, whilst keeping the feeling of the classic series around. This isn’t easy, and for the first two series they achieved it, but it wasn’t until the most recent series that they’ve perfected it.

I won’t go into the characters, I think both Doctor’s are both true to the old series, whilst suitable to a new age of the series. The companions are more fleshed out than in the old series, though we could all do without Martha/Rose fawning after The Doctor (oddly enough, I don’t mind when Jack does it *shrugs*)

Series 1/27 was good, don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but at times things just didn’t work. The arc of the series, the brilliant Bad Wolf plot line, whilst intriguing, wasn’t exactly adding to the enjoyment of the series. Sure you’d have the spot the reference moments, and people wanted to know what the heck was going on, but it wasn’t too important to the plot. There were some corkers in this one as well, the second two part story being one of the best the show, classic or revival has had yet.

As for episodes not tying in, well, I’d actually argue against that, let’s take a look:
Rose: Introduction episode, bringing in the new Doctor, new companion, and an old enemy to make the fans of the classic series smile. Unconnected, but important for obvious reasons.
The End of the World: Sets up the Time War (already referenced in the first episode, though not by name), we know that the Time Lords are gone, and The Doctor is alone. This also sets up the Face of Boe trilogy, New Earth and Gridlock further this in series to come.
The Unquiet Dead: Sets up the Cardiff rift, sets up Torchwood.
Aliens of London/World War Three: Sets up the people of Earth knowing about aliens, introduces the slitheen, which are important later.
Dalek: The inevitable return of the oldest enemies, and answers Time War questions. Partly sets up their return in the end by familiarising Rose with them, and The Doctor now truly believing they’re gone.
The Long Game: Sets up the finale, also shows us more about The Doctor’s personality when he boots Adam off
Father’s Day: Character base on Rose, more effects of the Time War (Time Lords could have stopped the paradox issue), sets up events for S2 in the alternate dimension episodes
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Introduce Captain Jack
Boom Town: Back to Slitheen, sets up the extrapolator (which is important in the finale) and introduces the heart of the TARDIS concept into the new series, which again is very important.
Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways: Closes the season off.
So you can see, they were connected, giving a serialised feel, if not a perfect one.
Season Two, they tried to be adventurous, and it didn’t really work for me. They tried too many things at once and it just didn’t click for me. Though some worked, such as the past meets future of “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “School Reunion”’s return of Sarah Jane, others didn’t, such as the Cybermen’s return, and “Love & Monsters”. The arc, while more overt, was even less interesting for me. In this case, the majority of the episodes weren’t linked.
Season Three was the best so far, it felt like the classic series, with an overt and yet mysterious arc spreading throughout the series. The episodes were well written, with “Blink” succeeding where “Love and Monsters” had failed, and the whole thing just gelled together well.
The episodes were linked brilliantly if you ask me, with the following being linked with episodes in S3:
Gridlock: Sets up the four word prophecy.
The Lazarus Experiment: Sets up Saxon’s presence, as well as introducing the age manipulation tech.
42: Saxon furthered with the phone conversation.
Human Nature/The Family of Blood: Fob watch and chameleon arch tech introduced.
Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time War: Conclusion to the season arc and links back to the classic series.
Not only this, but the first two part story (DiM/EotD), while admittedly not all that great, followed the S2 finale, leaving just the first two episodes and Blink as stand-alone episodes.

Preffered Series:

3/29 - 1st
1/27 - 2nd
2/28 - 3rd

Preffered Doctors

DT just wins out, but I think thats because we didn't get enough time with Chris' Doctor.

Companions

1. Jack
2. Martha
3. Rose
5. Adam
6. Mickey
7. Donna (The Runaway Bride only)

Companion/Doctor combination
The best has to be the 9th Doctor with Rose and Jack, simply amazing, and with Mickey there it was even better

[Reefgirl]

I found Peter Kay's character/creature over-acted and annoying and, no.. just not at all interested.

I find Peter Kay just plain annoying and totally unfunny. I've been told it has something to do with the North/South divide, by a sailor from Newcastle of all things

[Alipeeps]

I find Peter Kay just plain annoying and totally unfunny. I've been told it has something to do with the North/South divide, by a sailor from Newcastle of all things

Mmmm.. I find him amusing enough as a stand up comedian. As an actor though... maybe he can do better in other roles but I'm afraid I found his character(s) in L&M overplayed and self-indulgent. It felt rather like some kind of in-joke between Peter Kay and a Peter Kay-fannish production team.

[Madeleine]

... we could all do without Martha/Rose fawning after The Doctor (oddly enough, I don’t mind when Jack does it *shrugs*)

Perhaps because Rose and Martha were mooning because they loved the Doctor, which, while perfectly understandable, puts them at a disadvantage due to not being loved back (or not in the same way); whereas Jack doesn't moon, he flirts. Jack's flirting is part of Jack, rather than the flirting being inspired by the Doctor alone.

I think Jack does love the Doctor in the same sort of way Martha does, but keeps a better lid on it. "You too?" - it was subtle.

[Pitry]

[QUOTE=AvatarIII;6904884]i think we should all blame Russell T Davies for that, hes an awful writer and since hes head writer and producer you can sometimes feel his influence in episodes he didnt write, i really dont think i like any of the episodes hes written.
[QUOTE]

Yeah, let's lynch him in the town square! I'll bring the torches if you bring the rope....

Sorry. Possibly my reading a bit too many threads in Outpost Gallifrey, possibly the fact I think the man's a bloody genius.... well.

I'd agree witht he majority here on 3/29 being the strongest. It had by far the strongest characterisation (despite the fact they seem to have forgotten Martha at some point and work only on her unrequited love angle), the strongest stories, and all in all strongest execution. They had a brilliant villian, quite a big number of funny, bonkers, deep plot and all in all, other than the Daleks episodes that were cheesily half entertaining, I truely enjoyed each and every episode - very much so.

That been said, I've enjoyed - a lot - the vast majority of episodes from 1/27 and 2/28. I loved the Tyler Family stiory. I loved the whole Rose introduction - they've managed to build the probably fastest 3D developmkent character I've ever seen in a television show. By the end of World War 3, Rose Tyler and her mother were real people. Mickey it took to series 2 and them stopping tot reat him like the comic relief, but he got there as well. They've managed to brilliantly (re)itnroduce the Daleks -and as a -person who only became aware of Who with Rose, I adore this episode. And they had their fair share of those funny and bonkers plots - Bad Wolf, anyone? yeah, the actual arc.... - it was great up til the last moment where you go "huh?!" and try to understand what the hell's going on. But other than that.... I lvoed CE's Doctor, his interaction with Rose, and Captain Jack was a hoot, too. With episodes such as The End of the World, THe good parts (i.e, Tyler parts) of Aliens of London, Dalek, and everything from the Brillliant Empty Child to Parting of the Ways, they were brilliant.
The strong parts that I found in series 1 also found their way to series 2, I felt. The wonderful CE turned into the magnificent DT - yeah , I've heard enough peopel criticise his acting in series 2.... and I can even understand why he got on people's nerves. Just disagree. I agree they had a run of somehwat weak episodes somewhere in the middle of the season, but to be honest, it does parallel - with episode numbers as well, actualy, to the weaker streak in series 3 - Cybermen episodes and Idiot's Lantern, like Daleks episodes and Lazarus, were easily some of the weakest the show has had. But they compensated for it in th beginning of the series, with the great Christmas Ibnvasion, New Earth and Tooth & Claw and the amazing School Reunion and Girl in the Fire Place - that is quiet possibly still my favourite episode of the programme, I'm still unsure between that and Gridlock - and then, they compensated in teh end as well, from the creepy Impossible Planet, through the wonderful! Love & Monsters - I thought it was really original, well done and ground breaking (not to mention Marc Warrn is brilliant) (and ignoring Fear Her) the beautiful finale.

so it's hard for me to choose. I'd say I like series three slightly better than 1 & 2. But still, I might not be the best person to pass criticism, I think DW at its wort is still ebtter than msot shows at their best, including some shows I watch adn enjoy on a regular basis.

Edit: re: Jack, I agree - he's ebtter at dealing with that. Differnet personality, and he also lived through 140 years of havign to live and deal with his feeligns towards the Doctor, I guess he learned to live with them after a while. So he's unlikely to "moon" after him like Rose or Martha - but also, I think the end of Last of the Time Lords should be noted. Between all his words of responsibility and such, at the end of the day he made a choice - not to go witht he Doctor. Which is the same choice MArtha did, really, and I won't be surprised if it was for similar reasons.

[Flyboy]

I didn’t mind Army of Ghosts or Doomsday, although I will admit that I had been hoping for more from Torchwood and for a real fight. Everyone just gave up. Where were the F-18s hitting the Cybermen with air to surface missiles? Where were the ships firing long range shells at the big concentrations of Cybermen? I guess it was all a budget issue, but still. That’s what I wanted. Don’t try something big like that unless you pull it off. They didn’t manage it.

You're quite right. As for where the F-18's were, well probably in America. But yes, there really SHOULD have been a few squadrons of Harriers or Tornado GR4s taking out whole Cybermen platoons. Even tanks would have been advantageous. Heck, let's get a decently mounted tactical assault shall we!? And where the blazes was the artillery? This is a similar issue I had with Runaway Bride. Granted the tanks rocked up then to destroy the Racnoss ship, but... tanks? Now maybe I just pay more attention to Air Power, but as far aas I'm aware, tanks are NOT used to take out airborne targets. If they WANTED an attack from the ground, they should have used some Rapier surface-air missiles. Personally, once more I think it would have been a good idea to have used aircraft, this time a squadron of Tornado F3s or, better yet, the Eurofighter Typhoon!

[Easter Lily]

My 2 cents:
Interesting thread... and lots of equally interesting comments. It's safe to say, I'm in agreement with most of you on how you've rated the 3 seasons.

The one thing that I've always liked about Doctor Who is that it has never pretended to be anything more than what it is... a time travelling alien with itchy feet who has an affinity with the human race. With that in mind, I've never been very particular about most of what I've seen as long as the person who is playing the Doctor seems to be having a good time. In fact, most of them have even Paul McGann in that lacklustre movie.

To me, I suppose, Doctor Who is about the Doctor. To me companions are secondary. If they're likeable... all well and good, if not, well, they come and go anyhow.

I enjoyed S1 and was very intrigued by Eccleston's incarnation... Brooding and a little morose. Lots of angst and pathos. The man does deserve a lot of credit for reintroducing the world to DW. I loved the whole damaged-by-the-Time -War arc. Dalek was an amazing episode but my favourite would be The Empty Child. In fact, I liked every episode in S1 (some of course, more than others). Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways was an excellent two part finale.

S2 was ushered in by The Christmas Invasion, which was barrels of fun. I liked the cheerful Doctor with a touch of darkness. Not having seen Tennant in anything else before, I was suitably impressed by his exuberance. A Doctor who is having fun! Yay!
The season started off reasonably well although I wasn't as impressed with New Earth as I wanted to be mainly because the body swapping stuff had just been done on SGA. But Tooth and Claw, School Reunion and The Girl in the Fireplace were brilliant episodes. Two episodes spoilt it for me a little... The Idiot's Lantern and Love and Monsters. For whatever reasons, those two didn't work for me. And I'm probably in the minority for liking Fear Her more than those two. I liked the Cyberman two parter and I particularly appreciated Mickey's development throughout S2. He went from being a whiny, defensive young man to a courageous and thoughtful soul.
The other factor that dragged the second season down for me was the whole Doctor/Rose thing. I won't repeat myself but it did affect (unfortunately) my enjoyment of this season.

But S3... wow... has been epic. The cleverly constructed continuity factor alone raises it above the other two. In its best moments I saw the spirit of Babylon 5 hovering close by. My favourite of S3 would have to be Gridlock... probably the most original and best executed big idea from Doctor Who that I've ever seen in the New series. This is very closely followed by the tightly written Blink, which managed to scare me. The use of statues for villains was a fabulous idea. Also in the minority here, I enjoyed the Dalek episodes (although I do think the Daleks need to find a dark corner somewhere and stay there for a while). There were a lot of elements in it that reminded me of the Pertwee era.
But the inclusion of the Saxon arc and the reintroduction of the Master was just compelling television. Plus DT was given so much scope to exercise his acting chops. The man has more than earned his place in Who history.

S3 was about the big ideas and much of it was successfully executed. It wasn't perfect but it was very very good.

So yeah...
It's S3, S1 and then S2.