Doctor Who: 10 Greatest Chris Chibnall Episodes

We've already looked at the best of Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, so now its time to count down the greatest episodes of Doctor Who's newest showrunner - Chris Chibnall.

Steven Moffat to Leave Doctor Who in 2017

It has been announced that current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is to leave the series and will be replaced by previous Who writer Chris Chibnall...

 

Doctor Who at 50: Missing Episodes Found!

To the joy of Doctor Who fans across the universe, after months and months of gossip, it was last night confirmed that the BBC has recovered nine episodes of the series that were thought forever lost! Classic story 'The Enemy of the World' is now complete  while fan-favourite 'The Web of Fear' is now only one episode short thanks to the haul - the largest find of lost episodes for three decades. These new old Whos were finally revealed at midnight on Thursday at a special event in London, attended by Second Doctor companions Frazer Hines (Jamie) and Deborah Watling (Victoria). Due to the BBC norm at the time to destroy tapes of already broadcast television programmes, there have been over a hundred episodes missing from fan's shelves - and hearts - for years, with one showing up now and again. Now, however, the figure is down to 97. Only double figures!
'Every single avenue seemed to have been exhausted,' said Who writer Mark Gatiss to the BBC. 'Every now and then something turns up - but to have two virtually complete stories out of the blue is absolutely incredible.'

The episodes were found by archivist, Phillip Morris, who found them gathering dust in a Nigerian TV station. 

But, enough about the technicalities, what we really care about is the stories themselves. Let's have a look at what we've been missing...

ENEMY OF THE WORLD  by David Whittaker

This 1967/8 adventure is an intriguing one, being very different from the 'base-under-siege' and monster-heavy stories typical of its time. Hoping to enjoy  a holiday in mid-21st century Australia, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria become embroiled in the machinations of megalomaniac Salamander who dreams of world domination - and is an  exact double of the Doctor! With an exploding helicopter, a hovercraft and gun-toting henchman, it sounds like a James Bond film rather than a 60s Who, plus it will also be fascinating to see the talented Troughton in a dual role, especially playing a villain for himself to come up against. 

As the episodes have already gone up on Itunes some fans got their hands on them as fast as they could. Here's what Who  writer Chris Chibnall thought...

Wow. “Enemy of the World” episode 1 is a joy. Troughton’s Doctor an ever-shifting revelation. Terrific fast paced thriller.
— Chris Chibnall (@ChrisChibnall) October 10, 2013

THE WEB OF FEAR by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln

If you'd asked Doctor Who fans earlier in the year which of the missing stories they would most want back, many would have said this tale which sees the Doctor's old enemies, the robotic Yeti controlled by the Great Intelligence, attack the London Underground. 'It's the quintessential Doctor Who story,' Mark Gatiss called it. 'It has the return of the Abominable Snowmen in an iconic location.'

It also featured the first appearance of beloved character Brigadier (here, Colonel) Lethbridge-Stewart who was a regular on the show during the Third Doctor's UNIT years, making guest appearances throughout the series, and once in spin-off show The Sarah Jane Adventures, until his death in 2009.

Eagle-eyed readers will note that the aforementioned Mr G. Intelligence reappeared as the main enemy of the latest series of the show, played by Richard E Grant. Out of all the perhaps more famous classic Who villains, Mr  Moffat could have brought back it seemed an unusual choice - unless... unless Moffat... knew about this haul? Hmm...

Fan and Radio Times writer tweeted this on the story:

I am in a state of bliss. Just watched ep 4 of The Web of Fear. I can't quite believe it. Just as great as I'd hoped. Dear Nick Courtney
— Patrick Mulkern (@PatrickMulkern) October 10, 2013

The stories are now available from Itunes for £9.99 while they're apparently soon to be released on DVD.

This really is incredible news for the show and - being very spookily well-timed - it adds immensely to the fun of the 50th anniversary bash. And,Who knows, it suggests that, somewhere out there, are more missing episodes waiting to be found. What definitely is for sure though is that this is a fantastic year to be a fan of the show. And it's far from over yet...

Review: Doctor Who - S7 Ep 2-4

In preparation for the mid-season finale this Saturday, Steven Moffat's sure-to-be grand 'The Angels Take Manhattan', I've reviewed the three previous episodes in this terrific mini-series of Doctor Who. If I have one major complaint, it's that there are not enough; just five featuring the Ponds and the annual Christmas special in which Jenna-Louise Coleman making her first appearance as the Doctor's companion proper. However, this all should mean we can look forward to a bumper crop of episodes next year, the show's fiftieth anniversary. But enough of the future, let's look to the adventures we've just seen...

                                     Dinosaurs On A Spaceship

After 'Asylum...’s dark opener, ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’ decides to focus on fun and frivolity – and makes completely the right choice as it certainly is fun. With the title such as it is, how could it not be? You can easily imagine many internally – or perhaps externally, also – squealing upon seeing those words in the opening credits, feeling eight years old again. 

As DOAS is such an ensemble piece its success relies largely on its cast to bring the premise of the Doctor having a gang to life. Thankfully, they’re all rather brilliant. Rupert Graves (Riddell) and Rian Steele (‘Neffy’) give entertaining turns as their respective characters while playing the viscous bounty hunter/space pirate/ murderer Solomon comes easily to David Bradley. However, it’s Mark Williams who shines the most of the guest cast as Rory’s hapless dad, Brian. As in all his roles, Mr Williams makes, er, Mr Williams endearing and you feel you’re not laughing at him but with him.  

On the other hand, while the cast gave it their all, this reviewer felt the script wasn’t quite as refined as usual Who. Personally, not all of the gags worked (perhaps one to many innuendos?) and, although this can be forgiven as there was so much to fit in, the characterisation of Riddell and Neffy was sketchy.  That said, there were some fine moments such as the foreshadowing of Amy and Rory’s exit from the Doctor’s life in that ‘you’ll be there till the end of me’ conversation and that wonderful final scene of Brian eating his lunch while looking at the Earth below; exactly the stuff that’s Doctor Who’s made of.

              

                                    A Town Called Mercy

While the previous two episodes were dark and twisty-turny or fun and joke-filled, Mercy takes another entirely different direction; it’s a full-blooded western full of death, inner demons and morality. Once again showing the dexterity of Doctor Who. It’s safe to say that no other show on television could tell three such diverse stories in three weeks.

Speaking of westerns, writer Toby Whithouse proves he really knows the genre as he packs in several references to classic western films; from the obvious to the sly (I’m sure the undertaker sequences are inspired by a similar joke in comedy film Carry on Cowboy). If westerns aren’t for you, though, there is much else to enjoy here.  It britstles with wonderful drama that never lets up throughout the forty-five minutes including the parallels between Jex and the Doctor and the Frankenstein-like origins of the Gunslinger. Whithouse also injects a lot of hilarious moments too, especially in the episode’s first half; special mention goes to the ‘she’s called Susan’ gag which should go down as one of Doctor Who’s funniest ever lines.

While the episode is hugely enjoyable it has its faults. My biggest bone to pick with ATCM is how it sadly underuses Amy and Rory; although there’s a great scene where Jex sees Amy as a mother and she is instrumental in brining the Doctor back from over the brink she gets little else to do and Arthur Darvill (as Rory) surely only gets three lines in the entire thing. Seeing as our time with these characters is very limited it would have been nice to see some more of them.

However, as it stands A Town Called Mercy is a sophisticated drama that leaves you lots to think about with some spot-on comedy moments. Also, in contrast to the previous two stories, it’s not afraid to let the action simmer a bit more to tell a perhaps deeper story. While others might not benefit from a slower pace, it certainly works here.

                                         The Power of Three

As the Pond Farwell is just next week, their penultimate adventure needed to be something special, a last hurrah for them before the last day arrives. ‘The Power of Three’ was, of course, something special; a gentle, touching but also very funny episode that is rightly all about our terrific trio of time travellers.

The true strength of this episode is how Chibnall turns up the nostalgia and emotion all the way. The best examples here are of that tremendous scene of the Doctor and Amy talking by the waterside, answering the question perhaps some of us have been wondering this year: ‘why does the Doctor keep coming back for the Ponds?’ Another moment comes courtesy of Brian (oh, why wasn’t Mark Williams’ introduced earlier!) who gives his blessing for his son and daughter-in-law to go off into the universe. On the nostalgic side of things, as a fan, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into. The inclusion of UNIT in any form would have been exciting enough but for it to be led by the legendary Brigadier’s daughter, Kate, adds another level of geek mouth-watering to proceedings. I’m sure many are wishing for a return.

However, while the human side of things is very well done indeed there are problems with the plot. The fab idea of the cubes, that acts as a nice commentary on humanity’s tendency to scavenge,  is used well in the opening half a but when everything suddenly kicks off in the closing minutes it takes no time at all for it to then be sorted out.  The Shakri look great if a little like a Sarah Jane Adventures alien but are/is underused. And what are those gasmask-esque hospital porters about?

Crucially though, despite the nit-picks, this episode flourishes as it shines a new light on the Pond’s relationship with the Doctor and his with them. It’s only fitting that this happened this week right before ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’, when the TARDIS lands in New York, and that light will be extinguished forever.