Series 5 - Matt Smith - 'The Pandorica Opens' and 'The Big Bang'

It appears we’ve been on a bit of a Matt Smith binge but this is hardly surprising having just acquired the blu-rays for seasons 5 and 6. For our 56th and 57th evenings with the Doctor we chose the two part story which sees the Doctor face all of his foes in one big standoff surrounding the mysterious Pandorica. As the finale of Matt Smith’s first series as the Doctor the audience widely expected wonderful things from The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang and with the promise of appearances from River Song, the Daleks, the Cybermen and well, just about every race of monsters the Doctor has ever come up against, there was only one way this episode could go.

Season 7 - Patrick Troughton - The Tomb of the Cybermen

The Tomb of the Cybermen was actually the first classic episode I ever saw and despite the fact that it briefly fooled me into believing that I didn’t really like the classic female companions at all, it is one of my favourite episodes. Patrick Troughton is captivating as the Doctor, he is silly and serious in perfect harmony and his devotion to his companions is palpable. Most of all though, it is his mind that I admire, he watches the people around him with equal parts curiosity and suspicion and isn’t afraid to do what needs to be done.

Season 22 - Colin Baker - Attack of the Cybermen

We chose 'Attack of the Cybermen' for Day 20 as we had not seen an episode with Colin Baker and as the first serial from Season 22 it seemed a good place to start with this Doctor. Unfortunately we did find ourselves a little disappointed with the episode which didn’t seem to flow particularly well and facets of the story were quite farcical.

Colin Baker’s Doctor is, if this is possible, almost more eccentric than many of the other incarnations and has an arrogance about him that actually makes him quite abrasive. The episode has a very slapstick feel to it which is partly due to the physical nature of Colin Baker’s portrayal and partly due to the very 80s feel to the storyline.

Peri, as ever, is partially clothed and a little whiney through most of the episode and is almost killed on several occasions but even though the character of Peri doesn’t really hold up amazingly well alongside other classic companions such as Sarah Jane and Jo Grant her sparring with the sixth Doctor brings a comedy element to Season 22 and provides a voice for the audience giving us a much appreciated reprieve from the Doctor’s showing off.

Though the story line wasn’t amazing and the relationship between this newly regenerated Doctor and his companion Peri is a little tense, it was great to see a different take on the Cybermen and was interesting, if comical, to see just what could happen if the chameleon circuit in the Tardis was working.  

Unfortunately we couldn’t find it in our hearts to award this episode more than a 2/5, hopefully we have a little more luck with some of Colin Baker’s other episodes. 

Series 2 - David Tennant - Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel

In honour of Roger Lloyd Pack we chose ‘Rise of the Cybermen’ and ‘The Age of Steel’ as our viewing for Day 18 of our year with the Doctor. These episodes which serve as a two part story, boast being the first appearance of the Cybermen since Doctor Who’s return to the BBC in 2005.

In this story the Doctor, Rose and Mickey find themselves crash landing on a parallel earth in which Rose’s father and Mickey’s grandmother are still alive. All of the residents of this parallel world are plugged directly into the internet via silver ear pieces which allow them to download the daily news reports straight into their mind wherever they are. Whole cities stop to watch the news at the same time and then continue about their business as though nothing has happened. As ever though there is something sinister about these head sets and the man who created them.