u/AlmostRandomNow

I made a post about a month ago showing the poster for the Lovecraftian Sherlock Holmes play I've written and am staging at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, for on week only.

Well, I'd like to share the first looks at our Sherlock Holmes (Calum Philp) and Dr. John Watson (George Atkinson).

Synopsis: Whilst clearing out her mother's belongings from her care home, Kelly discovers a hidden family secret. Her grandfather was Dr John Watson. As she digs further, Kelly uncovers the truth of the untold final case of Sherlock Holmes: a case involving an otherworldly crown of mysterious origin, and the abandoned American coastal town of Innsmouth.

If anyone on here is interested, we're on 24th-29th August, 7.05pm
Theatre 3, theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

Since October 2023, just before the show's 60th, I started watching Doctor Who from the very beginning and decided that when I stopped enjoying it, I'd end my watching streak... so that means that 2 weeks ago, after over 2 and a half years of watching, I finished Doctor Who from start to end. Oh, and I actually ended up writing a review for each individual story on either Letterboxd or Tardis Guide.

If you want to look at all the data, here's a link to the full spreadsheet for you to look at that also included links to the reviews of each story (after I watched them).

All this data is the 'objective' opinions of my rankings for individual episodes and stories; I do have much more subjective opinions on actors, companions, and who my favourites are, but these are the numbers purely from what I thought of the stories.

As well, this is only for main episodes of the show, so no minisodes or other appearances on other shows and spin-offs, with the only exception being The Night of The Doctor with Paul McGann. There's an entire other tab on the spreadsheet for people to look at the rating with minisodes and 'canonical' appearances on other shows. This means no audio plays either.

Oh, and going forward, everything is being rated out of 10, so any number you might see is to be seen as '-.--/10'

---

RANKING THE DOCTORS

So, the first question that could be, who ends up being the highest rated Doctor/how would you rank the different Doctors? As I said before, I have my favourite, but just looking at my favourite Doctors based on how I rated their episodes/stories.

1. Ninth Doctor – 8.5

2. Tenth Doctor – 7.70

3. Third Doctor – 7.29

4. Seventh Doctor – 7.25

5. Fourth Doctor – 7.24

6. Second Doctor – 7.19

7. First Doctor – 7.03

8. Fourteenth Doctor – 7

9. Fifth Doctor – 6.9

10. Twelfth Doctor – 6.83

11. Eighth Doctor – 6.5

12. Eleventh Doctor – 6.38

13. Sixth Doctor – 6.27

14. Thirteenth Doctor – 5.17

15. Fifteenth Doctor – 4.38

First of all, you can see I've rated the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors separately, and due to them being separate entities and different regenerations (though with the same face), I have given them different places on the chart.

Personally, the outliers here are the Twelfth Doctor being far too low on the list, with the First and Second being a little lower than I think they should be. The Fourteenth Doctor is somewhat cheating as well, as he only has 3 TV stories, so I can't say I fully think he's better than the Fifth Doctor, it's just a quirk of the stats.

That being said, I don't find this all the unsurprising, I started watching the show at the age of 8 when Christopher Eccleston started, and while I vaguely knew about the show before, this was my start point, and while I will argue that his series is a fantastic series, and he deserves to be near the top of the list, it's unsurprising that my first Doctor has ended up as my statistical favourite.

---

BEST SERIES

So, while I listed out the average of all the Doctors, I feel like an entire list of every single series would be somewhat laborious, so I decided to list the top 10 series from across the show's run instead:

1. Series 1 (2005) - 8.5

2. Season 25 (1988) - 8.5

3. Season 7 (1970) - 8.25

4. Series 3 (2007) - 8

5. Series 4 (2008) - 8

6. Season 10 (1973) - 8

7. Season 14 (1976) - 7.83

8. Season 5 (1968) - 7.57

9. Season 18 (1980) - 7.57

10. Series 9 (2015) - 7.56

Again, very unsurprising that Series 1 (2005), being my first series, is my favourite, but looking at this, this is where I'd say my tastes are more represented. Despite it being RTD1 heavy, with 3 series out of a possible 5 in there (the post-Series 4/2009 specials are their own block of episodes) having Jon Pertwee series and a Patrick Troughton series in there really does make me happy.

I'm surprised at the Tom Baker seasons that have made it into the list personally; I love both Season 14 and Season 18, but neither of them have episodes that I'd consider myself a massive fan of. Jon Pertwee's Season 7 and Season 10 inclusions make a lot more sense to me, as they are series with some of my favourites in there.

And I'm very happy to see Season 5, what I consider the best of 60s Doctor Who, in the top 10. Troughton is one of my personal favourites, and that season has two of my favourite 60s stories.

---

BEST EPISODES

To me, something has to really stand out to be considered 10/10, and while I am actually quite lenient with giving the rating, I feel like I only give it when a piece of media really moves me and goes above and beyond what is expected of it. In terms of Doctor Who episodes, here are all the episode/stories I gave 10/10:

-Inferno

-Genesis of the Daleks

-City of Death

-The Caves of Androzani

-Remembrance of the Daleks

-The Happiness Patrol

-Dalek

-Father's Day

-The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

-Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways

-The Girl in the Fireplace

-Human Nature/The Family of Blood

-Blink

-Utopia

-Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

-Midnight

-Turn Left

-Under the Lake/Before the Flood

-Heaven Sent

-Extremis

I'm sure there's going to be nothing controversial about these picks at all, and everyone will agree and not think less of me for what I've picked.

A very heavy NuWho selection, and it must be said that, interestingly, all the picks are from the Ninth, Tenth and Twelfth Doctors' eras. Upon rewatching through the Eleventh Doctor's era, I was genuinely surprised I didn't give anything a 10/10. Often the episodes I'd think were 10/10 were part one episodes for two-parters, and I wasn't the biggest fan of how the two-parter would end. Interestingly as well, the first 10/10 story for me is Inferno, meaning that it's not until the 1970s that I ranked anything 10/10, despite my love for the 60s era, and specifically Troughton's era.

Another controversial decision here is to consider Heaven Sent and Extremis their own episodes, rather than as part of greater three-part stories. While I see the argument for that, both stories very much stand on their own, and I consider them more than just a 'piece' of a story, and more like their own story within a wider story.

---

WORST SERIES

Now, I think it's an interesting exercise to look at what I consider the worst series/season across the entire show. I'll be doing the top 10 (or maybe bottom 10) lowest rated series across the entire show's run:

1. Season 2 (2025) - 3.75

2. Series 11 (2018) - 4.73

3. Season 1 (2024) - 5

4. Series 13 (2021) - 5.17

5. 2022 Specials (2022) - 5.33

6. Series 12 (2020) - 5.67

7. 2015-2016 Specials (2016) - 6

8. Season 22 (1985) - 6

9. Season 24 (1987) - 6

10. Series 7B (2020) - 6.11

To me, this list is actually a lot more interesting, yet expected, than the highest rated list. Looking at this list, it's very clear when I started having problems with the show. I often get accused of certain things when talking about those two eras of the show (the Chibnall and RTD2 eras) because I have major problems with them that are hard to describe, often to do with the technical aspects of story, structure and intention behind what is written. However, I have encountered people who want to simplify my opinions into "you don't like those eras because you're a bigot", which isn't true, and often my pushback against episodes is that they aren't as progressive as they think they are, or end up being far more problematic than they want to be.

The outlier here for me is the 2015-2016 Specials, which I think are two decent episodes, but both are rated 6/10. The other series here are there because some episodes really drag down the rating of other middling-to-fine episodes, but the two 6/10 episodes here actually tell a quite nice, interesting story of The Doctor recovering from Series 9, healing and wrapping up his storyline with River.

---

WORST EPISODES

Now, this is a lot more interesting for me to look at than the best episodes. Often what I rated 10/10 is just enjoyment, but for me, 1/10 has to be awful and horrendous in either content to the audience, or an episode that is quite literally not fit to air:

-Arachnids in the UK

-Lucky Day

-The Interstellar Song Contest

-Wish World/The Reality War

Another selection that shows the era I'm not a fan of. That being said, I stand by that if these episodes were in other eras of the show, then I'd have rated them the same.

Arachnids in the UK and Wish World/The Reality War fall into the category of episodes unfit for air. I'm sure they have their reasons, but the episodes we were given are not enjoyable in any way to me. The writing is of a level where it would be failed on a GCSE level, and the production/direction/editing is unforgivably bad, so bad that i would fail in any film school if it was handed in (especially in Arachnids in the UK).

On the other hand, both Lucky Day and The Interstellar Song Contest are morally bankrupt episodes with some of the worse version of the Doctor Who universe I've ever seen. The politics at play are horrendous, and I can't excuse things I might find actually good in them because of their awful moral cores (there are other episodes with awful cores, but have somewhat more redeeming qualities thematically).

---

PERSONAL FAVOURITES

Despite this post being all about my 'objective' favourites, and using my personal ranking to look at what my statistics are, I'd like to just throw out some of my favourite Doctors and stories that maybe don't get represented in my own numbers:

• First Doctor - The man who started it all, William Hartnell's Doctor is often overlooked and misrepresented, and I think that what scuppers his numbers for me is that there's some experimentation in the show, and while I can't say I love all his stories, the character work and effort put in here is incredible.

• Second Doctor - If it hadn't been for Troughton, we wouldn't have a show today. Doctor Who was William Hartnell, and if the regeneration (which we take so much for granted) hadn't succeeded, then the show would've never lasted as long as it had, and have died and been forgotten about in the 60s.

• Twelfth Doctor - Often talked about as being one of the best Doctors, I think the episodes and series he was given are weaker than anything Peter Capaldi does across everything. Even in episodes I don't like, he is the main reason for keeping on watching, and when he's given gold, he somehow elevates it even more.

• The Macra Terror - Despite being lost, this episode, and the animation for the episode, is one of the best scripts the 60s show has to offer. A mix of classic sci-fi, with it being Doctor Who's take on 1984/Brave New World, it's a fantastic story that is one of the only stories I think is served well by the animation used in its recreation (although I'd love to see the original).

• Fury from the Deep - I'm a huge fan of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and this story is maybe the closest Doctor Who has even gotten (on screen) to capturing an actual Lovecraftian tale... of course, it's another missing story, and it's got an animation that goes with it (although not as elevating as The Macra Terror). The part where >!Maggie walks into the sea!< is genuinely horrifying, right out of something like Shadow Over Innsmouth.

• Enlightenment - One of the coolest, and most underrated episodes for me, and while I can't say I 100% love everything in the Black Guardian trilogy, the concept of the immortal having a boat race is really fun, and for the early 80s, the visuals are amazing.

• Vengeance on Varos - Another example of Doctor Who doing a classic sci-fi story. It's violent, yes, but I think what's here is a fantastic criticism of what is on TV at the time, and the direction that TV was going, and I'd actually compare it to a TV play in the late 60s called The Year of the Sex Olympics in how forward-thinking it was.

• Gridlock - Watching the episode again after 2020 hit something in me that I didn't expect it to, and if people haven't revisited it yet, I promise you, it'll bring something to the surface that I don't think was there in 2007.

• Planet of the Ood - Another 'classical' sci-fi inspired tale I think get overlooked a lot. It's got all the makings of a classic Who episode that people love, and I think it shares a lot of DNA with the likes of The Macra Terror than anything else in RTD1.

• Listen - A very different kind of story, and I think people often forget how different. It's a lot more thematic and existential than anything else in the show at that point, and while Moffat does tend to lean more towards literary fiction than speculative sci-fi, this is a story that finds that amazing balance. I'm also very glad it never shows anything outside that spaceship.

• Face the Raven and Hell Bent - Much has been said about Heaven Sent as an episode, and I agree with a lot of it. But I think what is often forgotten, is that it's a Second Part to a trilogy of episodes, and that while there is some fantastic messaging about perseverance and grief in Heaven Sent, I feel that the episode don't hit as hard when removed from the context of Face the Raven and Hell Bent, painting a picture of grief that is far more tragic than I think Heaven Sent alone is.

• Fugitive of the Judoon - Obviously, I think the most famous aspect of this episode, years removed from it, and the biggest impact, is that of the casting of Jo Martin's fantastic Fugitive Doctor. But to me, something that gets overlooked is an idea that I feel is severely underused (in the show); I sometimes refer to it as 'The Echoes of Gallifrey'. The idea of a civilisation like The Time Lords, even after the "time-locked Time War", we'd occasionally see The Doctor meeting members of his race from before the Time War. I don't want it all the time, but I love the idea of it here, and I love The Doctor's reaction to meeting Division and other Time Lords.

• The Haunting of Villa Diodati - Hidden within an era I am not the biggest fan of, this episode is maybe the single best example of what I think the era could've been. Maxine Alderton is the best writer to work on the show from 2018 onwards, and I think not getting her back (or maybe her decision not to come back) was a big hindrance for the show.

• Wild Blue Yonder - To me, the last truly great episode of Doctor Who we've gotten. I spoke about Lovecraft before, but this is more tied to the cosmic horror, and actually is more akin to a less horrific version of Event Horizon. The score for this episode is amazing; when The Doctor opens the ship's windows and the music rises in that way, it feels so amazing and unsettling... I'll never forgive RTD and Murray Gold for using that same musical sting for Belinda in Season 2; it makes no sense and retroactively makes the sting confusing.

---

CONCLUSIONS

So, looking at the data, I have a love for pre-2010 NuWho and seemingly tend to prefer early to mid-70s Classic Who above everything else; I feel like that's not that uncommon, especially for someone who's currently knocking on the door of being 30 next year. Overall, I obviously love Doctor Who (I wouldn't have done this if I didn't), but it's interesting because looking at my overall average score of the show, you might not think that.

• AVERAGE SCORE FOR ALL DOCTOR WHO (main show only) - 6.79/10

I promise you, I love the show; it's just clear I like certain kinds of stories more than others, and I think that Doctor Who is the only show on British TV that actually is able to deliver those episodes and concepts well. We now have access to a lot of TV and media from around the world, but so much has been Americanised now, that I just do not like where it's all going, and for a very long time, Doctor Who is this beacon of British storytelling I can cling onto and keep close to my heart.

Title: SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE ADVENTURE OF THE INNSMOUTH CROWN

Synopsis: Whilst clearing out her mother's belongings from her care home, Kelly discovers a hidden family secret. Her grandfather was Dr John Watson. As she digs further, Kelly uncovers the truth of the untold final case of Sherlock Holmes: a case involving an otherworldly crown of mysterious origin, and the abandoned American coastal town of Innsmouth.

So, this is a personal project of mine that I've been writing in different mediums for years, and finally I was convinced to make the push and stage it at the Edinburgh Fringe. The interpretation of Holmes is somewhere between the Peter Cushing and Basil Rathbone versions of Holmes, with the story being set in the late 1940s.

The story itself is more of a Lovecraftian story that features Holmes as one of the main characters. Much of the story is told from Watson's perspective in a very subject manor, and looks a lot more into the personal life and relationship between Holmes and Watson. I'm sure some purists might take issue with elements of it, but I wanted to explore something I'd not really seen with Holmes and Watson before. I wanted to throw Holmes and Watson into the Lovecraftian world of horrors and see what might happen when they come out of the other side.

If anyone is interested, we're on 24th-29th August in theSpace@ Surgeons' Hall, Theatre 3 with the title I've posted in the text above.

LINK TO THE SHOW HERE

A small rant about continuity and consistency across the WWE brands, sorry.

ON NXT 1st July: Karmen is a lackey of Nattie Neidhart's, implied to be a student of 'The Hart Dungeon', and was pinned in just under 5 minutes by Jadia Parker, who is currently in a feud with Nattie, something of a proving grounds match for Jadia to see if she's worthy of going against Nattie again.

ON AAA 4th July: Karmen is part of the rebooted, seemingly very dangerous Perros del Mal stable that has invaded the promotion. She's the herald of the faction, always appearing first before the group attack, and is often the one to strike the final blow to the babyfaces they've attacked, this week being El Fiscal (as seen in the awesome screenshot), and last week being El Grande Americano himself after the first promo since the Mask vs Mask match.

I just think it's interesting that both promotions are sub-divisions of WWE, and are seen as somewhat separate from the main roster, and so a lot of NXT talent float over to AAA when given the opportunity. AAA usually tapes 3 episodes at a time (1 live and 2 airing the following Saturdays). This means that Karmen had already filmed her big angles on AAA before getting pinned as a part of someone else's feud.

Now, if it were all completely unconnected and completely different promotions, then it'd be somewhat OK with this. However, on the 24th June NXT episode, people actively congratulate Karmen for what she did, and another member of the new Perros del Mal from NXT, Bronco Nima (with the red bandana in the AAA screenshot), is asked by his tag partner about it. So it's canon, and yet you're letting a member of that stable in the other promotion get pinned in less than 5 minutes? And you're not going to make her look all that great in the match?

One hand of WWE not talking to the other hand is actively undermining the story for me, and it's pissing me off quite a bit.

Yes, I'm a nerd, and yes, I'm on the spectrum. How could you tell?

Marked as possible spoilers because I feel like this will be the kind of move/style that makes her standout when she debuts