A few years ago, I did a series of 47 daily posts which all looked at different questions related to the revival series of Doctor Who, focusing on stuff I like about the show. I worked out a series of questions in advance and then picked one randomly for each day. I’ve decided to revisit the series to see how my opinions may or may not have changed, and to bring two of my daughters into the discussion, since they are both big fans and have recently finished watching the revival series.
Why 47? It’s my favorite number.
Why Doctor Who? It’s my favorite show.
Why the modern day Doctor Who only? Simply because I remember it better.
Why are we looking back at this now? Because we’re on a 47 day countdown to November 23, the birthday of the show.
Check out Day #35 here.
When I first did this, it was September 2016, which means we were in between the Christmas episodes The Husbands of River Song and The Return of Dr. Mysterio, and were yet to debut Peter Capaldi’s last season on the show. Jodie Whittaker was even further away. How has the passage of time, evolution of opinions, and three further seasons of the program impacted my opinions?
Today is Day #36, and our theme is…
Best Scary Story
You could interpret this a few different ways. Maybe Scariest story? Or scary story that you like the best? Or story that you like best the way it is scary?
Last time, I went with scary story that I like the best, and I chose Midnight. I don’t actually ever feel genuinely scared while watching Doctor Who, but I do appreciate the scary qualities of the show, and certainly some episodes major in this more than others, such as Midnight.
And of course sometimes what one person considers to be scary, another person does not. And sometimes, what one adult considers to be not scary, their unsuspecting children might find to be terrifying (as I discovered when I played The Lodger for my kids when they were a bit too young).
Anyway, this time I chose
Mummy on the Orient Express
Again, I don’t generally get scared watching Doctor Who, but I think that Mummy in this episode by Jamie Mathieson is one of the creepier things I have seen on the show. If that thing was in some straight-up creepy movie, I’d probably never want to watch it.
Anyway, it’s a good episode, with a good story and a really effective monster. Nuff said.
What did my daughters say?
Johanna (16) chose The Girl in the Fireplace, which is one of those episodes I’d never guess would be seen as scary. But she found those Clockwork Droids hiding under the bed to be pretty terrifying when she was little, and that has always stuck with her.
Laurelle (14) chose The Empty Child (which, like The Girl in the Fireplace, is by Steven Moffat) with it’s creepy gas mask child. That’s another favorite of mine.
Blue Towel Productions 