Celebrating Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary: 50 Pivotal Story Arcs

48. The God Complex 6.11

God Complex One of a handful of stories that really explore the notes of religiousness in Doctor Who. In God Complex we have the traditional labyrinth "monster" in a very untraditional labyrinth who feeds on faith. But even the word monster is a misleading descriptor for this largely blameless alien creature. It joins a small, but illustrious group of "baddies" not bent on death, nor destruction, nor domination, but is instead merely trapped in bad circumstances. As a story for the Eleventh Doctor it gives a chance to see more of the 'tired old man' aspect of his personality. His world weariness is an aspect far less highlighted than his quirkier side, and I think this story portrays that pain and disappointment really sublimely. Other nice if less noteworthy features of this story include strong dashes of psychological horror, a prominent feature of this Doctor's run, some grand lines of quotable dialogue and an assorted array of interesting one-off characters, human and alien alike.

47. Mind Robber 6.6-6.10

Mind Robber Mind Robber is a truly creepy serial which is enhanced by it being a black and white story. It relies on a now great staple of science fiction, the parallel universe, when the TARDIS lands officially nowhere. Companions Jamie and Zoe Heriot are lured out of the TARDIS by mirage like visions of their homes, when the Doctor's scanner, a part of so many early serials is used for this malicious purpose. The rest of the story serves as a monster bonanza as our trio confronts not only the cybermen, but also a group of fictional characters come to life, a web full of compelling traps and mirages, including a duplicate TARDIS, and a prison of a giant book. The solution to get them back home to the TARDIS safely requires great teamwork between Jamie and Zoe, and a battle of rewriting wits between a master brain and the Doctor.
In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

A person who thought a lot, then decided thinking with other people is more fun. If you fancy a chat, feel free to email NicoleatWhatCulture@excite.com