It would be foolish to say that the Tour doesn’t like a list. In fact we’ve festooned the site (especially at Christmas-time) with them down through the years. And now with the recent episode Lucky Day the Tour (and, just perhaps, the remainder of the internet) have noticed the long history of the ‘Doctor-lite’ story.
In fact, a few stories about this particular phenomenon (and a classic case of a ‘wish we had thought of it here first’ notion) have drilled down enough to also classify the ‘near-Doctor-lite’ story where, in something of a callback to the 60’s notion of giving the Doctor an episode or two away from the story, a nu-Who Doctor is gone from the story for a sizable chunk of it’s running time. These include The Girl Who Waited, Father’s Day, and Extremis.
The up-side given the list below, is that having a ‘Doctor-lite’ story obviously gives the writers and production team a challenge that often results in a really memorable story, ones which top overall evaluations for a particular season or Doctor. Perhaps even for all-time. Doubtful? See for yourself as we list’em from 7 to 1 in our estimation….
7. Love & Monsters. There are corners of the internet that earnestly love this story. The Tour is definitely NOT one of them.
6. Dot and Bubble. We suppose this could have been an interesting concept for a story, but for us it all we went sour at the end as the ‘moral of the story’ came in at the very end with a resounding thud.
5. Lucky Day. Only ranked fifth out of seven because of the overall quality of the rest of the list. Let’s let time settle out for more nuanced thoughts, but for now this seems like a fair evaluation.
4. Flatline. We loved this story back when it aired in 2014 and time has not lessened the imagination of it all. It’s only mid-tier here because the rest of the list had epochal impact in relative terms.
3. 73 Yards. Doctor-lite stories require the companion carry the story, that Millie Gibson did so, and so well, this early into her tenure is remarkable. It topped our Dynamic Ratings last year.
2. Turn Left. As above, Catherine Tate really had to carry this story, a really depressing alternative history that put Donna through the ringer. A hard watch but worth it.
1. Blink. About as predictable a choice as could be expected, and we will not disappoint in that regard either. This is one of those stories that by now has so cemented its place amongst fans that it is much more talked about than it has been actually seen. Reputation will carry Blink forward for generations we feel certain, but then again, there’s a reason for this.
