8th Doctor: Season 10 (2010/11)

An Earthly Child
is a real oddity, enjoyable, if standard fare. Boring aliens and cliched humans, only really worth the effort for the interesting concept of Alex (unfortunately a bit irritating thus far) & the great interaction between the Doctor & Susan, which McGann & CAF make wonderful. 6/10 overall.

Situation Vacant
is one of those "wacky romp" season openers akin to #partnersincrime, it's confident, pacey & smart but #situationvacant plays up its links to excrable Cowell-pats like the X Factor to its detriment & never really rises above being a frothy throwaway. Juliet/Tamsin has yet to convince as a worthy replacement for Lucie, but there's good intrigue as to who set the whole thing up & there's a lovely nod to Ian Chesterton. 7.5/10

 

Nevermore
has a nicely supernatural atmosphere around its use of the works of Edgar Allen Poe, but is oddly paced & has 2 many "storytelling" parts. Tamsin's a bit meh so far but has a nice line in sarcastic delivery that offsets Her annoying references to acting. Love the idea of the black cat as time-lord messenger, that's worth reusing. 6.5/10

 

The Book of Kells
sees this season finally get into gear with a zippy historical that suddenly makes sense of the last 2 stories A welcome return 4 the Monk, sublime casting in graham garden & a teaser ending worth the admission price 7.5/10

 

Deimos / The Resurrection of Mars

starts off as an Ice Warrior story...  

 

but really it's a disguise for the return of the Monk & of Lucie!

Once the story shifts, the Ice Warriors become irrelevant, which is a shame, as it sidelines David Warner. 

But Tamsin leaving to team up with the Monk is a satisfying twist & the 8th Doctor's speech about being "that guy" is a highlight not just of the series but all of the 8th Doctor's eras across all media.  

 So not much of a story in its own right but an enjoyable & important part of this series' arc. 7/10

Relative Dimensions
...then everything comes grinding to a halt with a Christmas special by the spectacularly overrated Marc Platt that's just not very special at all. This sees Lucie leave to go backpacking with Susan's son, Alex. It's not a very convincing exit, and as much as there's some degree of fascination about an awkward Christmas aboard the TARDIS, this is very forgettable. A real slump in what had been up to now a consistently good series, but at least it adds to the thread of the 8th Doctor with Susan and Alex. Indeed the Hartnell touches throughout this series have been very nice, up to and including the latest theme arrangement. 5/10

 

The Four Doctors
I'm a sucker for multi-Doctor stories at the best of times, but this is a particularly polished example with a strong central story that involves Doctors 5 to 8 in a pacy, enjoyable Dalek story that spans time and space, giving them each something meaty to do while the Daleks get some meaty action too. 9/10

Prisoner of the Sun
is on the surface of things a bit of a filler and something of a (creepy!) waste of Sheridan Smith, but it's a superior runaround, with great jeopardy and McGann bringing the customary polish but also the quiet dignified heroism that he often shares in common with Davison. It's good overall, but a bit too dispensable. 6.5/10

Lucie Miller / To the Death
Despite a largely Doctor-Lite first half-hour that's more akin to a superior Companion Chronicle, this is the epic conclusion you hoped for, with Sheridan Smith knocking it out of the park. Nick Briggs' Daleks have really never been bettered, with the Dalek Time Controller a delicious creation and a standout performance.  

It could have been a crowded finale with the Monk and Tamsin also returning for the resolution of their storylines, and it sails a bit too close to the wind with being quite a direct copy of the Daleks Invasion of Earth early on, but this just gets better and better as it goes until a blistering and gutwrenching end. This seems designed to lead into the Time War, but whether we'll quite get that, who knows.

Graeme Garden is particularly brilliant as the Monk, but nothing tops McGann's towering rage in the last 5 minutes, his threat of "direct action" particularly chilling. 10/10