Doctor Who: What If Series 1-4 Had 8 Episodes?

My first video essay looks at what the first four series of Doctor Who, more commonly known as RTD1 would have been like if the episode count was limited to 8 episodes.
Which episodes would make the cut? Which monsters would never see the light of day?
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:50 Series 1
02:55 Series 2
05:50 Series 3
07:36 Series 4
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[@gabienriquez7929]

this video really shows how much we are missing with a shorter season. yeah a lot of the episodes you cut weren't important to the overall plot of the season, but the development between the doctor/companion that happens really helps to give us more time to get attached to the characters and their dynamic. at least ruby is coming back next season, so we'll get more of her, but imagine if we only had 8 episodes of martha or donna 😭😭 those one-off mediocre episodes are so important, at least in my opinion. u gotta have fun before u can get to the serious stuff, thats what doctor who is all about!

[@danthomassolo]

@@gabienriquez7929 this right here! I’ve always found it strange when people complain about episodes of any show that don’t “move the plot along” - part of the fun is surely hanging out with these characters, watching them interact and seeing them grow. There’s an episode of Breaking Bad called Fly where it’s just a bottle episode of Walt and Jesse trying to get a Fly out of the lab and I’ve heard people call it boring, but it has so much great character stuff in it with reflection on past events. It’s a really great place in the story to take a breath and let these characters be still and show the audience who they are. If you only want episodes that move the plot along, then I guess you just want to read a Wikipedia synopsis.

[@vinniequick]

THIS I think they should start doing multi Season Arcs, have a whole 2 Seasons just be fun and adventures but with set up, 3rd Season be showing Hey we've been setting this up, Season 4 resolve the Arc then Season 5 be a final go round the universe then again RTD seems to be doing that without us realising Season 1, we get a bunch of random of adventures that while set up Sutehk could be watched on their own, then the finale, Mrs Flood and Susan are set up Mrs Flood will probably be set up or revealed in Season 2 so by Season 3 we get Mrs Flood's arc done or something new I'd do if I played the role Season 1 plain fun-companion Season 2 plain fun-companion Season 3 setting up an Arc-2 companions Season 4 heavy focus on it-2 companions Season 5 resolve it-lose the first companion Season 6 recovering-lose the second companion Season 7-Angry Revenge Arc-Solo Season 8-Finding Self/returing to Joy Ride-Solo Season 9 Episodes 1-3-Mastered Self Joy Ride Season 9 Episode 4-New Companion first trip yes i'd end on a half season

[@nairrdlairrd]

@@danthomassolo yes yes yes, bottle episodes are so good for character development

[@danthomassolo]

@@nairrdlairrd often some of my favourite episodes of shows are bottle episodes where it’s just the regular cast on one set: Fly from Breaking Bad, The One Where No One’s Ready from Friends, Marooned from Red Dwarf.

[@nairrdlairrd]

@@danthomassolo my favorite episode of the new season was Boom, arguably a bottle episode, and Community (a very meta show) did an episode that flat-out called itself a bottle episode and it easily makes my top 10

[@lrrroftheplanetomicronpersei8]

Losing the Unquiet Dead cuts the Cardiff Rift, losing New Earth and Gridlock cuts the Face of Boe, losing Daleks in Manhattan cuts a chunk of the Cult of Skaro's story, losing The Lazarus Experiment cuts part of the finale's story and the Master's plan, losing Planet of the Ood cuts the Ood being freed and partially resolving The Impossible Planet dilemma, the Sontaran Stratagem cuts the reintroduction of the Sontarans and Martha's UNIT return. Quite a lot gone! I also think losing so many stories set in the past shifts the tone, too.

[@LibertyBridgeProductions]

Series 1 (you’re right) Series 2 (you’re right) Series 3 (you’re wrong) 2.Gridlock Series 4 (you’re right again)

[@bradugar]

Series 4 without Planet of the Ood would be depressing with how important the Ood end up being for Ten to forshadow his end. Plus amazing scenes with Donna as per usual for the emotional beats of series 4.

[@UnitedFan2]

Missing out the Lazarus episode means we wouldn’t get context on how the master got the aging technology

[@pcb1175]

Then it just be “he just has it. It’s Doctor Who, you can do anything”, which is basically the mindset they have now

[@Thomas_of_the_forest]

Also, getting rid of Lazarus experiment and 42 gets rid of the Harold Saxon set up

[@MrGogotoon]

@@Thomas_of_the_forest the harold saxon setup would have been put in other episodes

[@LiveHedgehog]

I'd swap The Shakespeare Code out for the Lazarus Experiment, as we've already got a fantastic 2-parter set in the past. Otherwise, the Saxon setup would be entirely focussed in Smith & Jones and Blink.

[@matthewvivian7235]

Platform One from The End of the World isn't in the finale. You're thinking of Satellite 5 from The Long Game.

[@danthomassolo]

Satellite 5 is in The Long Game and the finale. Platform One is in The End Of The World.

[@JoshMartinJones]

Both very similar, my bad 😭😭

[@klop4228]

But we could replace Platform 1 with Sattelite 5, I guess?

[@ennayanne]

​@@klop4228considering it's set 5 billion years in the future, probably not

[@klop4228]

@@ennayanne true, and Earth is important to Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways, so we'd have to change some stuff. But even so, I think there's some thematic combination possible between The End of the World and The Long Game. Switch it to New Earth in the finale and it's sort of clean?

[@loganrowan3620]

Would swap out The Shakespeare Code for Gridlock, morph it into Martha’s first proper adventure in the Tardis, but other than that spot on!

[@JoshMartinJones]

Thank you!!

[@Venemofthe888]

I still don't get the hype of gridlock and for me it isn't as good to me as everyone else thinks

[@olived9560]

@@Venemofthe888 It is important for setting up YANA and giving us a bit more info about how the Doctor views Gallifrey now, as well as 'concluding' the Dead-Earth-to-New Earth trilogy, though

[@MrGogotoon]

If these series only had 8 episodes, i think there would have been less non-finale double episodes

[@arch1017]

I think you're right - and we'd have lost some of the best episodes of S1-4 if they did that.

[@kaizoisevil]

That's true. The two-parters would be compressed into 1-parters, and the 3-part finales would be compressed into 2 parts.

[@enta_nae_mere7590]

What if it was all the worst episodes for each season? Also you're wrong gridlock>Shakespeare

[@iceblock8896]

As much as I love blink, to condense series 3 into an actual coherent series I think cutting it for gridlock and changing Shakespeare code to Lazarus experiment would work better. With blink there is not much Martha/Doctor for one episode and with the three parter and two parter on top of blink, you would only have 4 stories with Martha which is way too little for a proper series.

[@elpaka7654]

Yeah, I think we could also make room by turning Blink into the Christmas Special, replacing Voyage of the Damned. Or maybe make that a Halloween special for that year.

[@Smoothedawg]

Man, those 2 parters really eat up some coveted spots! Makes me glad that we got as many slots to work with as we did back in the day. Would love to see you do one for the Moffat era.

[@klop4228]

I suppose cutting them down into single episodes could solve that a little? Even if it weakens the individual story

[@paulhammond6978]

Yes - I think if the series were planned as 8 parts from the start, you wouldn't get middle 2 parters in the first place - and those are some of the strongest episodes of Doctor Who (I reckon, because they can tell their own stories, without having to live up to the hype of being the big high-stakes finale episodes)

[@MrGreaves]

Me and my friend actually had this conversation the other day - where we reworked every season into an 8 episode format. Glad to see this video out there to continue the conversation! Wonderful picks, some very similar to what me and my friend chose!

[@AutieTeleDexBaBrBo]

No, this is what makes a perfect case to go back to 14 episodes a year. These cuts are brutal, and I would never wish for them.

[@tomimpala]

It just demonstrates how skeletal it becomes. But even at 8, s14 had nothing for character relationships

[@judgecagle1377]

An overlooked concept is that if you condense episodes rather than cut them whole, you can transplant important bits from some episodes into other ones and trim the fat.

[@JoshMartinJones]

Stay tuned for the next one👀

[@stephenlow1841]

Martha was reintroduced in the Series 4 opener? Where how what who?

[@j.b.c.a.]

I think that, had those also been eight-episode seasons, all the two-parters would have been cut down to just one episode (except for the finales, which in turn would never exceed 2 episodes, so goodbye to the three-part-finale in series 3), which would lead to: SERIES 1: Rose, The End of the World, Dalek, The Long Game, Father's Day, The Empty Child, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways. SERIES 2: School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, Age of Steel, The Idiot's Lantern, The Satan Pit, Love and Monsters, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday. SERIES 3: Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code, Daleks in Manhattan, The Lazarus Experiment, Human Nature, Blink, Utopia, The Sound of Drums. SERIES 4: Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii, Planet of the Ood, Forest of the Dead, Midnight, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End.

[@nairrdlairrd]

@@j.b.c.a. put Tooth and Claw back into 2 instead of Idiot’s Lantern or Love and Monsters, and put Gridlock back into 3 instead of the Dalek story, and this is exactly how it would be

[@j.b.c.a.]

​@@nairrdlairrd I would never remove a Mark Gatiss story. Or the Human-Dalek story with the Hupan-Pig slaves. Or Love and Monsters. NEVER!

[@oranmccann2476]

This is an interesting subject, I think those first 4 seasons would have suffered from a shorter run

[@julianaylor4351]

This a very interesting take on the current eight episode format, but little nods from one story to another might be missed, like the resemblance of Gwyneth from Unquiet Death to Gwen from the Torchwood franchise, who is distant relation/descendant of the same family.

[@LibertyBridgeProductions]

100% sure id get rid of Shakespeare Code instead of Gridlock. Its way better and has more necessary information.

[@danthomassolo]

God, cutting down series 4 is REALLY hard. It’s my favourite series since the revival, so I thought I’d pause the video and pick which ones I’d cut if I had to. Pleased to find that they matched your choices exactly (when you have that near-perfect back half of 6 six all-time greats, most of the job is done for you). After that, you need to keep Partners In Crime as it reintroduces Donna. For the final pick, I’d already decided to cut the three that feature Martha - nothing against them, they’re just the least good of a great bunch - and was left with 3 episodes that I really like. I went with The Fires of Pompeii mostly because it does an incredible job of showcasing Donna’s buckets of empathy and Catherine Tate is just acting her effing socks off. And for the record, your series 3 picks were also spot on (although that feels much easier as there’s a whole bunch of weak episodes in that first half). It would be really interesting to see your picks for Moffat’s era too.

[@JoshMartinJones]

I may already have a script written for Moffat’s series👀

[@klop4228]

I'd imagine Moffat's series might be easier... (As much as I love them!) ((...some of them))

[@danthomassolo]

@@klop4228 not as easy as you might think (see my other comment thread). Moffat’s run is a lot less standalone, so you quickly have problems with the structure of the series if you start cutting episodes and you end up having to cut much better ones for the sake of the plot-heavy ones (in my list for series 6, I had to cut The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex whilst keeping The Almost People, The Rebel Flesh and The Wedding of River Song).

[@Kranitoko]

The problem is, if you cut the Slitheen episodes, you wont get the year gap time jump, with no character development for Jackie or even Mickey. You'd just be at the finale and theyd suddenly Jackie would know about the Doctor and be kinda okay with it randomly. Same problem with keeping Boom Town, you wouldn't know who the Slitheen even are, and Rose and the Doctor would be talking about an adventure off screen. Same again with cutting The Lazarus Experiment, Marthas family wouldn't know about the Doctor, and Martha's mother wouldnt go through her arc. Again cutting out the Sontaran two parter would give no context for Turn Left

[@amazingdisgrace1684]

It's an interesting thought experiment. I like what you went with, particularly for Series 1. That one feels the most coherent still, keeping the overall vibe while losing the present day Earth bound stories with the Slitheen. That feels fitting, as you lose quite a bit of Rose's dynamic with both Jackie and Mickey, which mirrors the unfortunate lack of screentime Carla and Cherry got in Season 1. I think that's one of the biggest issues with the shorter series length.

[@frostpatch2347]

I would personally switch the Shakespeare Code out with Gridlock, since the Face of Boe's death is important, especially how it ends up showing what happens to Captain Jack Harkness. It also has Martha force the doctor to tell her what happened, which is also an important scene

[@ValueNetwork]

I thought i would try my own version of this condensation, so here’s my list Series 1: Rose (it’s now a Christmas special so S1 technically has 9 eps. From Now on assume that all Christmas episodes have been kept) The end of the world (it’s now episode 1 just like space babies). The unquiet dead (we need a solid historical for the first season. Also I really like the episode) Dalek Father’s Day Emptychild/doctor dances Bad Wolf/parting of the ways. Series 2: New Earth (episode 1. the face of boe appearances need to be kept IMO) Tooth and claw (Torchwood setup, plus you kinda need a “monster of the week” in who) Rise of Cybermen/age of steel (this is the only episode that I’ve moved to a different spot in the timeline, it needs to be a mid season episode to maintain the reveal of the Cybermens return in Army of ghosts, but i don’t have any episodes from the later half of S2 making the cut so I moved School reunion & girl in the fireplace down!) School reunion. (For Sarah Jane obviously) Girl in the fireplace Army of ghosts/Doomsday Series 3: Smith and Jones Gridlock (for the face of boe) Daleks in manhattan rewritten as a 1 parter. (This is the first story that i would have to rewrite to fit in this format. The Human Dalek is important to show and Caan needs to escape for the S4 finale) Lazarus experiment (it’s needed to establish the aging tech for the finale) Human nature/Family of blood Utopia/Sound of drums rewritten as a 2 parter (last of the time lords has to be cut so this can be 8 episodes, so the time jump for the year that never was has to happen half way through last of the time lords for a more condensed finale. This is easily the season that suffers the most from the length cuts. Blink getting cut is a travesty but i couldn’t think of a way to naturally make Human nature/family of blood a 1 parter.) Series 4: Partners in crime (needs to stay) Fires of Pompeii Planet of the Ood (I cut impossible planet, so the ood need a new introductory episode, we also need to establish that 10 is leaving) Silence in the library/forest of the dead (for river) Turn left (I sadly cut midnight, I had to pick one of the lite episodes to cut, and turn left ties into the finale so I spared it) The stolen earth/journeys end. GOD this really shows how the show suffers from a shortened episode count. Unlike you I tried to pick plot/story arc importance over episode quality, leading to some unfortunate cuts like blink and midnight. You really can’t have filler in these limited seasons!

[@Thomas_of_the_forest]

Before series 14 started it seemed wild to me that not Ncuti's first season would only be 8 episodes. When 15 and Ruby had thier goodbye, i could really feel the negative of it being so short. Especially since we not only got an episode ehere they're both somewhere else guiding the main character until the end, but then 73 Yards too, where the Doctor has less than 5 minutes screen time in the whole thing. Doctor light episodes are fine, and i loved 73 Yards, but it's just so bad to have in a season that's so damn short as is. And we're getting yet again, only 8 for the next season.... I get Ncuti was partially unavailable at times during filming, but why again only 8 for the next one? It's gotta be a budget thing ☹️

[@robo3007]

These would be my picks! Series 1: 1. Rose 2. Dalek 3. Father's Day 4. The Empty Child 5. The Doctor Dances 6. Boom Town 7. Bad Wolf 8. The Parting of the Ways Series 2: 1. School Reunion 2. The Girl in the Fireplace 3. Rise of the Cybermen 4. The Age of Steel 5. The Impossible Planet 6. The Satan Pit 7. Army of Ghosts 8. Doomsday Series 3: 1. Smith and Jones 2. Daleks in Manhattan 3. Evolution of the Daleks 4. Human Nature 5. The Family of Blood 6. Blink 7. The Sound of Drums 8. Last of the Time Lords Series 4: 1. Partners in Crime 2. The Doctor's Daughter 3. Silence in the Library 4. Forest of the Dead 5. Midnight 6. Turn Left 7. The Stolen Earth 8. Journey's End

[@cipherfresh]

I have adored series 14 for everything it’s been able to do but the lack of episodes to flesh out 15 and Ruby’s dynamic is a crying shame.

[@robertk2194]

Wow this was an amazing video! You have a new subscriber! Keep making amazing videos like this

[@AllThePiecesMatter_]

Nicely done as youve highlighted exactly why 8 episodes doesn't work. RTD1 era would have gotten away with cutting one episode per series (no-one would miss Fear Her for example) but no more. Unless they radically change hiw season arcs are to be told, this new era won't work. Going up to 10 episodes might just about do it.

[@danthomassolo]

@@AllThePiecesMatter_ agreed. You start having to radically restructure the whole thing to make it work with a smaller number of episodes. It gets worse with Moffat’s era (see my other thread).

[@AaronattheMovies]

Great video Josh. I'd be interested to see a similar style video but with the Moffat era seasons

[@joefreeman3087]

I think the only criticism I’d have of your episode rejigging from Series 1-10 is the fact that keeping so many 2-parters makes the series even shorter in terms of a story count. Like I can’t imagine Tennant’s first series essentially only having 5 stories.

[@elpaka7654]

For series 4, it's really tough to lose Planet of the Ood. So I think to make room for it, we should move Partners in Crime to be the christmas special, replacing Voyage of the Damned. While we're at it, let's also move Blink all the way to replace The Next Doctor and put Gridlock back into series 3.

[@DeadedGamers]

Gridlock is like one of my favourite episodes, we need Gridlock in series 3, also Planet Of The Ood is fantastic 😎

[@TyrannoNoddy]

Something I think that would need to be considered is that a lot of the two part stories would probably be condensed down to one part. Does that suck? You bet. But unless we do a Series 9 situation as the norm, I feel like if the show itself isn't serialised, two parters would just be saved for the finale. So in a weird way, you might not have to dump as much as you think, but it's going to frustratingly condense a lot. It really shows no matter what approach you take, so much is going to feel like it's missing. Flux, whatever you think of it, I think had the right approach in handling its limited series. For me, Series 14 (oh right, Season 1, lol) felt like it was written to be bigger than it actually is instead of accounting for the limited runtime?

[@daniledrake4137]

I've seen KZbin veterans who haven't put this across as well reasoned chioces. Nice one.

[@JoshMartinJones]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@stevenpatrick7619]

If you continue this series (PLEASE DO), I will watch all of NuWho in this format!

[@imafgc]

This is an interesting concept to think about. I'm not a fan of the 8 episode format and ideas like this really showcases the problem. I know why you chose 8 but I might do my own version of this with 9 episodes (as iirc on disney the church on ruby road is listed as episode one)

[@acanimations1223]

I assume Christmas specials are kept like church on Ruby road. Also if you go American, I’ve heard Disney plus has series 14 as a nine episode season (church is in both the specials section and season 1), so if Disney get nine episodes, that’s a good enough excuse for tooth and claw 😂

[@averagechannel6814]

Great video mate.

[@JoshMartinJones]

Thanks 👍

[@ollymurphy3757]

really interesting to see how much “filler” turns out to be really important to the overall plot and enjoyment of the show, makes me wonder what we could’ve had with the newest season 😭

[@cec735]

Season 2 is difficult with all of those fundamental two parters, but I’d personally make one change to what u have here… take out girl in the fireplace. Not significant in the season arc and doesn’t redeem itself because it doesn’t offer any real character development, and imo actually has some very out of character moments. Plus Mickey’s arc from school reunion leads into rise of the cybermen so well. Instead I’d put back new earth as the first episode since we have those great moments with Cassandra and the face of Boe who are relevant to past and future episodes plus some relationship strengthening between the doctor and rose

[@ThePonderer]

I don’t really care for much of the first half of Series 1, so with these cuts I think it would be a less comprehensive “mission statement” than in its current form, but ultimately a stronger run of episodes. Series 2 is the same deal to a larger extreme. I won’t miss any of the individual episodes that have end up cut, minus some parts of New Earth, and this ends up saving the season from a certain amount of “growing pains”, but by that same token it also loses some of the charm that came with the Tennant era finding its identity. Much like what ended up happening with 15 and Ruby, it feels *really* awkward to have Rose and this new Doctor on a crash course to saying goodbye just as they’re getting to know each other. Series 3 is where the really hard cuts start happening, and personally I could *not* sanction losing Gridlock while keeping Shakespeare Code. I’d choose to lose Blink before I chose to lose Gridlock. I’d also find a way to truncate Sound of Drums and the Last of the Timelords into one episode so I could keep 42, which I enjoy a lot. Series 4 hurts, cause I’ve always enjoyed the Sontaran 2-parter, and it sucks that with this set up we’d have to wait until Flux before we got a proper Sontaran story in the modern series. I also always get a kick out of Unicorn and the Wasp, and in recent years I’ve come to really appreciate the Doctor’s Daughter. I can live with losing those, but they’re the cuts that hurt the most, and losing so much of that first half would *really* be a shame for Donna’s character, who gets to shine in a lot of them. They’ve really set themselves up with this 8 episodes thing. Curious to see what your cuts for the Moffat era would look like.

[@alicec1533]

I would definitely trade Shakespeare Code for Gridlock. I love Gridlock. And then you have the YANA as as well :)

[@dwfan91-]

Great video! Hopefully they raise the episode count next year

[@daniellewis3098]

They won't season 2 has already finished filming and RTD is optimistically already writing season 3

[@olived9560]

omg dwfan91 hi

[@dwfan91-]

@@olived9560 hello :)

[@bentertainmentproductions8451]

I actually may rewatch the first era with this structure being the list. Of course I’d add the Christmas specials along for the ride because I found each of them essential as well. Would love to see how you’d 8 episode the Moffat Era. That would be tough. A lot of great episodes in there.

[@danthomassolo]

Ok, so further to my last comment, I’ve had a crack at series 5-10: Series 5: The eleventh hour The beast below The time of angels Flesh and stone Amy’s choice Vincent and the doctor The Pandorica opens The Big Bang Ok so here you lose Victory of the Daleks with the silly colour coded Daleks, Vampires In Venice (just a casualty of something having to be cut), the Silurian 2 parter (not that interesting, although you have to move the Rory stuff at the end to Amy’s Choice) and The Lodger (I like it enough, but if you have to cut something, I’d cut the one where the Doctor is pissing about being written and performed inconsistently OTT) Series 6: The impossible astronaut Day of the moon The Doctor’s wife The almost people The rebel flesh A good man goes to war Let’s kill hitler The wedding of river song This was really hard as there’s so much serialised story telling in this one. I had to cut two episodes that are better than some of the ones that made the cut (The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex) as there are so many that are structurally important to the overall series (I think the finale craps the bed at the end, but you need it to wrap the story up). Some are easier to lose (gladly cut Closing Time and I wouldn’t overly miss The Curse of the Black Spot or Night Terrors). Series 7: Asylum of the Daleks A town called mercy The angels take manhattan The bells of St John Cold War Hide The Crimson Horror The Name Of The Doctor Probably the easiest as there are honestly not that many episodes that I love in this one. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Power of Three are both pretty rubbish (notice how I’ve cut anything written by Chibnall…not intentional, but very telling!), as was Nightmare in Silver. Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS is pointless because the whole thing is reset at the end and the characters remember none of it. Rings of Ahkaten is fine, I just cut it because something had to go. Series 8: Deep Breath Into the Dalek The Caretaker Kill the moon Mummy on the orient express Flatline Dark Water Death In Heaven Lots of weak ones here, so out come the carving knives! Robot of Sherwood is fine, but surplus. Listen is pretty excellent, but annoyingly contradicts the eventual end of the series, so you might as well cut it to make the show less confusing. Time Heist left my memory almost as soon as I saw it and same goes for the infamous Into The Forest Of The Night. Series 9: The Magician’s Apprentice The Witch’s Familiar The girl who died The woman who lived The zygon invasion The zygon inversion Face the raven Heaven sent Hell bent The one that beat me! Way too many two parters and a three parter that makes it impossible for me to cut I down past 9 - The opening two parter is crucial to setting up how the characters are back together and sets up Missys return, the Ashildr two parter sets up her character, the zygon two parter has some of Capaldi’s best work on the show, and the final three are the culmination of the story. Annoyingly, if I could cut one, it would be Hell Bent as it doesn’t stick the landing for me, but as it’s the finale, I have to leave it in (would be great if they could have somehow condensed the last 2 episodes, but Heaven Sent is SOO good the way it is ). The cuts - the flooded lake two parter and Sleep No More - are just comparably forgettable. Series 10: The pilot Smile Oxygen Extremis The pyramid at the end of the world The lie of the land World enough and time The Doctor Falls Another of my favourite runs! Most of what’s not included is just to make way for ones that I like more. I don’t remember The Eaters of Light (even after rewatching the trailer) and the other three (Thin Ice, Knock Knock and Empress of Mars) are just the weakest of a fun bunch. Would love to know people’s thoughts on these!

[@loganrowan3620]

Respect the Series 5 picks. Personally I’d swap Time of the Angels and Flesh and Stone for The Vampires of Venice and The Lodger, but there’s definitely an importance in establishing what the cracks in the universe do. Cutting The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex is tragic! I’d have to cut The Rebel Flesh and The Almost people and have Amy’s flesh reveal be at the end of The Doctor’s Wife. Series 7 is pretty spot on, but I’d have to swap Hide for The Rings of Akhaten. Just that speech… Series 8 well done. I’d only swap Kill the Moon for Listen and just dead the whole arc of Clara wanting to leave the Tardis Series 9 is so tough! What I’d do is turn Under the Lake and Before the Flood into the series opener, then keep the Girl Who Died, but cut The Woman who Lived. Then The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion. Cut Sleep No More, of course, and have the rest play out. Finally. Series 10 I’d have to keep Thin Ice followed by Oxygen and Extremis, but cut The Pyramid at the End of the World and The Lie of the Land. Keep Eaters of Light purely for the Missy scenes and then the finale.

[@danthomassolo]

@@loganrowan3620 nice list. Interesting what you say about binning off the Ganger two-parter and moving the Amy Flesh reveal to The Doctor’s Wife. In hindsight, I’d probably agree (I’d get those other two episodes back), but it made me think about how the Flesh reveal builds slowly over 6 episodes and having to do it in three is a major casualty of having these condensed series runs (and why I think they need to go back to 12 or 13). Fair point about series 8. Kill the moon is a bit silly and Listen is much better, but I figured I’d cut that because the presence of Orson Pink as being the descendant of Clara and Danny is incongruous with the fact that Clara and Danny both die without having had children, which is utterly maddening to me. Ooh, good job on 9! I’d ditch The Woman Who Lived in hindsight to complete my list (you can set up Ashildr just as well without the second part). This was fun!

[@iceblock8896]

@@danthomassolo Series 9 is almost impossible. I would say cut the opening two parter and replace it with sleep no more just to have a balanced out eight episodes, because the woman who lived is still an incredible episode and I think keeping it is better than cutting it for the sake of keeping the opening two parter. Interesting that you were fine with cutting s8, love that one! I would probably do series 8 as Deep Breath, Robot of Sherwood, Time Heist, Caretaker, Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline and obviously the finale two parter.

[@mr.orange9481]

The Woman Who Lived could be cut. It's not strictly necessary as a two-parter, and Face the Raven establishes the fact that Ashildr's lived anyway. What that episode does could be condensed and fitted into Face the Raven. Also I'd swap Smile for Thin Ice any day

[@danthomassolo]

@@iceblock8896 maybe I need to watch Sleep No More again, but I just don’t remember it being all that good. I’ll happily eat my words though once I rewatch. I think I could live with your picks for 8. I like Robot of Sherwood and could happily swap the Dalek one out for that. I just remember Time Heist being one that made me shrug at the end, but it’s been a long old time since I’ve seen it… …I think I feel a 12th Doctor rewatch coming on (the quality is choppy in that era, but god damn I loved Capaldi in that role!)

[@sola_is_chilling]

i did this but for Moffat's era -11th Doctor -- Series 5 1. The Eleventh Hour 2. The Beast Below 3. The Time Of Angels 4. Flesh and Stone 5. Amy's Choice 6. Vincent and The Doctor 7. The Pandorica Opens 8. The Big Bang -- Series 6 1. The Impossible Astronout 2. Day of the Moon 3. The Doctor's Wife 4. A Good Man Goes to War 5. Let's Kill Hitler 6. The Girl Who Waited 7. The Wedding of River Song 8. The Angels Take Manhattan -- Series 7 1. The Snowmen 2. The Bells of Saint John 3. Journey to the Centre of the Tardis 4. The Crimson Horror 5. The Rings of Akhaten 6. The Name of the Doctor 7. The Day of the Doctor 8. The Time of the Doctor -- -12th Doctor -- Series 8 1. Deep Breath 2. Robot of Sherwood 3. Listen 4. Kill the Moon 5. Mummy on the Orient Express 6. Flatline 7. Dark Water 8. Death in Heaven -- Series 9 1. The Magician's Apprentice 2. The Witch's Familiar 3. Under the Lake 4. Before the Flood 5. Sleep No More 6. Face the Raven 7. Heaven Sent 8. Hell Bent -- Series 10 1. The Pilot 2. Thin Ice 3. Oxygen 4. Extremis 5. The Pyramid at the End of the World 6. The Lie of the Land 7. World Enough and Time 8. The Doctor Falls --

[@sola_is_chilling]

My reasonings -Series 5 Pretty obvious choices here tbh. -Series 6 I cut TCoTBS, the almost people 2-parter and Night Terrors because they're pretty mid imo. I cut closing time because I cut The Lodger in Series 5 and I only cut The God Complex because The Girl Who Waited is better tbh, fight me. I put The Angels Take Manhattan at the end of this series just to get the ponds out because I did something different with -Series 7 I *started off* with Clara. Yep. No 7a. I moved The Rings Of Akhaten to the end of series 7 bc I think it fits better there. That's about it for Series 7, other than the fact I made TNotD, TDotD and TTotD as a Series 3-style 3 part finale. -Series 8 + 9 + 10 Mostly obvious, except the fact that I has to ponder long and hard... and I got rid of Into the Dalek. You can't go without Flatline. Or Heaven sent. Or World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls.

[@shmatts5269]

Great vid! Hope you do Moffat’s era too

[@JoshMartinJones]

Thank you!! Who knows👀

[@LiveHedgehog]

I really enjoyed series 14, but this highlights how 8 episodes isn't enough for the types of arcs nuwho likes to do. You could get away with 10 episode series with these, losing 3 episodes is just about doable, but knocking 5 off is hard to do.

[@JavertRA]

Quite a few keeping the two parters - perhaps they would have compressed some of them?

[@LordNicoDiAngelo]

Nah I fw gridlock way more than Shakespeare code imo

[@HP-ej3bo]

I love you trying to put the you are not alone message in another episode. When you're missing the obvious solution. Jettison the shakespeare code and bring back gridlock, problem solved.

[@JoshMartinJones]

😭😭

[@bigbadbaron8416]

what happens to cult of skaro between doomsday and stolen earth?

[@watermelonvolcano9999]

You also lose the masters Lazer sonic as that comes from the blueprint in Lazarus experiment

[@thetasigma412]

I mean tbf, he can still have the laser sonic, just not the backstory of it coming from Lazarus

[@joefreeman3087]

I just hate that the show pandered to the streaming episode count. I miss the days of episodes 4&5, 8&9 and 12&13 (with sometimes 11 as a finale precursor) being 2 parters.

[@HenryCLHarries]

S1- Rose, TEOTW, TUD, Slitheen is a one parter, Dalek, Empty Child is 1 parter, Boom Town, Partibg of the Ways id 1 part but feature length- S2- Tooth and Claw, School Reunion, Cybermen is one osrter, Girk in Fireplace, Satan Pit is one parter, Fathers Day is moved here, two parter finale. S3- SaJ, Dalek as a one parter historical moved here, Gridlock, Human Nature one parter, Blink, finale trilogy. S4 - PIC, FOP, POTO, Sontarans 1 parter, library as one part too, Midnight, finale trology

[@greghawkins59]

Oh shit yeah, they crammed so much good stuff into even the naffest of episodes, plus the remaining episodes would suffer because the writers would have to cram the missing stuff in or neglect it.

[@Blazing_Ninja]

You miss so much without half the episodes, i wonder what we would have had if there were still 13 episodes in a season 🤔

[@Potatoboii2]

Personally, I'd replace the Satan two-parter with New Earth & Tooth and Claw. I'm not a passionate lover of either of those two episodes, but they do a good job setting up Rose and 10's new dynamic, as well as seeding torchwood. That, and the fact that I've just never really liked Satan Pit/Impossible Planet, it just never appealed to me :/

[@TheMess9898]

Truthfully...you could give Eccleston one more episode as Ncuti also had the Christmas special to begin his first season and start his run.

[@TheLukecottle]

I have to admit this is a fantastic video. I think your choices for Series 1 is fantastic (even though I adore The Unquiet Dead SOOOOOO Much). However, Series 2: - You don't need The girl in the fireplace. Yes it's one of the greatest episodes of all time. but it doesn't lend to the series arc at all really. If anything it detracts from it because the doctor was so willing to abandon Rose and fall in love with Madam P. Which takes away from the impactful series 2 final scene imo. I'd replace it with New Earth. Because of Rose and 10s relationship and bonding. It also brings back Cassandra which is amazing. Series 3: I struggle with S3 because without Dalek's in manhattan it doesnt make sense for Martha to be in the S4 finale or for her to know who the daleks are or anything. But without Family of Blood we don't get the watch reveal in S3 finale. ugh so difficult. So I personally would get rid of Shakespear Code and Blink. (Despite them being great episodes) because: 1. I really think you need both Daleks in Manhattan two parter and Family of Blood two parter to build up Martha's character journey. 2. Daleks in Manhattan is a perfect first journey for Martha. as it also establishes her being independant from the doctor when she has to figure out how to not be killed by the pig monsters. While also showing her humanity about "killing" the pig people which leads into the S3 finale where she tricks the master into thinking she would kill him. 3. It shows the audience that she could and would kill if she had too but she takes no pleasure in it (she is the antithesis of the Master - Placing her in into the role of a "The Doctor" substitute). 4. I think having her save the doctor's life twice. So once in Smith and Jones. and secondly in evolution of the Daleks will also build up her character arc especially leading into human nature and family of blood where she now is caring for him and keeping him safe from danger. Which once again leads into the S3 finale. I think omitting the Daleks in manhattan 2 parter fails the series 4 finale. We need to see Martha vs the daleks. We also need to see Dalek Caan be the finale dalek left from the cult of Skaro. Series 4: I'd make just two changes. I would get rid of Fires of Pompeii and Midnight as amazing as the latter episode is. They are not needed for the overall plot. Instead I would place the Sontaran two parter because: 1. It reestablishes Martha jones as working for Unit (which comes back in the finale and it shows her being badass.) 2. It makes sense in Turn Left when the cars start leaking gas and the torchwood team kill themselves trying to stop it. 3. It reintroduces an amazing old enemy The Sontarans. 4. It brings us back to Donna's family (reintroducing the Doctor to sylvia and Wilf) which plays a large part in connecting the Runaway bride, the voyage of the dammned, the s4 finale and also the 2010 specials and the 60th Anniversary. 5. It's a really great 2 parter that builds up Donna as not being just a air-head temp (when she figures out the Sick-day charts). But also she says to the doctor at the start of the episode "You made her into a soilder" which plays into what Davros says about the children of time being the weapons the doctor harnesses. So my list would be S1: -Unchanged- S2: - *New Earth* - School Reunion - Rise of the Cybermen - Age of Steel - The impossible Planet - The Satan Pit - Army of Ghosts - Doomsday S3: - Smith and Jones - *Daleks in manhattan* - *Evolution of the Daleks* - Human Nature - Family of blood - Utopia - The sound of drums - The Last of the Timelords. S4: - Partners in Crime - *The Sontaran Stratagem* - *The Poison Sky* - Silence in the Library - The forest fo the dead - Turn left - The stolen Earth - Journey's End - I hope you didn't mind me commenting this? I had so much fun watching your video and considering my own Ideas! :)

[@barney9456]

Would you still have the Christmas specials, like with Season 1/Series 14 & Church on Ruby Road?

[@JoshMartinJones]

Yeah - specials remain

[@joelong7273]

wow this really shows how much we missed with only 8 episodes. I thought about moffats' run aswell and yeah each earies can somewhat work but you lose so much and still have massive loose threads that would need to be moved. The only series I think this is impossible for is series 9 because of it all being 2 parters and a 3 part finale. The only way you could make that work is by cutting some of those down to 1 episode stories and maybe choosing between "Magicians Aprentice" & "Witches Familiar" or "Under the Lake" & "Before the Flood" as the opener and then: "Girl Who Died" (cutting "Woman who lived") - "Zygon Invasion" - "Zygon Inversion" - "Face the Raven" - "Heaven Sent" - "Hell Bent". But even then you are losing so much of the series arc and character development for the Doctor and Clara (as well as alot for Me/Ashilda) Series 14 felt so rushed and disconected cause there wasn't any time for the characters to grow because of such a short run. Almost like they were just ticking boxes that had to happen and not giving us any story. I hope we can get longer series again but that it porably unlikely to happen

[@joelong7273]

For the other series I'd do: S5 : "Elventh Hour" - "Time of Angels" - "Flesh and Stone" - "Hungry Earth" - "Cold Blood" - "Vincent and the Doctor" - "Pandoric Opens" - "Big Bang" S6: Impossible Astronaut - Day of the Moon - Doctors Wife - Rebel Flesh - Almost People - Good man goes to war - lets kill hitler (purely just for setting up the finale) - Wedding of River song (Although personally I would prefer "God Complex" and maybe "Girl Who waited" over the flesh 2 parter but you need them for context of "good man goes to war) S7: Asylum (for clara only) - town called mercy - power of 3? - angels take manhattan - bells of saint john - rings of akhaten - crimson horror (for pantenosta gang only really) - name of the doctor S8: Deep Breath - Into the Dalek - Listen - Kill the moon (for character development and the next episode) - Mummy on the orient express - Flatline - Dark Water - Death in heaven S9: (see above) S10: The pilot - Thin Ice? - Oxygen - Extremis - Pyramid - Lie of the land - World enough and time - doctor dances So yeah alot of stuff would be cut by this but i tried to balance making the story work and keeping in the best/my fav episodes. I only really think series 7 survies this without major work needed. For S11 & S12 it would probaly be easier to do cause theres less overaching stories/character development to worry about but i dont care enough about them to think about it so I'd just say keep Haunting of Villa Diodati and cut the rest.

[@theentity5201]

Why are the episode counts getting shorter recently?

[@anorakanimatics9263]

I think this might kind of be due to the other shows New Who is now mimicking, the original RTD run seemed to be inspired by shows like the X-Files, reimagining Doctor Who to be tonally darker and with more mystery to the overarching narrative, the most recent series though seems to have pivoted away from this and now is borderline just a black-mirror ripoff for like half the episodes and I think this is part of the reason they opted for less episodes to further mimic Black Mirror instead of The X-Files.

[@JackLeethetechster]

Great video mate! 🫡 What do you think to the potential Martha spin off??

[@JoshMartinJones]

NEED it to be true

[@nobodycares5050]

Picking Pompeii over Planet of the Ood is a crime Jokes aside this was a very interesting video and illustrates how short 8 episides is

[@Redtrainers42]

Justice for Unicorn and the Wasp😢

[@alltradesjack502]

Good stuff, but you're going about this wrong. Some of these two parters you've kept should be trimmed down to one episode. It makes sense to keep in the Cyber episodes since that is part of the finale, as you say, but that means you have Cybermen in 4/8 episodes of season 2.

[@dalekbbcfan1582]

So the 10th Doctor regenerated into the 11th doctor in the Stolen earth.

[@JoshMartinJones]

Nooo the specials would remain intact

[@thetasigma412]

I tried cutting each season down right before starting your video so that I could compare our choices, and there's a clear difference in our approaches. I feel like you prioritised having the best episodes in your new seasons, while I, where possible, tried to include arc heavy stories, sometimes at the expense of some of the best episodes in the show. Series 1: Rose - Introduces the show as a whole well enough. The End of the World - Rose's first time in space, also great at introducing new viewers Aliens of London - The story condensed into a single episode rather than 2 because the stuff with Jackie and Mickey I think is quite important to the arc of s1. Dalek - obviously, but cut Adam joining at the end since I've cut The Long Game. Father's Day - Mainly because it's a good episode and is a great character piece. The Empty Child - Again condensed into 1 episode rather than 2. This needs to happen to introduce Jack into the team. Bad Wolf - Finale, which I kept by default The Parting of the Ways - Finale, which I kept by default Series 2: Tooth and Claw - Kept because I think it's important to establish Torchwood and its origins. School Reunion - Intro to Sarah Jane is very important, and it's just a good episode as well. The Girl in the Fireplace - No real arc reason to keep this one, I just wouldn't be able to bear not having it. Rise of the Cybermen - Like you said, Cybermen are essential to the finale. The Age of Steel - This story hits so much harder in 2 parts, so here's part 2 The Impossible Planet - Condensed into 1 episode, again just kept because I think it's generally stronger than the ones I've cut and is more arc important. Army of Ghosts - Finale, kept by default Doomsday - Finale, kept by default Series 3: Smith and Jones - Necessary to introduce Martha, and to introduce Martha to The Doctor The Shakespeare Code - While I prefer Gridlock to this, Shakespeare works better as a companion's first intro to TARDIS travel. Daleks in Manhattan - Condensed into 1 episode, necessary for The Cult of Skaro plotline. The Lazarus Experiment - My least favourite of S3, but it's necessary because of the stuff with Martha's family. Human Nature - As much as I hate to do this, it's condensed into 1 episode. It'll make it much worse, sure, but it needs to happen for arc reasons (fob watch), and I just didn't have enough episode slots. Utopia - Necessary setup for finale, kept by default. The Sound of Drums - Finale, kept by default. Last of the Time Lords - Finale, kept by default Series 4: Partners in Crime - Necessary for re-introduction to Donna The Fires of Pompeii - Great '1st trip in the TARDIS' story Planet of the Ood - Necessary for setup to Ood Sigma in the 2009 specials, plus the DoctorDonna setup. The Sontaran Stratagem - Condensed into 1 episode, I feel like everything going on in this episode is important for Donna & the Doctor's arcs in this series. Silence in the Library - Intro to River is necessary. Forest of the Dead - Was originally going to cut this and have this slot taken by Turn Left, but I think fleshing out River & the Doctor's relationship is more important for the show going forward than Turn Left is, even though I love Turn Left and know it's very important for the series arc. The Stolen Earth: Finale, kept by default. Journey's End: Finale, kept by default.

[@FurgusFungus]

I would keep Gridlock instead of Shakespeare just for the face of boe

[@varies4487]

The shorter episode length and shorter overall season count really does hurt the show sadly, and I feel like more people need to acknowledge that when criticising series 14 because it simply doesn’t have the ability to get everything everyone wants in it

[@williamwatson4354]

Great selection, but I have only one disagreement. I'd cut Shakespeare Code and keep Gridlock.

[@thegreatfibbiarchy8607]

Please do a series 5-12 video

[@jamessmithson-br7rm]

8 episodes just wasn’t enough for me to get invested in Ruby

[@nairrdlairrd]

Great video! Please do the same for the Moffat era!

[@Redtrainers42]

Great video but you proved 8 episodes is way too short for a series 😂 hope they go back to 12 episodes for the next one and actually have 2 parters other than the finale

[@Thedocwills]

Can you do one on what if the specials were 8 eps lol

[@nathanielfarkas4431]

The only thing that sucks is that it’s impossible to film 14 episodes a year these days with Doctor Who

[@terminatrix92]

Is it just too expensive or do the leads refuse to be put under that pressure? I don’t understand how an American show like House MD can film 22 hour long episodes per year for 8 years but Doctor Who is so challenging with 8? And they had to do medical jargon!!

[@Markus_included]

@@terminatrix92 I think it has to do with general shift to 8 episode long seasons for US and UK shows from 13/22 episode seasons due to streaming services wanting to make bank off unused subscriptions and save production costs. I find really unfortunate that they're not using the extra money they got from disney to film a 13 episode season, but i'm not sure if the BBC decided to make the new Seasons 8 episodes long or if it's part of the Disney deal. I really hope they manage to bump it up to at least 10 episodes.

[@enurii]

If I am the only Slitheen defender in the universe so be it 😂

[@JoshMartinJones]

Sarah Jane Adventures can gladly have them 😂

[@jesshood4813]

😭 Adam just vanishes I'm series 1 now

[@JoshMartinJones]

Good 😁

[@gferrol118]

I'm curious how many episodes we're gonna get with Ncuti. If he only gets the 3 seasons that every modern doctor (excluding Eccleston) got, then he'll literally have half the episodes than everyone else

[@bentertainmentproductions8451]

That’s why I’m hoping he stays a tad longer. I think he should do at minimum 4 seasons

[@Venemofthe888]

I think Russel said that series 2 will have more episodes so I'm guessing it's going to be more than 8 but we won't know how much more

[@gferrol118]

@@Venemofthe888 I hope it's just the end of the whole scheduling thing, which caused Tennant to come back just so we had *something* for the 60th, since Ncuti was busy filming other stuff. Fingers crossed that it goes back to normal now!

[@ShamManTV]

Just goes to show - even with only 8 episodes, those first four seasons are brilliant! The character development and storytelling is flawless... despite the shorter runtime (unlike the Ncuti era) 'Blink' is highly overrated and the novelty wears off after 5 minutes. 'Daleks in Manhattan' is a great double that showcases the best of Who.

[@HamishSteele]

Choosing Shakespeare Code over Gridlock is WILD but I enjoyed the video and mostly right choices!

[@vinniequick]

we need Smith and Capaldi yes please Me Personally (I'm going under the assumption he can use unused Stories of previous stories as he'd keep them on hand) Series 1 Rose End of the World Dalek Fathers Day Empty Child The Doctor Dances Badwolf Parting of the Ways Series 2 New Earth School Reunion Girl in the Fire Place Age of Steel Rise of the Cybermen Unquiet of the Dead Boom Town (Only with a scared lost Ood) Army of Ghost Doomsday Series 3 Smith and Jones (Only now The Face of Boe is in said Hospital) Shakespeare Code (Now The Doctor gives the speech he gave to Martha in Gridlock now) Human Nature Family of Blood Lazarus Experiment Utopia Sound of Drums Last of the Timelords Series 4 Partners in Crime Pompeii Silence in the Library Forest of the Dead Midnight Turn Left Stolen Earth Journey's End Specials Blink Waters of Mars End of Time Part 1 End of Time Part 2 Series 5 Eleventh Hour Beast Below Victory of the Daleks Amy's Choice Time of the Angels Flesh and Stone Pandorica Opens Big Bang Series 6 Impossible Astronaut Day of the Moon Lodger The Doctor's Wife Good Man goes to War Let's kill Hitler The Wedding of River Song Series 7 (Tricky side note here they split it across 2 Series as it spread 2 years, shorter season that doesn't happen) Closing Time Girl who Waited God Complex Curse of the Black Spot Power of Three A Town Called Mercy Dinosaurs on a Space Ship Angels take Manhattan Series 8 Bells of Saint John Rebel Flesh Almost People Cold War Rings of Akhten Name of the Doctor Day of the Doctor Time of the Doctor Series 9 Deep Breath Into the Dalek Listen Caretaker (Clara and Danny are already together) Flatline Roberts of Sherwood Dark Water Death in Heaven Series 10 Magicians Apprentice Witches Familiar Zygon Invasion Zygon Inversion Face the Raven Heaven Sent Hell Bent Series 11 Pilot Smile Thin Ice Mummy on the Orient Express Empress of Mars Time Heist World Enough and Time Doctor Falls Series 12 (I feel like that since Chris has said himself that he was there to keep the show afloat and struggled this would be even harder so he'd probably ask Moffat for some stories/tips) Woman Who Fell to Earth Ghost Monument Girl who Died Girl who Lived Under the Lake (Guitar Title Sequence with Jodie and Peter and Matt in a band) Before the Flood Demons of Punjab The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos rest I'm unsure EDIT Fixed the spelling

[@vinniequick]

also forgive my shit spelling auto correct plus youtube never telling me when I do miss spell now you get what words I'm trying to say

[@vinniequick]

fixed the spelling if you want to reread

[@JoshSRugbyPlayer]

Omg i want it, please

[@user-ef7kt5sf6o]

I think s2 would actually benefit from 8 episodes, a lot of them are just whatever episodes

[@Venemofthe888]

I think cutting fear her is essential cause it adds nothing really and maybe idiots lantern too. Everything else has something to it. I think series 2 could do with a reshuffle in its episodes tbh

[@cameronjosephvideos5942]

This really shows how much is missed with 8 episodes. I mean Series 1 is missing all of Rose's family struggles, all of the Mickey drama, all of the relatable grounded stuff, and yet I can't disagree with your selection. The only other way I could potentially see is including the Slitheen two parter but skipping Empty Child, but considering that Empty Child is my second most favourite New Who story, I'd consider that a serious crime. This series would also lack any of the worldbuilding required for Torchwood with the Cardiff rift. Series 2 cuts all of the Torchwood set up yet again. No literally, Series 1 and 2 together removes literally everything Torchwood related outside of a few moments. I can also imagine just how jarring School Reunion would be considering we've barely seen Tennant in action in the Christmas Invasion and his first real go at the character is full of lore stuff with Sarah Jane, and we also skip Rose warming to the new Doctor in New Earth. Series 3 allows no room to explore Martha's actual relationship with the Doctor. They meet one episode, they have one trip, then the rest of the series Martha is running around after John Smith and offscreen, we see very little of their relationship onscreen before being thrust into a finale. Series 4 suffers a little less, but again we see a lot less of the Doctor and Donna just being pals.

[@luigificationful]

Please tell me you're working on doing this for the Moffat and Chibnall eras 🙏🙏

[@JoshMartinJones]

Yes!!!

[@luigificationful]

@@JoshMartinJones yayyyyy!!

[@PaleoAhri]

Where is my favorite episode of the entire series? "The end of the world" is on the list... A low bow. Thank you. So, where's Lazarus and 42! It ruins the whole show! I'm kidding. Or I'm not kidding. But this is an extremely interesting view. Thanks for that. I'm not in favor of directly comparing the eras of the show, as I love them all. But considering that RTD really write very similar, it looks indicative. Because suddenly the new season, in my opinion, the main problem is the number of episodes and travel in them. Because of this, the relationship between the characters sometimes seems forced. And that's why it's really interesting to see how the development of the doctor and the companion would have shrunk and how the storylines would have broken. And suddenly not much changes. On the contrary, each of these 8 episodes is iconic. And such a show would definitely blow up the show. However, it is simply impossible to say that nothing has been missed.The development of relationships is just suffering. Especially in seasons 3 and 4. Both Martha and Donna also find themselves in a position where there is not enough time to rub up with the Doctor and they are immediately thrown into the inferno of history. This is interesting, but it seems to be a similar problem with Ruby. Similarly, with the storylines, yes, they seem to be more consistent than in the new season, but still in the format of 8 episodes they seem chopped and torn. And the final question, not to you, but simply. Why do we count only the best episodes of the seasons? The new one has "Space Babies" - the worst episode of the whole show. And it is logical that, as if in real conditions, it is quite realistic to skip a weak series into production, rather than simply choose the strongest ones from among all.

[@piercemchugh4509]

yes, get rid of the Slitheen. haha.

[@elliotttalksf1825]

8 episodes per season is not enough. The Sutekh finale suffered a lot because of this due to there not being a big enough build up across only 6 episodes the deserve a big epic “finale”. It all feels too rushed.

[@Leon_Tyler]

Cutting the long game means the finale makes no sense, so u would have to scrap 2 GOATed episodes in fathers day and empty child.... Which is shit considering the long game isn't that great but is context for the finale

[@mr.orange9481]

Fantastic! I've got suggestions for the Matt Smith era: S5: Eleventh Hour (opener), Time of Angels + Flesh and Stone (solid 2-parter with River Song), Vampires of Venice, Amy's Choice (for Amy and Rory moments), Vincent and the Doctor (classic), Pandorica Opens + Big Bang (finale) I get the problems with the above, considering we lose the part where Rory gets erased from time (ironic), but it could probably be slotted in at the end of Amy's Choice or something. We also lose the Lodger, a personal favourite. S6: Impossible Astronaut + Day of the Moon (opener), Rebel Flesh + Almost People (mediocre but needed to explain the Amy copy), Good Man Goes to War (central to the main arc), Let's Kill Hitler (River Song's backstory), God Complex (Amy and Rory's first exit), Wedding of River Song (finale) Problem with this one is that we lose the Doctor's Wife. Big shame, possibly it could be replaced with the God Complex? S7: Asylum of the Daleks (opener to bring back Amy + Rory), Town Called Mercy (just a solid episode), Power of Three (shows the Ponds' life outside the Doctor), Angels Take Manhattan (final goodbye for Amy + Rory), Bells of Saint John (meeting modern Clara), Rings of Akhaten (for the Doctor's speech), Cold War OR Hide (either works), Name of the Doctor (finale)

[@tom_4615]

13 weeks and a Christmas special when you’re 7 years old felt like an eternity, 7 weeks at 21 yrs old feels like a flash in the pan :/

[@RobTFilms]

Satillite 5 is NOT where The End of the World is set mate I'm sorry :')

[@TetchyEquation]

If Series 3 and 4 were 8 episodes, then Blink and Midnight would never have made the cut. Don't get me wrong, they're amazing, but they contribute very little to the overall progression of a series and there just isn't enough room for such experimentation

[@j.b.c.a.]

Wasn't Midnight a last minute replacement for another episode they for some reason couldn't do?

[@ThePonderer]

If RTD approached series 3 and 4 the same way he has S14, I doubt that which stories “contribute to the overall progression” would be a super high priority. Dot and Bubble, Boom, Rogue, and the Devil’s Chord don’t really contribute much to the progression of this year’s season but they all made it in. I’m willing to bet Davies would keep Blink and Midnight, just with a few more Saxon references shoved into the former.

[@TetchyEquation]

@@ThePonderer Perhaps, as with a lot of Alt. History it's pure conjecture and speculation. But we know the only reason we had 2 Doctor lite episodes this season is because of Ncuti Gatwa filming Sex Education. I don't think in this alternate scenario we would get any Doctor lite episodes in the first place, because the entire point of them was to save money, but we're already saving a lot by cutting 5 episodes a year

[@jjkeyboards]

my dude you gotta sort out your audio levels

[@JoshMartinJones]

Working on it!