Doctor Who Only Has 7 Episodes

[@HarboWholmes]

Vote Harbo www.patreon.com/harbowholmes

[@thogthemighty7960]

Add a link to the tierlist so I can look at it?

[@gullyfeather4330]

I think that there is a rare eighth category - trial / test of character. Examples include Turn Left, Heaven sent, 73 yards. I think it should be it's own category because they all have a pretty distinct plot - doctor/companion are split up, with one or the other mostly missing, the character is forced to go through trials that test their character on their own, ending with them demonstrating their strength of character through doing the right thing despite hardship, ending with their death, resurrection and a loss of memory.

[@harkinmassopust948]

would “the girl who waited” count in this category too? i think it meets a lot of the requirements

[@gullyfeather4330]

@@harkinmassopust948 yeah, good point! I think it does fit the some plot points

[@veradux6374]

I think for there to be an eighth category there needs to be an episode that fits only that category. All of the examples above are character studies within mystery stories.

[@LisaBeta-42]

Isn't that something "Rebirth" coveres? The old Assyrians (who claimed "there is nothing new under the sun" 5k years ago) had only 5 different plotlines, missing in the "wibbely wobbely timy wimey" department and probably putting quest & voyage in the same group together. Heavily relaying on supernatural intervention to put meaning into their tales. But that is all about "stories". The need to write something down came from planning provisions, raising (fair) taxes, finding dates for farming or hunting, keeping track of time and history - numbers and dates came before heros and quests- Religions had to sort out the powers of their gods and the rules of worship. Also the rules for punishment, if people misbehaved or ehat kind of reward was to be expected, if the gods smiled upon you and let you have a good life. Next step: how to behave if difficulties bring turmoil into your life. From rags to riches is a grat reward for any poor fairytale farmboy with arrogant elder brothers: HE gets the princess and is allowed to rule the land after fulfilling several impossible quests - but from the princesses point of view, it becomes a total nightmare: the land in shambles, you might be the next virgin to be fed to the dragon and "Mister smelly-bump" flounces in, overcomes the monster and gets married to you! Pardon me??? Free choice of husband? Oh no, not for princesses, they are bred to get offered to likely allies in an arranged wedding 😅

[@azaleacolburn]

I agree, and they often hybridize with other stories, like how turn left is also timey wimey.

[@MrSimpleton]

I really thought this video was going to be reducing the entirety of New Who into 7 episodes that still tell an understandable story. But this is good too!

[@dw7704]

One of my favourite misunderstood monster stories in Doctor Who is Time Heist. It has elements of mystery and even base under siege in reverse (The Doctor is besieging), but misunderstood monster is at the heart of the story

[@something1600]

Yeah, a lot of stories tend to have multiple of these elements (like The God Complex).

[@EGGY3994]

Time shenanigans = Wibbly Wobbly, Timey wimey

[@matthiasschulz3569]

That's the obviously correct answer :)

[@raffausfaus]

That’s the correct name

[@DaleRibbons]

That's perfect!

[@photelegy]

Yes, exactly. I wanted to write this but was sure someone already did 👍🏻

[@mrafton9457]

@@photelegy Just go back in time and put it down before they do. But if you did it first, I wouldn't have given you the idea. And if I didn't give you the idea, you wouldn't have gone back in time to do it. And if you hadn't gone back.....

[@ramen-numerals]

I would change mystery to "The Doctor doesn't know", as the reason they ARE mystery's are because we aren't given an instant solution and the Doctor's goal is to learn what he needs to do.

[@SomeUsernameSomeoneElseTookIt]

True...

[@fazolis2024]

Mystery is a genre so yes, that name change would work

[@frostpatch2347]

Well it doesn't have to be the doctor. In 73 yards, Ruby doesn't know, and that episode is still a mystery. We could also end up with another doctor-lite episode where the companion is the one trying to solve the mystery

[@SomeGuy-fi9rz]

​@@frostpatch2347Yeah and there's also Blink, a classic mystery episodr and the Doctor's like the only one who knows what's going on the whole time

[@frostpatch2347]

@@SomeGuy-fi9rz Oh yeah, I wasn't sure if he put blink in base under seige, but it could also count as another example of hybridization

[@ShadowSearcher31]

You know, the 11th doctor’s era makes at least some more sense when you view it as The Doctor trying to make the most of his last life

[@arthemis1039]

Yes but upon rewatch the fact it was supposed to be his last life is very unclear. The only times it has been clear was in Let's Kill Hitler and Time of the Doctor - in those two episodes he was supposed to be unable to regenerate. But in Season 6 Episode 1, when River shoots him he starts to regenerate ! Also in Nightmare in Silver he threatens to regenerate to kick out the CyberPlanificator. I don't believe it was bluff. DW has always been very weird about regeneration rules ; don't forget the Valeyard is supposed to be an post 12th incarnation. So the Doctor had to know that he did not die here. Same with the Curator that he met in DOTD. TC atleast put an end to the cycle limit ; the only question is : did the fobwatch only rob the Doctor of his memories, or did it also turn him into a Gallifreyan ? Maybe if the Time Lords did nothing on Tranzalore, in cannon the Doctor would have regenerated anyways because he is the TC.

[@Kephy_]

@@arthemis1039 River shoots at a fake robot Doctor so it doesn't count bruh

[@scurrilousss]

The regeneration limit might be the very worst thing that was ever added to the canon.

[@tardissins7512]

@@arthemis1039the easy answer is that the Timeless Child isn’t canon, because it’s a poison that robs stories of meaning and destroys canon. In time it will be retconned and the show might return to its prime.

[@gnockgnock6965]

@@tardissins7512 Yet right now the current showrunner is running with it.

[@aeloswindrunner]

I like how this framework works to summarise the episodes without feeling limiting. There's plenty of variety within each type, even without hybridisation

[@lambdafish291]

I actually think there is one more story type that isn't covered here, that being "Character Study". There are stories that fit into the existing 7 categories vaguely but doing so misses the point of the episode. Girl in the fire place is both a historical and time travel story, but both of those only cover the backdrop of the story. The real heart of the story is a study of the character of Madam de Pompadore. Girl in the fireplace wasn't even the episode that drew me to this extra story type though, Human Nature was, since the entire focus is studying who the doctor is. Love and Monsters, and the character of Elton (and Jackie) also fits here really well, as does the new episode Dot and Bubble

[@alexanderrobertson9297]

I agree because I was trying to place dot and bubble and didn't think it was a invasion or bace under seage or mystery.

[@Wedge_Khan]

Vincent and the Doctor also fits perfectly

[@richardgurney1844]

Nah, "Character Study" just isn't specific to Doctor Who so misses the point of this video. Any of the '7 episode types' could do a character study Such as: Girl in the Fireplace (time-travel shenanigans) Love and Monsters (Supervillain) Human Nature/Family of Blood (Base Under Seige) Vincent and The Doctor (celebrity Historical) Dot and Bubble (Invasion)

[@Kephy_]

@@richardgurney1844 Dot and Bubble isn't an Invasion story and Human Nature is everything but a Base Under Siege it's probably Invasion instead

[@richardgurney1844]

@@Kephy_ The slug monsters in Dot and Bubble have literally conquered the home world, and are about to do the same to "Funtime" - it's clearly an invasion story, plain and simple. And I'm treating Human Nature & Family of Blood as 1 story (so I'll edit my previous comment to make it clearer). In this story, The Family aren't trying to invade Earth they're just tracking The Doctor down. In Human Nature, the Family make plans and make a move and amass an army of scarecrows; in Family of Blood, The Doctor has the school children defend the school. So yes I personally think 'base under siege' is the best category for this story

[@SoulSloth147]

Time shenanigans should be called 'Nathan Gibson' to honor the guy that's disappeared from wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

[@ellibobble1655]

I figured out where he went… Harbo stepped on a butterfly. It is the same thing that happened with Pete

[@nathxn05]

@@ellibobble1655 who's pete?

[@designationmax6097]

@@nathxn05that’s right!

[@ellibobble1655]

@@nathxn05 you know, Bill’s best friend Pete

[@sacrificiallamb4568]

@@ellibobble1655 I remember Pete. He's the bald guy from River Song, right?

[@TheBeastBoss04]

"187, by my rough count" as if there's a chance that's not the right number

[@TheBeastBoss04]

@Kesteen true

The possibility is that two parters (that have the same title and dubbed part one and part two) might be considered a single episode, or each an episode in its own right. Power of the Doctor, for example, was aired first as a single ninety minute episode in its premiere, and then they split it in half for the reruns (that might not be the case everywhere, but in Turkey BBC First did so, and it's very much official because the title sequence and credits were all modified accordingly); it wasn't the same for End of Time, but still some might consider it a single episode. And then there are the "webisodes", children in need specials etc., which make it even more complicated...

[@RobbieMartin745]

Its a little debatable as Night of Terror Doctor is counted as an episode but is only like 6 minutes

[@truthhertz10]

I didn't know Harbo was in so many episodes, guess a rewatch binge is in order!

[@milky7257]

Call it Timey-Wimey. My favourite Timey-Wimey is Blink, but Before the Flood is also a great Timey-Wimey.

[@AmelityshTV]

The editing is so so good here

[@justanormalhumanbeing1903]

I love the editing of this video with harbo just popping up all over time and space... harbo is Susan twist confirmed????

[@richardbourton4523]

Harbo… Harbo… Harbinger!!!

[@jaziybabe]

Base under siege is so interesting! That definitely is a classic DW narrative but I never really thought about the fact that it is fairly unique to this show

[@cliffhomewood]

I would have said Base under Seige is an invasion story, they are trying to invade somewhere and we are stopping them. Its a subset of Invasion. In a normal invasion storyline Earth could be the base under siege

[@Meritania]

I think the classic none-who version is the Agatha Christie “and then there were none” which would then inspire the other murder-mystery mansion settings. Usually a bunch of victims trapped with a murderer and the detective has to find them before they kill again.

[@pokechimp88]

A lot of the classic Cybermen stories (Tenth Planet, Moonbase, Wheel in Space) are good examples of this.

[@jaziybabe]

@@cliffhomewood yeah that makes sense to call it a subset, but definitely still it’s own thing

[@jaziybabe]

@@Meritania hmm yeah kind of a cross between invasion and closed location mystery

[@shayforest]

as a Whovian who LOVED The Seven Basic Plots as a kid, I'm in awe of how well you accidentally catered directly to me here xD

[@CrikeyItsDan]

Random but I was playing RuneScape in the background whilst watching the video. And I kept wondering why random RuneScape songs keeps playing, when I've been in the same location the entire time. Finally clicked on you're using the music in your video!😅🤣

[@GreenPixelz]

Same exact thing happened to me. Was chopping some Teak trees and wondered what was going on. Paused the video out of confusion, then I realised lmao.

[@dashylongfoot]

If I were to pick 7 episodes to hook fans, I think a good listing would be: Rose The empty child Blink The eleventh hour Oxygen World enough in time Day of the Doctor

[@carinseein]

What I would like to see doctor who do to play with these reused "plots" 1) invasion. Have the invading force be human or timelord. The doctor lands in England as the Roman invade or north America for the British or Spanish invasions. Or to keep better with sci-fi, earths expansion to other planets or galifreys emperial age. 2) base under seige. Have the doctor try to contain an enemy team, and have the episode be from their perspective, having us debate his morality until we reveal his actions were completely necessary and reluctant. 3) mystery. The false mystery, where we start with the answer as the doctor works against his oppositions from finding out the truth. The easiest and best way to do this is "there is an alien amoung us" watching everyone create methods and test who is and isn't human as the doctor over comes each test with the aid of his companion. 4) time travle shenanigans. Don't reveal it to us at all, play the episode as a meta deconstruction full of reality and canon contradictions that would normally pull heavy criticism only to reveal a time traveler with a paradox machine At the end. 5) historical, having it played in universe as the doctor is someone else's historical legendary figure, like blink or river song, but having only heard of them and fully knowing how this story and event will play out in the long run. 6) super villian. The doctor vs companion. Either recent or long past, no brain control or manipulation, full disagreement into war. Like if Martha was there for timelord victorius "you've gone to far doctor" 7) misunderstood monster. Just have it be the doctor. Hell, even pair it with the mystery episode "there's an alien amoung us" from before for a solid 2 part episode.

[@guillaumecrener4159]

Let's say Dot and Bubble is a " Misunderstood monsters" story

[@stephjovi]

so because they`re racist a holes, the monster is ok to eat them the dot ok to kill them? I guess :)

[@hued2542]

Monsters gotta eat too 😢

[@MusicMeltsReal]

The racist eating space slugs did nothing wrong

[@franchementjesaispas5861]

I'd say humans are the misunderstood monsters here

[@attmay82]

A "misunderstood who the monster was" story

[@johnjekyllson28]

The Eleventh Hour doesn’t feature an invasion; the earth was being threatened with destruction if they didn’t track down and give up Prisoner Zero.

[@AxelaxiB]

Temporal dysfunction is a little better name.

[@StaceyGreenstein]

Some of these are highly funcitonal! XD

[@AxelaxiB]

@@StaceyGreenstein I meant it more dys as dystopian because most of them happen in dystopias

[@Faux_rl]

Love how you edited yourself into the show makes it way more fun to view! Really makes ya think, personally time travel shenanigans is my absolute fav!

[@captainstage2009]

I’d love to see more episodes of the Doctor actually using his time traveling abilities to benefit the episode. We often see the doctor go to someplace at sometime at the beginning of the episode, but I’d love it if he could utilize his TARDIS for more specific, in-story purposes.

[@porygatto]

Very interesting video! You chose a pretty distinctive subject to analyse, I haven't seen people talk about Doctor Who genres and I didn't knew I needed it. It gives pleasure to my obsessive need for organisation. 😂 I think you nailed it, it seems pretty accurate and the diversity of stories, with 7 main archetypes+different combinations, is the reason I love Doctor Who and when I don't like 1 episode, 3 episodes, 4 episodes... I'll never drop Doctor Who because the masterpiece is right behind the corner. All stories are so different and unique and this is what makes Doctor special. ❤ Good job with the video!

[@something1600]

I would say that "Mummy on the Orient Express" and many other Mystery stories are also Base under Siege stories. (an isolated area (the Orient Express), a monster to do the sieging (the Foretold) and a cast of characters).

[@emperordalek102]

dalek emperor is definitley part of a super villain catagory in parting of the ways

[@StaceyGreenstein]

I think it would be interesting to look at the highly- and lowly-rated episodes and see how well or poorly they implement a category. I'm thinking Spyfall... it has Invasion, Supervillain, Mystery, Historical, and Time Travl Shenanigans all in nearly equal mix, making it overall a rather weak story.

[@user-ef7kt5sf6o]

IMDb can be very unreliable for doctor who though, I mean name of the doctor is for some reason a 9/10

[@PosthumanHeresy]

@@user-ef7kt5sf6o Plus anything from the most recent series is review-bombed.

[@user-ef7kt5sf6o]

@@PosthumanHeresy exactly it’s the whole “new thing bad, old thing good”

[@PosthumanHeresy]

@@user-ef7kt5sf6o Not in this case. In this case it's "he's black and queer".

[@richardgurney1844]

​@@user-ef7kt5sf6oThat episode is awesome! I gave it a 9 myself on IMDb But yeah the general point of some episode ratings are skewed/unreliable is true. I have no idea at all why The Woman Who Fell To Earth has a rating as high as 7, for instance!

[@carsonclay2965]

I think there should be an "all is lost" category where the world already ended in a previous episode and the main goal is to reverse it. e.g Last of the Time Lords, The Big Bang, Wedding of River Song, Lie of the Land, Flux, and now Empire of Death.

[@thekiss2083]

Most of those are invasion plots, just scaled up because they're also the season finale.

[@markwaddington5185]

Surely 'wibbly wobbly, timey wimey' fits the time travel shenanigans story type best 😂

[@cosmichobo4216]

Wonderful video, the many story archetypes this show does, is the reason why I love it so much. Also possibly another name for the Time Travel shenanigans could be called Timey Wimey Stuff, a reference to Blink

[@Blindgenxgamer]

Great list. 7 episode types, 7 chords. I think my favorite type is the base under siege, Horror of Fang Rock being my number 1.

[@AmelityshTV]

Absolutely wonderful choices for music. Historic version Toothless Dances meme, a version of We Are Number One. It makes the video seem a lot more upbeat

[@troytab6089]

...It's not from the Toothless Dances meme. The music is from Pokémon Black/White.

[@AmelityshTV]

@@troytab6089 Still, Toothless Dance. Fun song

[@fanthonyfictions]

Should Family of Blood not be a base under siege? They were just attacking one small town, and they didn't really attack the town itself until the last five minutes outside of one pub. Most of the focus was on the school.

[@iGotBulletproof-Insomnia]

If you consider the Doctor himself to be the base, it might be more fitting, I think. Or rather, the fob watch with his Time Lord conscientiousness and energy inside is the base. The Family was laying siege to the Doctor more so than the town/school.

[@doro626]

X-Files was like this. They even made a special explaining it. I cant remember them all, but it was something like: Government Conspiracy, Alien Abduction, local legends and Weird human with abilities and I think it actually helps to not go all Willy Nilly.

[@Toadyzoe]

Love your editing style in this one! Wasn't expecting to see you popping up in the shots!

[@isaaccate1623]

New editing style is going hard 👍🏼👍🏼

[@cmbeadle2228]

Very bold of you to introduce the "actually good unlike all the other terrible episodes" category just for Love and Monsters.

[@UranusMcVitieFish-yd7oq]

I love Love and Monsters. Except the blowjob joke. Hate that moment.

[@db7541]

15:05 I agree all stories fall into at least one of these, but yeah they don’t all fall into only one as you say. Waters of Mars, for example, is a celebrity historical AND a base under siege. Power of Three is an invasion and a mystery. But I agree that that’s what helps make it good :)

[@StaceyGreenstein]

Waters of Mars is not a Historical: Historicals are restricted to events in the past as of the story's airing. While for the Doctor it is historical, what matters is the audience perspective. Power of Three I think is somewhat weaker as it blends Invasion and Mystery poorly, and with an especially weak Supervillain ending.

[@db7541]

@StaceyGreenstein I don’t really see why WoM wouldn’t be considered a celebrity historical, there’s nothing that differentiates it in that sense from an episode like the Unquiet Dead, with Adelaide Brooke filling much the same role as Dickens in that. I get she’s not a real person but I don’t see why that’s relevant or where Harbo said that. The whole episode is treated like it’s a historical.

[@troytab6089]

​@@db7541 The Celebrity Historical type of episodes specifically refer to IRL famous figures. If you want to argue that Waters of Mars is a Celebrity Historical, then you'd have to say that 72 Yards is one too, because of Robert Ap Gwilliam. And so is Kaboom! because of the Kaboom company. And, on the more extreme end, it'd make the Face Of Boe episodes, and Liz 10 in Beast Below, and more count too, because they're characters who are famous in the Doctor Who universe. Celebrity Historicals - or just Historicals as most call them - in Doctor Who, specifically refers to when the Doctor time travels back, and interacts with a real world historical figure as the main premise of the episode. Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, whichever Queen it was in that werewolf episode. This also means that the Queen in Day of the Doctor doesn't count as a celebrity historical. She was in the episode, but not the main focus. Same goes for Isaac Newton in the second of the 14th Doctor's specials.

[@troytab6089]

​@@db7541 Another thing - Waters of Mars isn't treated like a Historical. In Historicals, the Doctor is usually changing things intentionally to make sure things go as they're supposed to. Stopping the undead from killing Dickens before his time, stopping witches from killing Shakespeare before his time, et cetera. The Doctor is in the right, because he's stopping a monster and putting time right. In Waters of Mars, the focus is on the Doctor's morality. Does he save Adelaide, or does he preserve the timeline? He spends most of the episode as a watcher, saying he can't save them because he's preserving the timeline, But in the end he goes against that, saving Adelaide anyway, and goes morally off the rails. If you want to compare it to another episode, you'd have been better off comparing it to Fires of Pompeii. Even the titles are similar. The Doctor is there, watching, but refuses to save people as it'd be against the timeline. Until the very end when he goes back on that and saves a small few people. But even with that, that's where the similarities end. Waters of Mars wasn't about Adelaide, or about some metaphor they told using Adelaide, or about Adelaide's impact on the world. Waters of Mars was about the Doctor becoming the Time Lord Victorious, and realising how messed up he was.

[@richardgurney1844]

​@@troytab6089I would argue that Waters of Mars can still count as a historical - just one that subverts expectations. The Doctor is supposed to let time happen as it should (as per the formula), but he doesn't - but then time gets back on track anyway (Not that it matters what the "correct" answer is, it's just a great story we love)

[@bryangillis1362]

I feel like it's hard to cleanly fit 73 Yards into any of these categories. The closest is a mystery, but it really isn't structured like a mystery - there's no progress towards an explanation, and that's largely the point of it. I think it makes a good argument for one more category: Horror. This could also include the other famous unsolved mystery episode, Midnight, and many, many others.

[@AlephSharp]

"I won't use pre established genres. They must be specific to doctor who, for obvious reasons." Roughly 20 seconds later: "...Mystery .... Historicals"

[@K-o_S]

Here's my favourite episode of each category, not that anyone asked; Invasion - Army of Ghosts/Doomsday (Army of Ghosts is definitely more of a mystery but I think it gets a pass for the invasion category since it's set up for Doomsday which is a lot more invasiony wasiony) Base Under Siege - World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls Mystery - Heaven Sent Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff - The Day of The Doctor (this is also my favourite episode overall) Historical - Vincent and The Doctor/The Shakespeare Code/Tooth and Claw Supervillain - The End of Time/The Eleventh Hour/Smith and Jones Misunderstood Monster - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

[@christopherspencer8110]

Organizing Doctor Who stories by setting is absolutely valid, but I wonder if using theme as the commonality would perhaps better capture the breadth of the show. The Empty Child takes place during the Blitz, but it’s about abandonment. The Waters of Mars is set in a base under attack, but what’s important in the episode is the Doctor embracing the godhood of the Time Lord victorious. The Family of Blood has a lot in common with Casablanca: sometimes we are called upon to sacrifice love for the greater good. These are among the highest rated episodes, and I think that’s because Doctor Who, at its very best, uses setting/genre as a tool for exploring the nature of humanity. The structure of the show and the heart of the show are different things, and as if to emphasize which one is more crucial, they gave the Doctor two hearts.

[@LordLemming47]

Harbo is on the FBI's Most Wanted list now...

[@SteveSmith-wk9dx]

"Timey-wimey stuff" was right there for time-travel shenanigans, and you didn't use it?

[@daraghokane4236]

They should give the Doctor a Dalek companion, The way Daleks kill the defected impure ones have one of them get saved by the Doctor and go on adventures. We had a few good Darlexs Clara and Rusty so why not at least for a few Episodes

[@CineScarborough]

Another story type I'd add is 'The Doppelganger'. There are a few stories like The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People and The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion where the Doctor and/or the characters around him have doppelgangers.

[@Reginald425]

Nice editing and analysis!

[@JoshWiniberg]

I don't know who coined the term "base under siege" but I first heard it about 20 years ago, used to describe Terry Nation's stories (ie most early Dalek stories). So as a description of DW stories it probably goes all the way back to the 60s or 70s.

[@timothybarnett1006]

Base Under Siege's has it's origins in 60s budgetary requirements, when during the Troughton era the production team established that they could maximise a story's budget by having limited guest stars and limited sets - a corridor, central control area and a smaller room that could function as multiple roles, such as sleeping quarters, lab etc. I think the term was popularised during the 80s in fan criticism/analysis. One of my favourite BUS of the modern era, which hybridises with the mystery type is _Wild Blue Yonder,_ where the Base in question is reality, and the only actors are the principals and their stand ins, taking place completely in a studio, thereby absolutely minimising any leaks. Remember the completely wild fan speculation around it prior to broadcast?

[@antpearson9676]

Why oh why oh why do YT creators have to use the phrases "deep dive or dive in"? Brilliant YT channel. Ant p

[@thatotherted3555]

I think most or all of these fit OldWho pretty well too. Historicals go back to the very first story, "An Unearthly Child," although that's technically a prehistorical; maybe "The Aztecs" is a better example. Off the top of my head, I can think of Supervillain, Base Under Siege, and Invasion types from just the Fourth and Seventh Doctors' eras, which are the ones I'm most familiar with, but I'm pretty sure there are Mystery ones too (maybe Third Doctor era?). Not as sure about Misunderstood Monster and Time Travel Shenanigans.

[@twigbranch4556]

9:11 Wibily wobbly Timey wimey stuff

[@hekiryuu1]

Supervillain is set apart from invasion or under siege, in that defeating the one central villain stops everything else. When the 9th doctor and rose took on Daleks at the end of his season, they had to basically defeat them all (base under siege). When Martha took on the maser, even though the world was being invaded, defeating the Master basically fixed the invasion all together.

[@frostwing1899]

you could’ve called time travel shenanigans wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff

[@harveybowen806]

A medieval rendition of the driftveil city music? Top marks

[@rockbandny]

I fucking love the monk trilogy

[@reecer0503]

Omega Flowey: "NOOOO!!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO OBEY ME!!!!!" The Seven Human Doctor Who Episodes:

[@olived9560]

Ooo very good video! And editing yourself into scenes was HILARIOUS I loved it so so much

[@tom_4615]

Gotta just commend you on such an original idea for a video tbh

[@brobs0463]

Could you count episodes like New Earth as a historical? Its going somewhere in history, it just happens to be after us

[@twigbranch4556]

I feel like compantion episodes would be important aswell, although they all come under these main catagories, I feel as a subsection it's important for episodes like Flatline, 72 yards, the girl who waited and turn left such where companion character development is a focal point or in which companion characters just have more screen time away from the doctor.

[@iGotBulletproof-Insomnia]

Out of curiosity, where would we place "Boom?" I'm thinking Base Under Seige with a side of Mystery?

[@archief1783]

I’ve always wondered, is the waters of mars a historical episode set in the future?

[@thekiss2083]

Historical / Base Under Siege / Timey-Wimey

[@Rose337]

just have to say your background music choices for this video are fantastic :)

[@richardgurney1844]

I think I have an 8th category - "Mission" I'm struggling to fit Good Man Goes to War, The Doctor The Widow and the Wardrobe, and Asylum of the Daleks into any of the '7 episode types'. Good Man had elements of 'base under siege' but just it's The Doctor doing the sieging, Asylum has an element of 'mystery' but wouldn't say it's the main focus, and the other one is 'timey-wimey' because of the time portal to Narnia I suppose - that's just it, it's elements of these story types only. I don't feel those episodes truly fit in to those story types But all 3 of them ARE 'missions' Good Man is a mission to rescue Amy Narnia is a mission to rescue some children and an alien forest from acid rain And Asylum has the Daleks summon The Doctor to destroy their asylum planet for them I definitely think this is an 8th category here! 'Mission' has similarities to 'base under siege', but it's definitely a distinct story type

[@TheCagedCorvid]

I think hell bent might fit here too

[@richardgurney1844]

Ooh, yes I can see that :) The Doctor's mission to save Clara from death Someone has mentioned Journey to the Center of The Tardis somewhere else in the comments as another difficult one to label But saying Mission + Time-travel shenanigans sorts that out pretty well I think!

[@TheCagedCorvid]

@@richardgurney1844 I just remembered the ghost monument... I think you're on to something 🤔

[@loyalcarpark4642]

Was not expecting that Todd Howard jumpscare

[@edithmayrhoffer6982]

I would not count 'historicals' as separate type of story, as most of them can be fit within another category such as 'invasion' in the case of 'Vampires of venice', 'The unquiet dead' or 'Fires of pompei'. Other historical episodes, for instance 'Vincent and the Doctor' also fit in the category 'misunderstood monsters'.

[@Comicbroe405]

I have noticed this sort of pattern too but love the way its presented in this video.

[@321puca]

The only one I can think of maybe not fitting is Hell Bent? Though maybe you could say it's an invasion story and the Doctor *is* the invading alien

[@MadScientist512]

Heaven Sent could be described primarily as poetic existential/philosophical musings, the mystery is secondary and only resolved in the next episode, and the Last Christmas was more about dreams and beliefs than the alien or mystery aspect.

[@lazulenoc6863]

This is my most anticipated video from your channel. Edit: Didn't expect to hear We Are Number One.

[@LiableFilm]

12:40 "There's no such thing as a monster, just a creature you haven't met yet" - 15th Doctor in Space Babies

[@dolofonosesostrefis]

Pretty damn good background music choice here, well played.

[@WorldofWoodrow]

I would add a Tragedy category for episodes such as Voyage of the Damned, Survivors of the Flux, maybe Angels take Manhatten but certainly alongside other categories for a few of those.

[@isobarkley]

i did think of one episode that doesnt fit any of these, in my opinion, or is at least such an estranged combination of genres that it deserves its own category (but i cant think of others to fit this 'eighth episode format' right this moment): the doctor's daughter. mystery, sure; misunderstood monsters, kinda; base under siege, barely. you could argue it also touches on time-travel shenanigans, but i think 'the consequences of unbound successive cloning in a battle' is more of a "sci-fy future tech shenangian" than a time-travel related one.

[@swattofficer6624]

"Time travel shennanegins?" Surely you mean "Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey...stuff"

[@sarahandthesafeword6632]

I love the idea of "Midnight" being the setup of a Misunderstood Monster that progresses into a Supervillain episode by the end.

[@thomasoa]

"Not a monster" and "humans are the monster" twists usually come in mystery episodes. Since these episodes aren't narratively evident until the twist, it isn't really a story type, it seems more like a twist on another story type. It is definitely a trope, and an important Who pattern, but not a story type.

[@LucyDay1]

love the editing on this one, great video!

[@Tulf42]

Could some of these categories fit into the topic of categories for a series arc, with Mystery easily fitting in to many story arcs? The Key to Time would be Quest as an easy example. The Flux could be Time Travel Shenanigans and The Saxon Master would be Supervillain dominating the Series 3 arc. Maybe there are specific names for series arc categories in Doctor Who such as Companion arcs like the mysteries of Clara Oswald and Ruby Sunday, or Prophecies like Rose's Return in Series 4, He Will Knock Four Times, and the Eleventh Doctor's death in Series 6/7. I know Harbo might have covered this topic before in some of his previous videos but it is worth exploring at some point.

[@emmiannon1266]

They shouldnt be seen as catagories, instead as labels. this makes much more sense than having to justify pretty much every episode as "hybrid" just add the labels that apply to the episodes they apply to.

[@DoctorW42]

ultimately these observations are more like tropes or common characteristics of episodes than "types" of story. as you mention, many of these crossovers overlap and don't really work as independent categorisations e.g. a doctorlite episode with mystery elements and timey wimey-ness (73 yards). stories with a specific focus on "time travel elements" for example is far too vague; this is a show who's main character literally has a time machine lmao. definitely interesting to breakdown some of the more structural stuff though

[@wiloto]

Loved the video and the editing is top notch!

[@nothingtoreport1918]

I love how much Siivagunner music you used in the intro lmao All joking aside this is a really cool video!!!

[@DuncanEvans-t7q]

To be honest, these 7 could be put to all Who in the last 60(ish) years, although strangely Time Travel Shenanigans (the Moffatt Factor) is lesser used in old skool era. I applied them to the Pertwee era and only 1 had difficulty with was Base Under Siege, although it appears in episodes of his stories.

[@hrh4hthegqrht203]

I think there is only one episode which doesn't have enough in any single category to be categories properly in my opinion. Which is journey to the centre of the Tardis, which has elements of Time Travel Shenanigans, Base Under Siege and Mystery

[@mrafton9457]

I like this sort of video. It is similar to the concept that most films come under one of two types of films. A film like Citizen Caine or The Wizard of Oz.

[@danielcaswell6273]

Mystery and base episodes overlap a lot

[@thekiss2083]

I'd propose an eighth category, "Lore Dump", wherein the episode's events are really more of a vehicle for advancing the overarching story of the series. Moffat loved these: "A Good Man Goes to War", "Hell Bent", "Day of the Doctor", and I'd say "The Timeless Children" qualifies too. They're some of the more memorable episodes in the show, but not because of the actual conflict between the Doctor and the villains.

[@thekiss2083]

You could also call the category "Major Plot Point" if you wanted.

[@VictoriaStewart]

The editing in this is too good 🙌🏼

[@SebTheNoob314]

I’d change Time travel shenanigans to Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey stories

[@oscarsmusiclab7201]

Base under seige is by far my favourite type of doctor who episode l, such great action packed episodes

[@idjles]

Timey-Wimey is the obvious name!

[@olaoluwapowilliams5169]

Just change from “Time Travel Shenanigans” to “timey-wimey”

[@segevstormlord3713]

"Time travel shenanigans" honestly should cover MORE episodes than it does.

[@Glacial7]

"mystery: there is a mystery." well said, harbo

[@stephengray1344]

New Who didn't create the celebrity historical. It goes back all the way to 1964's "Marco Polo". Though that was also in the "pure historical" genre, which is exclusive to the classic series and non-TV stories where the only science fiction element is the presence of the TARDIS crew.

[@nicka3697]

I think you could get 8 by splitting historicals into character and settings there is a lot of difference between Rosa or Vincent and Demons of the Punjab or fires of Pompeii. I was wondering if old who might bring up another option that new who hasn't focused on. Maguffin hunt perhaps.