Overdue Doctor Who Review: Turn Left

[@willimations277]

“You can’t change the world by shouting at it” “Well I can try” Chills. This is why I love Donna. Also this episode - much like The Ember Island Players - was a very clever and subtle way of recapping basically everything major that had happened in the series thus far for The Stolen Earth

[@rexappleby4731]

What did the woman say to donna before that? I've never been able to figure that out?

[@willimations277]

@@rexappleby4731 Before what?

[@rexappleby4731]

@@willimations277 Before the dialogue you quoted, i remember a woman shouting something unintelligible to donna and her responding angrily before the dialogue you just wrote. I was wondering if you know what the neighbour said?

[@willimations277]

@@rexappleby4731 "Used to be a nice little family in No. 29. They missed one mortgage payment, just one, they got booted out, just for you lot" I think

[@rexappleby4731]

@@willimations277 Thanks!

[@borjankosarac3645]

You don’t bring this up, but the Master still being Professor Yana is subtly hinted as when the Racnoss ship is shot down there’s no mention of Mr Saxon this time. I love that attention to detail so much.

[@jamiestevens3074]

This story is just a great showcase of the RTD era. It’s funny, it’s got silly moments, it’s brilliantly written but there’s so many real and gritty moments and stories with some purely emotional acting. At the time this aired, Catherine Tate was basically only seen as a comedy actress. So seeing her deliver this performance was just a big wake up call to everyone who calls Donna “moody” or “dull” she genuinely gives a performance that’s as good as the 9th doctors or the 10ths and so on. It’s also a great story for the doctor and companion, Donna gets a great time to shine and develop and it reminds viewers how truly important the doctor is. If I had a criticism, it would be that the story is very depressing so it’s not that good for rewatching all the time.

[@jamiestevens3074]

Yeah, but Donna still experiences those scenarios and remembers them (for now)

[@jamiestevens3074]

Revolver Ocelot k

[@PanBelacqua]

Honestly, I think this is the Doctor Who episode I've watched the most.

[@sirlancelet2416]

@@PanBelacquayup, same

[@acetrainer44]

"Chan, I don't trust that fortune teller, tho..."

[@martynstembridge7714]

Turn Left always felt like Season 4's attempt to copy the success of Utopia from the previous series ... Both were episodes that basically gave us 3 part finales, both featured the Doctor realising something important too late, with that EXCITING music kicking in ... and both made you REALLY excited for what was to come ... The RTD era was SO good and making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up ... Gold's score was sooo good, and even if the final episodes were often a bit cheesy, at least they tried to be epic and BIG ... I miss this era SO much.

[@BadWolf739]

Yeah. The thing with RTD's era was that it always felt thought out. Even when he had a crap finale and I'm not a fan of how often a deus ex machina fixed everything but it always felt that like was where the season was always building. Like he'd planned the arc from beginning to end. You can rewatch Series 3 and see Saxon's machinations in the background. Rose and the trickster creature were foreshadowed as early as Pompeii. It just felt complete even when it wasn't perfect. Whereas Moffat's era felt like a game of improve. Like he was making everything up as he went along. It led to some really great moments but so many disappointing finales too. Like the Pandorica Opens, amazing pitch for an episode. The destruction of the Tardis creates a hole in that time is eating the universe. All the Doctor's enemies team up to imprison him before the machine can explode to save the universe from him. Unfortunately as they are doing so the bomb goes off leaving the universe in peril and the Doctor locked in a prison specifically designed to hold him. But Moffat didn't think up an ending to that amazing idea and so we were just left with a hasty wrap up that amounts to "the Doctor fired the box into the explosion and everyone was saved".

[@PhulaTrox]

+BadWolf739 I mean to be fair RTD also kinda deus ex machina'd in Journey's End when the day was saved because "Donna became really really smart" and did things that were never established to be possible and pressed buttons that were never established to do the things they ended up doing. I personally think Moffat was responsible for one of the best villain defeats in New Who history (though I'm only starting to rewatch some episodes after many many years so I may be forgetting better ones) against the Silence in Day of the Moon. It wasn't a climactic end-of-the-finale solution, but it was still up against a season-long and significant villain.

[@BadWolf739]

+PhulaTrox, It is true that RTD did rely on Deus Ex Machinas far too often and personally I felt that Donna's self destruct of the Daleks was about the worst part of Series 4 there is a distinct difference between RTD's deus exes and Moffat's. That's the cost. Yes granted opening the rift and sucking all the daleks and cybermen into the void was an easy solution that fixed the problem in one fell swoop but it came at the cost of Rose. Yes the reversion of time was a cheap way to undo the Master's hold on the world but it came at the price of the Master's death leaving the Doctor completely alone and Martha's departure. Yes manipulating the Crucible control console to blow up the daleks was an easy fix all but it came at the price of Donna's memories. Honestly I'm not fond of any of those moments from the season finales. They all rubbed me the wrong way but I don't count the episodes as failures because they balanced the resolution with a personal cost to the characters that had to be paid. Whereas Moffat's easy solutions are always cost free. The Tardis destroys the universe, the Doctor launches the Pandorica, fixes the universe, fixes Amy's life and they continue on their way. Nothing is lost. The Doctor is murdered by the Silence and hunted across America. The Doctor tricks the Silence into revealing themselves and they are slaughtered by the human race, aside from the fact that genocide is now something to laugh at in triumph it doesn't cost the Doctor anything. Even in cases where there is a cost it is undone almost immediately. The Doctor is being systematically destroyed inside his time stream and only Clara can undo it but if she does she'll be destroyed. Except no she won't, the Doctor can just drag her out and she's completely fine. RTD may have had easy solutions but he always wrote hard consequences to using those easy solutions. Moffat just wrote easy solutions. Sometimes it felt like two kids playing a game of pretend in the backyard. "And then Clara throws all the Tardis keys in the lava stranding them there forever" "but no the Doctor actually hypnosized her into just thinking that's what was going on and they've been inside the Tardis the whole time." "And then they track down the signal of Clara's boyfriend's ghost and it brings them to a funeral home." "And then there's like a time lord lady being all creepy and the place is secretly filled with CYBERMEN!" It just feels so all over the place. RTD wasn't always great but he was consistent. Moffat was just left, right, to the side, up, down. He had some of the best story ideas I've ever seen but he rarely executed them very well. Clearly he worked better with someone working over his shoulder saying "Stephen, your getting self indulgent, reel it in a bit." Cause all his best work happened when he was writing under RTD. He's a great writer but he seriously needs a script doctor.

[@irrevenant3]

@@BadWolf739 Yeah, Moffatt really does play "Take backsies" far, *far* too often.

[@BadWolf739]

@@irrevenant3 Everyone body lives, just once this once everybody lives! Doctor I feel like that doesn't mean a whole lot when no one ever dies.

[@dubbingsync]

“It’s just like last time” subtle move... and once again, Wilf is amazing and we as an audience did not deserve him.

[@dancingman1983]

The Fortune Teller is played by the same actress who was Chantho in Utopia

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Huh, the voice did seem familiar.

[@professordimension7176]

Leon Stiles Chan-what a great touch!-tho

[@ethanethan7967]

I love how Rose acts like the Doctor in this episode, down to his mannerisms and sayings.

[@Gamelover254]

I hear what your saying about the concept of the episode but I love this episode for the characters not the story. Donna, Rose, Wilf and even Silvia are just so well written and are acted beautifully. I can’t tell you how much I relate to Donna that the idea of her being “important” or worth anything makes her laugh.

[@EricaGamet]

Same. What gets me is the depth of the characters and how they act. Also, that Donna stays relatively strong throughout while a lot of others give up. I think this shows that Donna's greatness and strength doesn't come from her proximity to The Doctor...but deep within her. Her keeping a decent attitude in the house when her mother was complaining and despairing just shows me how strong she is.

[@rowanc88]

12:07 - I'd love the Trickster to encounter the Black Guardian, who would then beat the crap out of him for stealing his gimmick.

[@Ben-vf5gk]

"Life without the Doctor is endless voyage of misery and pain!!!"

[@TheDragonHistorian]

One great attention to detail in this episode is that the Master never becomes Prime Minister because he would not have been able to steal the Doctor's TARDIS or even come back from being Yana

[@BadWolf739]

Which is why none of the threats of Series 3 had to be dealt with as the Master initiated all of them. Like Dr. Lazarus.

[@corbinvickers9993]

After this episode aired the next edition of Doctor who Magazine had “ bad wolf” at the top instead of “Doctor who Magazine “

[@roguemeteorite6778]

Really? Well, that's dedication to the show!

[@SweenyTodd98]

No it's not original, this sort of story has been around since 1946 with It's A Wonderful Life. However it's still a great version of this type of story/trope and does it's own thing with the basic concept.

[@BadWolf739]

I mean he brought up Buffy's the Wish as a comparison which personally I don't think could be a higher compliment as I think the Wish is the perfect example of the "change one thing and the world goes to hell" alternate universe trope.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Does it do it's own thing though? Sure the specifics are all Doctor Who, but it's the same "change one thing, world sucks, personal sacrifice to fix it" template these things always use. I think that's my bigger issue. Not that the core idea has been done before, but the fact that idea seems to basically predetermine the overall trajectory of the story.

[@patrickt.6492]

@@CouncilofGeeks On a philosophical level, "butterfly effect" episodes ask the question of whether things are meant to be or if there is no fate or destiny, just stuff happening. If Buffy's destiny is to be in Sunnydale, it makes sense that the world goes to hell when she doesn't go there. I like Turn Left, but I'll rewatch it with your thoughts in mind.

[@justkerowen3191]

This is actually on record as my favourite NuWho episode. Not because I believe it's at all original, since as you say, it isn't. But there are two things at play here for me. One, I love all the callbacks. RTD was quite thorough in accounting for everything and I really appreciate that. Also, I accept your headcanon of Alonso containing the Titanic damage. Two, as someone who's had seemingly insignificant decisions like picking one CD over another or deciding to check out somebody's social media have profound impacts on my life, I kind of relate to butterfly effect stories. I will grant that the bug was disappointingly cheesy and fake-looking. Given the state of CGI when this was made, there's no reason they couldn't have come up with something closer to that which you describe. But that doesn't sink the episode for me, since Catherine's powerful and oh-so-relatable performance as Donna was more than enough to make up for it.

[@SomeRandomGuy908]

This is my favourite Davies written episode. Top 5 of new Who. People don’t say it’s original. It’s just written from start to finish amazingly. The concentration camps, Wilf, Donna “failing” her family. Everything

[@jackybluj]

I love Turn Left. Catherine Tate has great chemistry with everyone she plays opposite of. It's a Doctor-lite episode I enjoy almost as much as Blink. Yes the Titanic taking out London instead of the world bothered me. Too contrived. It took me out of the episode. The labor camps confused me a long time. Not because I didn't know what Wilf meant but because I couldn't believe they DID mean it. I watched the episode earlier this past weekend and was horrified. England for the English. The oceans were closed along with France, Germany and the rest of Europe apparently. Where do the immigrants go? Camps. Sounds a bit familiar. Too familiar. It's also timely. This is an awesome episode.

[@tylerowens]

I think it would be really interesting to have a butterfly effect story where everything really does get fantastically better. And the main character could totally choose to stay in this better version of reality, but we're working on the forking timetravel model where them staying would leave their original timeline doomed. So they have to struggle with staying in their utopia with facsimiles of their loved ones or going back and fighting through hell with the actual loved ones. I've seen some shows do things similar to this, but they haven't really ever fully committed to it. Either the protagonist can't stay in the other timeline for some reason, or there's actually a sinister secret hiding in the utopia or something. There's always something that keeps it from really being a choice to go back to the original timeline.

[@roguemeteorite6778]

That would be a really interesting idea for a show to do. The hero having to directly sacrifice their own happiness by leaving a timeline where they are happy and wanted but not needed and returning to their own timeline, where they are definitely needed but will have to constantly struggle and maybe being just generally unwanted by people there. Particularly if dead or lost loved ones were still around in the utopian alternate timeline. That would be an incredibly powerful and selfless sacrifice. (If you're wondered why I was thinking they wouldn't have close friends in the original timeline and be and/or feel unwanted - I thought that would make their sacrifice in returning truly selfless because they wouldn't come back for any one person but just to help people as a whole).

[@XNicki13]

I think my biggest nit pick from this episode is the Titanic. The crashing of the Titanic was supposed to destroy the world, but in this episode it just destroys like London. Other than that, from what I remember I enjoyed the episode. I think that a big reason I like this episode is, how much I connect with Donna and how she sees herself. Edit: I like your take. Allonsy Alanso :D

[@WSDigitalArtwork]

Thank you that has always bothered me so much

[@MovieMagic515]

@@WSDigitalArtwork Agreed

[@melancholymelon5316]

I just realized the master would never had been there because the doctor never went to the end of the universe

[@emilyangel13]

Should have called the video "Left Turn" but I am a spiteful beach

[@NitroIndigo]

Has anyone written a fanfic about the "Turn Left" version of "Smith and Jones"? Also, who took Jack to Sontar? All the Sontarans on that ship were dead.

[@jamiestevens3074]

I haven’t written a fanfic about that specific thing but before ‘It takes you away’ aired I had used the time beetle from turn left to explore Graham’s mind now that grace is gone and I made him struggle and he started to blame the doctor and so on.

[@NitroIndigo]

@@jamiestevens3074 Please can you give me a link?

[@nightowl8477]

He was teleported at the last moment, I think Rose said. Though I'm not sure how she knows.

[@NitroIndigo]

@@nightowl8477 Okay.

[@justlurkingat8]

I was recently re-watching the series and it struck me how impactful and iconic this run of episodes is- starting from silence in the library and ending in the season finale. Find me another run in modern who that was this impactful, moving, full of twists...

[@martynstembridge7714]

I'll raise you - Human Nature, Family of Blood, Blink, Utopia ... I still think those four episodes back to back are the best run since the show returned.

[@Imabassplayer2]

It is a what if story, and also actually changing what happened. A parallel universe was created around her which was very close to replacing our current reality. I love this story it has everything RTD dose best. Funny, stupid, daft. Along side sadness, hard hitting reality check, real moments in real life. Not to mention the fantastic writing acting and a reminder the Doctor is very important. We take him fore-granted he will save the day easy. But seeing a world without him we see the serious impact loosing him would be. Plus it's a brilliant setup for the finale and a look at how important Donna is to become. Side note love The Sarah Jane Adventures nod with the Doctor mentioning The Trickster. I understand your views and I share some of them they just don't bug me. This type of story has been around since the 40s I think. RDT put a butterfly storyline into Who and balances everything he needs to superbly. It sets up the finale in a big way knowing it's his last series finale.

[@DsRelaxingSounds]

I love how Rose has become so much like the Doctor in this episode. The way she seems mysterious and all-knowing, her having the technical know-how to built a time machine, the way she speaks. She even says 'I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry', which is exactly what the Tenth Doctor always said. She has basically taken over his role for the episode. Her and Donna literally saved the world, both were equally essential. People don't give Rose enough credit for how awesome she became, and instead always choose to remember her sobbing on Bad Wolf's Bay. Look at the way she grew. And of course Catherine Tate gives an insanely good performance here, that really shows the emotional depth and range she has as an actress. I knew she was good but here, she blew me away.

[@thanedynamo8434]

Totally agree on the bug, and love that you refer to Lovecraft! Given the way it functions and the fact that it’s part of an extraterrestrial group, you’d expect it to look freakish and, well, Lovecraftian. To just make it look like a stag beetle is a majorly missed creative opportunity. I love this episode, but the beetle is one of its very few weak points design-wise.

[@BadWolf739]

The Trickster from Sarah Jane Adventures was kind of terrifying. It was this emaciated figure draped in a black robe with no eyes, just flesh pulled tight over its sockets and jagged teeth. The beetle is supposed to be one of his lot but Doctor Who's kids show equivalent did the terrifying visage of a time eater way better than DW itself.

[@strongraycool44d51]

My personal ranking of pre season finales 1) Day of The doctor 2) Utopia 3) Turn Left 4) Heaven Sent

[@BadWolf739]

I don't think Day of the Doctor is as good as people give it credit for. It's a huge spectacle sure but beyond the amazing set pieces and the hype of having three Doctors bouncing off each other the story doesn't have as much substance as it should for the topic it was covering.

[@strongraycool44d51]

BadWolf739 personally, considering the resources Moffat had, he did a great job. It was a good special and lets be real, Gallifrey had to come back eventually. So I do think it is a fantastic episode.

[@BadWolf739]

​@@strongraycool44d51 Yeah Gallifrey had to return at some point... it didn't have to return that badly though. That conclusion felt so arrogant. It felt like Moffat was annoyed that RTD had set the universe up in a way that didn't allow him to play with all of the classic series toys or that RTD had made the Doctor not the ultimate hero who can never fail. The result was that he brought them back in a way that completely spat on everything the show had set up to that point. The first four seasons and 10's specials, the ones that are most consistently good are pretty much ruined by the fact that the Time Lords have retroactively always been around. Any emotional beats tied to the sacrifice the Doctor made are null and void and any story beats related to the disruption of space time shouldn't even be possible cause the Time Lords are supposed to deal with that. Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, shouldn't have happened. Doctor's Wife, doesn't mean anything. Even the very story that Nathaniel just reviewed shouldn't have happened, creatures like the time beetle used to be dealt with by the Time Lords. It's kind of the problem when fans of a show become the lead writers of it. The idealised version of their favourite characters from when they were kids becomes all they can see and they aren't willing to allow what are basically their childhood heroes to fail. In an interview Moffat said "He's the Doctor, of course he couldn't actually have done it" Cause Moffat can't envision the Doctor of his childhood being a flawed character the flaws that make him interesting are minimised as much as possible and the story suffers for it. Look at the conflict of the Last Great Time War, two temporal superpowers fighting it out across time and space. No victory ever certain because the other side can go back to rewrite it. Every battle fought over and over again in an endless loop. That cycle engulfing the known universe. That is true hell. With that raging in the background the Doctor has to make a choice. He has fought this battle for potentially hundreds of years and realised that there is not solution. This war will never end unless the participants are destroyed. So he steals the last great Gallifreyan superweapon, the Moment with the intent to wipe out both Daleks and Time Lords and lock the sequence in time so it can never be undone. That is an amazing set stage for a story. The problem is it has only two outcomes. The Doctor uses the Moment and ends the war in genocide or he doesn't and the war continues to rage. There is no other options. Yet Moffat won't consider an outcome where the Doctor does the wrong thing. What's the result, he kneecaps the Last Great Time War in order to create a solution were everyone lives happily ever after. "Everybody lives!" In Series 2 the Doctor talks about the Fall of Arcadia. Before Day of the Doctor everyone assumed Arcadia was a planet. Cause the Time War was massive. It spanned galaxies. Listen to some of the Big Finish Time War stuff. That event was the thing of nightmares. But in order to give it a happy ending Moffat scaled it down to a conflict between one fleet and one planet. He takes the planet out of the equation and the fleet destroys itself. Time War over. Like there weren't any other Daleks but that one fleet? No more Time Lords that were off world? The problem with this ending is that it's easy. Too easy. There is no reason why this option couldn't have been implemented by literally anyone. The Time Lords used forbidden superweapons from their ancient days. The High Council was willing to rip reality apart to win the war. The Doctor came up with species wide genocide as a solution. They came up with all of that before "let's hide the planet in a pocket dimension". And given that time travel is pretty readily available they didn't even need the Doctor to do all the calculations. The ending was a cope out. The really sad thing was, it didn't have to be. There was an easy solution to the entire problem that would have only required rewriting the last fifteen minutes of the special. The Bad Wolf entity brings 10 and 11 to talk the War Doctor out of using the Moment. They come to the conclusion that there is no other options. They destroy the Time Lords and Daleks or the entire universe burns. But recalling what Donna said in Fires of Pompeii about not saving everyone, just saving someone 10 decides that with the time lock temporarily open he and 11 can still salvage their culture. They use their Tardises to evacuate a time lord bomb shelter of a couple hundred people while the War Doctor fends off oncoming Dalek and Time Lord attacks. Once he's bought all the time he can the War Doctor activates the Moment committing the crime that would define 9, 10 and 11. 10 and 11 take the refugees to a planet with a similar ego system to Gallifrey and give them enough technology from the Tardis to begin to rebuild. 10 asks 11 if he remembers this from back when he was 10. When 11 says he doesn't 10 nods and says he'll take care of it. The two leave Clara to take care of the refugees and promise to be back soon. 11 goes to visit River Song in the library computer and 10 using temporal coordinates he stole from a Gallifreyan terminal during the evacuation goes to find his granddaughter Susan. The two pairs commiserate over what the Doctors had just been through. Back in his Tardis 10 wipes his memory of the adventure to preserve the timeline. 11 returns to New Gallifrey. The survivors thank the Doctor, they tell him he's a war hero but he's also committed war crimes. As such he is not welcome on New Gallifrey anymore. If they ever have need of him he will be recalled but until then if he returns he will be executed. 11 departs. Back on the original Gallifrey the War Doctor collapses next to his Tardis, bloodied from the effort of using the Moment. Bad Wolf stands over him in judgement, angry at the destruction. She sentences him to remember only the carnage of his actions and not the sliver of hope that his future selves brought and then she wipes his mind of the memories of 10 and 11 saving the Gallifreyans. He stumbles into his Tardis and regenerates. The End. It's bittersweet but mechanically it achieves the same thing as the original. They can just say the next time the Time Lords appear it has been several thousand years and they've rebuilt. It is much more satisfying than "the Doctor waves his sonic screwdriver and saves the day" which is basically what the conclusion of the original was but we got archive footage of all the Doctors waving their magic wands to fix the problem. Plus it doesn't shit on the emotional core of Series 1-4 and an important plot point of Series 5-6.

[@robo3007]

Heaven Sent is too low! This would be my ranking :) 1. Heaven Sent 2. Utopia 3. It Takes You Away 4. The Waters of Mars 5. Turn Left

[@strongraycool44d51]

BadWolf739 it makes more sense the way it was done because it also explains the crack in the universe. But your idea is good despite Gallifrey not returning. But the crack will just have ended up being another loose end. And how would have 11 regenerated. All the stuff on Trenzalore would have never happened. If it happened your way the whole of season 5 + 6 would have to be rewritten

[@stevesm4]

It's been mentioned before but the actor who plays the Italian dad in this episode is the same guy who plays The Pope in Extremis. Another alternative reality scene-setter for an epic two-parter.

[@deebeedaydreamer]

Bad looking giant insects not moving like they're supposed to is pretty much a running thing throughout the show.

[@nicholasdalli6303]

I just realized whenever your intro with the whirring drone of the sonic screwdriver pops up I smirk like a goof.

[@ghoulage]

I love this ep a lot. I remember being 11 when I first watched it and the pure excitement when the Doctor questions Donna on who the woman is and Donna saying bad wolf!! Always so exciting!!!! But yeah I wish the bug on Donna's back was done better but everything else about this episode is so interesting and fascinating to me that I'm not so fussed. Seeing what happens when the Doctor isn't around, seeing why he's so important and what damage could be done if he's not there, and seeing that although Torchwood and Sarah Jane are around, they can still fail, is really interesting to me and I'm happy it was done in one episode as a what if. fun episode that also makes me cry because there are so many topics within it that are deeply sad!

[@wreckitremy]

I was glad of that scene with wilf. I saw it on tv once and they cut it out. I was very angry they cut it because my conservative grandmother was watching it with me and I wanted her to see that part.

[@melancholymelon5316]

The next time trailer in this episode was amazing

[@Schming]

Bernard Cribbins is amazing in this story.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

He's amazing in everything.

[@RamBread]

The labour camps thing was crazy

[@DiceFTW273]

Man, I really need a drink after that opening because, you were so salty! XD

[@dm613]

Speaking of Rose, I found it interesting how she couldn't (or wouldn't) get Donna to the place she needed to be in order to stop things without killing herself. Yet... Rose managed to get exactly to Donna as she lay dying and in pain to give her a message to take to the Doctor. No sympathy, no comfort, just "Tell the Doctor 'Bad Wolf.' "Makes me wonder what her motivations were. And I disagree a bit about "chemistry" between Rose and Donna. It felt like a set-up. The take-away I got from this is how important Donna and her compassion/empathy was to the Doctor.

[@NicoleM_radiantbaby]

Rose's motivations are always just selfish ones to get her back to the Doctor. And she's consistently shown that she'd throw anyone under the bus to do so, so I was not surprised about the lack of sympathy and comfort with Donna. :(

[@johna5635]

Anyone who loves "Turn Left" that hasn't yet watched RTD's "Years & Years" really should do as soon as possible!

[@EricaGamet]

I was thinking this same thing...though I only made it through the first episode...it seemed to hit too close to home (I'm in the US and, well...). I am going to gather my strength and watch the second episode this weekend. It was so good, but hard to watch.

[@johna5635]

@@EricaGamet Definitely worth persevering... it does get quite intense at times but it's seriously the best show I've watched in the last year.

[@Convoy16]

After you brought it up, I find myself agreeing with you on that the Trickster bug should've been more alien at least. I'm personally creeped out by it because it's a giant bug, but for people who aren't afraid of bugs, I'm pretty sure they'd probably be like you and be not very scared by it at all. Now I feel like it should've been more alien in structure, like maybe it's a different color or maybe it has tentacles or something to make it read as alien as opposed to an Earth bug that someone embiggened. I also feel like it would've benefited from what the Midnight Creature got, and we never see it in full. If they didn't do that with the Midnight Creature, or had that episode take place long before this one so it doesn't feel like a complete retread in regards to how the monster's treated, I feel like this episode's monster would've been a lot more effective for those of us who aren't super into bugs.

[@thomaskirkness-little5809]

I keep calling it "Turn Right". Does that mean I'm from another dimension? That would explain some inconsistencies and the reduced popularity of goat's beards.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

You're from the Bearenstein universe aren't you?

[@dthompson1450]

It’s clear that this is a “Bottle Episode” to save money and production time for the coming finale, with Tennant freed up to work on the finale by being absent in this. They did a similar thing with “Blink”. Like the Weeping Angels, but even more so, the time beetle is incredibly cheap, almost sarcastically so, and it doesn’t matter because of the writing. In some ways these episodes call back to Classic Who, when it had hardly any budget, props and monsters were ludicrously naff, and the episodes lived or died on the quality of the writing. But I love this episode, and I think Bottle Episodes can act as a useful re-calibration to bring focus back to writing rather than special effects and other big budget distractions. A low budget episode with good writing can be spectacular, whereas no amount of budget can compensate for bad writing. I’d take one cheap “Blink” or “Turn Left” over an entire high budget Chibnall series any day. Donna and Wilf are spectacular, and the scene with the Italian family and the trucks will never leave me. It might be that being British it hits “close to home”; the sight of people being rounded up on ordinary British streets and taken away to camps is deeply horrifying, and translated to the audience through Donna’s bewildered fury (the shock of a younger person who never believed it could happen “here”) and Wilf’s flashback response putting it into a historic context; that his generation have seen this before. The performances, and the focus on the characters in this moment, as well as the extremely “real world” context make this, for me, the darkest moment ever visited in Doctor Who. Usually terrible things are sufficiently far removed and “fantastical” that they don’t have this impact.

[@BadWolf739]

I'd say Day of the Doctor is a great example of the high budget spectacle trying to compensate for nothing writing.

[@irrevenant3]

The sad thing is that it would be more effective *and* cheaper to just never let you actually have a look at the thing.

[@theaquinnwrites]

Well, I've seen this idea done before, but it's one of my favorite tropes - when done well at least - and here I just think it works spectacularly.

[@Yan_Alkovic]

4:33 Dude, that's basically my attitude towards Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese in a nutshell! Very brilliantly put! Talking about the episode itself, personally, I can't take this level of depressing. Yes, it's very realistic (or seems like it) and rings very true, but this episode was so gut-wrenchingly sad that I simply could _not_ ever re-watch it. But glad to see that others can enjoy it nonetheless!

[@immoralq]

I know exactly what you mean about having seen it before. It's like there's always one (or sometimes two or three!) episodes in any sci-fi series where a character wakes up and they're not sure if what they're experiencing is reality, or all in their head. Is this the real world, or am I trapped in my own mind? How do I tell? How can I be sure? And that's a good concept and, with good writing, it can be a compelling watch, but after you've watched five or six episodes like that, you just get to the point where you're like: "This? Again?" Or that one where everyone wakes up and they've lost their memories (the episode is usually called Tabula Rasa, too) and they have to work backwards and figure out what's going on. Those are also fun, but again - when you've already watched five or more of them, you just kinda don't pay attention. The bug on the back thing reminds of the Drakh keeper from B5. Hey, there's another trope! You should just do a video on commonly used tropes in sci-fi - I bet you can come up with a lot more!

[@lucyinchat]

My favorite of the "everything is different now" stories.

[@Omnimegas]

man.... every time I think about that scene near the end with Donna screaming her heart out begging Rose to tell her what to do and *spiting* her for "making her feel special" is something that tugs HARD on my heartstrings in a major way every time I THINK about it, even to this day probably one of Catherine Tate's best performed scenes, easily

[@magus104]

And here I thought the incredible amazing slitheen were the main reccuring villain in Sarah jane

[@LokiEris]

So... This story wasn't even the Trickster's plan to get rid of The Doctor, but Sarah Jane then, and getting rid of The Doctor was an easy way to do it?

[@ilovecatweazle]

What if you hadn't of uploaded that last review........nothing........we'd still love you!

[@JessicaDuane]

Turn Left was the first Doctor Who story I ever saw. I got scared by the bug and didn't watch it for years after that. So it always has a special place in my heart, in a weird way.

[@jonathan.palfrey]

I sympathize with your point of view on this. I like alternative-history stories; but I like them to be quaint and interesting, not depressing. The way this goes, it's too much like another Nazi-victory saga, of which there have been plenty. Of course, a world without the Doctor has to be depressing, and I can see that it's a valid exercise to do, but it's not the kind of thing I love watching.

[@stevemc81]

You should give Eureka a try if you haven't seen it, they have an alternative approach to the butterfly effect episode (they do it a few times, but Founders Day is especially good)

[@lucypreece7581]

I am kind of i dunno how i feel with this episode. like its intriguing but i am not like in love with it. like you i like how they show the events where aliens have been on earth but alter the outcome of them slightly because of the Doctor not being around and also like referencing the other shows and earth based teams like Sarah Jane Smith and her son and at that point Clyde and Maria and that the Torchwood Team of Jack, Ianto and Gwen which again like you said before set up for the next episodes where we see them all working together. I do Love Catherine Tate in this episode. like the hopelessness and the defeat but also that small glimmer of hope. like for a woman who is known for comedy and being a comedic actress this episode really shows her range as an actress. and when you said you like how she gets insulted when people call her special you really get that in this episode. when she has that rant to Rose and goes "I'm nothing" and then Rose responds with "Donna Noble you're the most important woman in the whole of creation" i like that. over all its good but like you just something disjointed in it for me where i can't love it as much as others

[@TheMarcHicks]

Really love this story, Donna & Wilf really sell it!!!

[@tonyjohansson7567]

I totally agree with you. Very good acting, and very well thougt out. But you know the outcome when starting to watch the episode. This is Roses best performance, she needed doctor Donna to shine.

[@tcshack701]

Turn Left: Is the Cliffnotes version season 3.

[@legotheon]

Where'd you get that tenth doctor outfit? :o

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Amazon.

[@BadWolf739]

I feel like it was a missed opportunity to not having a beetle's antenna appearing and disappearing over your shoulder.

[@Haley123ful]

Love this episode and your reviews. You should eventually do an Overdue review of the Torchwood series. Season 1 had a rough start but after Countrycide it started getting better. Season 3 was amazing (and really depressing and horrifying).

[@Haley123ful]

Turner Marius the plot line with kids was Season 3. The plot line of Jack losing his immortality was Season 4, the last season. Season 4 isn’t necessarily a bad season, but it does have some major flaws (Jack losing his immortality was a huge flaw), and it’s a completely different season with tone, filming, and writing thanks to the season being heavily Americanized. It definitely doesn’t *feel* like Torchwood, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad.

[@frankrappa4765]

Any Doctor Who episode that features Catherine Tate/Donna Noble and David Tennant/The 10th Doctor is amazing. I just love them together. They aren't just fantastic in Doctor Who, but also in Comic Relief when Catherine was Lauren Cooper and David was her English teacher lol. Nan and The Ghost of Christmas Present. I even saw Much Ado About Nothing on KZbin. Fantastic! Shakespeare's Hamlet just starred David Tennant not Catherine Tate but I saw that too. He is just an amazing performer. I love him!

[@Lahey3]

This is my favourite episode of all time.

[@GDS_Studios]

You mentioned Cloverfield, please do a cloverfield review, I frickin’ love that film

[@patrickt.6492]

10 Cloverfield Lane was also good, but for different reasons.

[@impossiblesoul]

This was such a good episode. Great context to the next 2 episodes

[@jvblhc]

For me, Season Four was the strongest season of New Who. There wasn't an episode I didn't like, and we even got to see Rose, Martha, Captain Jack and Sarah Jane again. Turn Left was a solid entry to the series.

[@robvegas9354]

Agreed!

[@HolyCrapItsRBA]

I’m one of the people that really like this episode. It was actually my first episode of Doctor Who and I didn’t even know it at the time. I just remember flipping through channels late at night and the first thing I saw was something about fat attacking people and the titanic falling from the sky. Just thought “that’s some weird shit.” Then several years later I started watching from #9 and then when I got to the middle of Turn Left, it hit me that I had seen this before.

[@rqneo5361]

Anyone else feel like this episode had some of the best ever acting in Dr who?

[@DawnyAussie]

This is an interesting case study. From an abstract point of view, it could be seen that this episode proves to us just how meaningless and devoid of meaning Donna's life was before meeting the Doctor. That could be why a lot of the events just happen in the background without much interaction from Donna. It highlights why the Doctor is (was) so special to her. He makes her a better person, and this episode makes that reason painfully (in every sense) clear.

[@CulturePhilter]

Have you seen Russel T Davies’ ‘Years and Years’? There a lot of the feel of Turn Left in it.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I have not. I'm not sure I'm up for being that depressed.

[@MovieMagic515]

Love it!

[@scaper8]

I never thought about the fact that we shouldn't be able to really see that bug thing. I agreed that it was underwhelming, but it never bothered me. Now hearing you're Lovecraftian idea for it, I _am_ truly bothered. It could have been so much better!

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

One thing that bugged me a little about this episode is the way the bug itself seems to work -- as far as I remember we seem to get a pretty clear transition at the beginning to show that this is what *our* Donna is experiencing. So if the version of Donna in this episode dies, then who wakes up at the end? If the version of Donna in this episode is actually not the same, then where did she come from, for our Donna to experience what she did?

[@tatterdemalion3667]

The bug on Donna's back is a nice visual call-back to that moment in 'Planet of the Spiders' with Sarah-Jane. Also, the grim, authoritarian turn the UK takes post Titanic disaster has some subtle nods to 1984's nuclear drama 'Threads' & is, of course, in no way an amazingly prophetic foreshadowing of post-Brexit Britian 😉

[@rich0373]

Wasn't a huge fan of the insect on the back, looked a little cheap in places. Only bug-bear (if you pardon the pun 😂)

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I do not pardon that pun. You go in the corner and htink about what you've done.

[@1065chris]

In this timeline, season 3 and 4 didn’t happen so wouldn’t the Daleks be running New York and wouldn’t Rome be ruled by Lava Monsters?

[@itsallrigged7295]

The second half of season 4 is the best, everything from the library to the end is just gold

[@lwaves]

Library To The End might make a good episode title. No idea on the plot though.

[@trollloool1307]

have you considered doing an overdue review of buffy when you have finished your overdue reviews for doctor who

[@lwaves]

I'm currently rewatching Buffy over the summer TV lull. Nearly done with season 5 so an overdue Buffy series would be great. Fingers crossed but he still has a long way to go yet.

[@trollloool1307]

lwaves season 5 is so good but fave is definitely season 6

[@lwaves]

@@trollloool1307 Season 3 will always be my fave but 5 is decent (better than 4) and I have a soft spot for 6 with it's focus on Willow.

[@pious83]

@@lwaves It is sad to rewatch Buffy. As it really hammers home that the season 5 finale is definitely where it _should_ have ended. Being a fan of villains, they never really did better than The Mayor and Glory.

[@lwaves]

@pious83 The thing is with Buffy (and other shows from that era), that even when the overall season could be weaker, they still have some great/fantastic stand out episodes. I mean, as much as season 4 gave us Beer Bad, it also gave us Hush, one of the best episodes. I agree though, they definitely didn't top the Mayor, who to me is one of the best villains ever on TV. Glory was great too.

[@leslieshafer6343]

In my opinion this story raises the Butterfly Effect to a whole new level for the reasons you put forth about how well thought out it was. I didn't think there was anything wrong with the monster looking like a big bug until I heard how you thought the creature should be approached - that would have been cool. And one final thought, hasn't just about everyone had a time in their life where they really should have chosen to turn left?

[@sbi168]

I love the episode but yeah it's clear the BBC ran out of money for a proper monster! Your suggestions nail what it should be. But doctor who always ends up showing the monster that I'm aware of......

[@AprilPvd]

I get what you are saying. Like with It's a Wonderful Life. Why didn't they show what would have happened to George if he had gotten to travel instead of helping the town and being Mary's bitch. But I loved this episode because of Wilifred and Donna's mother.

[@PatrickSpelman]

I've never seen people praise this for it's super original concept, because it doesn't have one, I think it's mostly around the absolutely brilliant acting displayed by Catherine Tate and basically everyone else in the episode, not to mention the political side of it (something which RTD has recently revisited in Years and Years) where people in western society are displaced, I adore it, and I'm also a big fan of what if... stories, they can be quite fun.

[@Kasino80]

This episode is my daughter's favorite episode She watches it almost everyday when she gets home from school.

[@Ben-vf5gk]

I think I agree with you on this. I respect it and what its doing and the labour camps thing really sticks with me now but I don't love it.

[@frankrappa4765]

When I think of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the main villain I think of are the Slitheen. It's been a long time since I've seen the series. I hope it's on Netflix someday.

[@jonsnor4313]

Good episode, and unlike her later reappearence, she is great in being a mystery to donna. The bug could have been more uncanny withthe doctor talking about his invisible tentacles, but i guess davis didnt want it to steal the show.

[@TK_Brainslug]

I can't remember that episode. but when I'm listening to you explaining I kinda think of a Black Mirror episode

[@ErinTheFennec]

We're getting a Big Finish Donna Noble spin off next year, could be interesting to see how they handle the dynamic of Donna without the Doctor.

[@nymbutnotnymble3380]

Can I just bring up how the Doctor dying to the Racnoss meant that he never went back to Pompeii with Donna, so apparently the volcano never went off and the Pyroville were technically never defeated?

[@borjankosarac3645]

I just assume the Trickster fixed things so there would be no paradoxes - he explained as much to Sarah Jane in their first encounter, about needing the meteor specifically because unlike the alien invasions it was senseless chaos.

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

Excellent point, a quick fix could be that since 7 and Mel were in Pompeii at the time they were the ones who dealt with them. Reason number 165 why Big Finish should be considered canon.

[@NitroIndigo]

Pompeii was a fixed point in time.

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

A major plot hole that kills the story for me is the fact it claims everything in the runaway bride still occurred without Donna. The Doctor ending up at HC Clements, finding out the Pilot fish are involved, learning about the particals, knowing the Racnoss children are what is at the centre of the Earth the Racnoss advancing her plan to occur Christmas Eve and getting the remote to blow up the basement and flood it all happened because of Donna, the wedding still needed to happen. It's like the two Doctors problem with troughton being a timelord agent. If this story ever gets a novel adaptation it would be a good idea to have a sub plot or prologue explaining how the Doctor ended up involved with the Racnoss in this timeline.

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

FYI, I am aware of season 6B and Worldgame, that's what saves Two Doctors from being dead before the story even starts.

[@Deathlygunn]

Surely the explanation would be that the Empress of the Racnoss just got Lance to take advantage of another employee instead of Donna, and then The Doctor met that employee and events played out relatively similar with him investigating the threat.

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

Maybe, but everything had to turn out the same way for the Doctor to end up in that position is very unlikely, especially given the time frame for Donna's replacement would be shorter.

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

Remember the marriage was her idea and Lance was completely against it only accepting to not break his cover. Without the wedding the Doctor would have just been floating in space sulking about rose. Suggesting someone took Donna's place but the only thing they didn't do was tell him to get a grip when killing the Racnoss children is just lazy writing.

[@borjankosarac3645]

Remember the TARDIS always takes the Doctor where, and when, s/he needs to be. My guess is that she knew time was just WRONG, and that the Doctor would die when he went there... but it would be needed to lead to events for Rose to help Donna fix it.

[@ghlmk5931]

I like this episode but that cheesy mechanical cockroach was a complete turn off. It just looked so dumb. Not to mention I'm deathly afraid of cockroaches 😳. But other than that, great ep.

[@Adventuregirl1985]

I feel so stupid for asking this, but what is the modern reference your using when you bring up the labor camps?

[@lucifersdevilishdetails.]

As they mentioned it the time bug was part of the tricker and as i watched Sarah Jane aventures he can manipulate time line to make them work this can be seen in “Whatever happen to Sarah Jane Smith.”

[@jackjordan5833]

This episode does take the classic butterfly effect story, which can be tiresome sometimes, but that’s what doctor who does how it takes different genres like detective or horror or comedy and adapts them. Say what you want about the butterfly effect esc stories, this is the best I’ve ever seen that kinda story executed.

[@kirstyshadowdancer5095]

I agree with this. Also GLOMER IS STILL PERVING ON HARLIQUIN. please move one of them. It's awkward.

[@jackaylward-williams9064]

You should watch Years And Years if you haven’t already. It’s another one of Davies’ shows and he basically stretches this episode into a 6 part miniseries.

[@WiloPolis03]

Wow I can't believe you said left turn at 6:76. I am unsubbing and ripping all of my Council of Geeks t-shirts in half.

[@kirstyshadowdancer5095]

Btw. Every time I hear that title I think of the books and tv series "Halfway Across the Galaxy and turn Left". I read and watched it early 90s. Please look up.

[@Companion92]

One of the really good ones. Series 4 had many of these

[@chancehouston2897]

I may not like 10 or his era as a whole, but season 4 and this episode in general( Turn Left is like in my top five episodes of NuWho even though I used to hate it for reasons I don’t know why) is spectacular and is my favorite season.

[@roxxychik06]

I sometimes just like to watch the two part finally of series 4 but I cant help but always start at this one. But this episode is so sad in some ways

[@Ryanthedoctor11]

personally I love the episode, however there is one huge plot hole that really bugs me, if Donna had turned Right then the Doctor wouldn't have been there during the Racnoss (I think that's how you spell that) thing, meaning he still would have survived, meaning the world would have been pretty much the same and Unit would have taken care of the Racnoss and the only change would have been that Donna never met the Doctor, which would have had historical problems, but the world wouldn't have changed as much as it did

[@irrevenant3]

The Racnoss Queen saturated the office temp (Donna) with Huon particles as part of her plan. The Huon particles interacted with the TARDIS, causing Donna to teleport into the TARDIS control room and adventures ensued. In the alternate reality where Donna had never taken that job, the Racnoss Queen would presumably have followed the exact same plan. So whoever ended up in that job would still have been saturated with Huon particles, they would've still have been teleported into the TARDIS and the adventure would've proceeded much the same (though probably with less yelling). That person apparently wasn't inclined to try to save the Doctor after he blew up the Racnoss lair.

[@shmee123ful]

have to agree, the time bug needed more work