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Favourite Doctor Who Titles
Tom Tit
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What kind of Doctor Who titles do you like most?
Personally, I think episodes which provide an evocative image or concept that ignites the imagination and a sense of awe are great for Doctor Who. Some of the best examples:
The Sunmakers (the episode doesn't live up to the title at all (it's an economic satire) but seeing that one in a list makes you think 'Wow. I can't wait to get to that one'. Well, it did for me)
The Wheel in Space
The Mythmakers
Tomb of the Cybermen
The Ark in Space
The Caves of Androzani
Delta and the bannermen
Pyramids of Mars
The Celestial Toymaker
I do like striking, enigmatic titles also:
Blink
Midnight
Hide (though should have been 'Hide...')
Rose
(the key here is though is striking. some fans suggest some awful one word titles like 'Lamb' or 'Breached' or 'Cubed'
)
I also like exotic, space odyssey type titles:
Logopolis
Castrovalva
Galaxy 4
The Tenth planet
Frontier in Space
Terminus
Another personal favourite has always been 'Remembrance of the Daleks'. What a wonderful word to use in a title and a quite inspired choice of word for a 'Something of the Daleks' title.
Personally, I think episodes which provide an evocative image or concept that ignites the imagination and a sense of awe are great for Doctor Who. Some of the best examples:
The Sunmakers (the episode doesn't live up to the title at all (it's an economic satire) but seeing that one in a list makes you think 'Wow. I can't wait to get to that one'. Well, it did for me)
The Wheel in Space
The Mythmakers
Tomb of the Cybermen
The Ark in Space
The Caves of Androzani
Delta and the bannermen
Pyramids of Mars
The Celestial Toymaker
I do like striking, enigmatic titles also:
Blink
Midnight
Hide (though should have been 'Hide...')
Rose
(the key here is though is striking. some fans suggest some awful one word titles like 'Lamb' or 'Breached' or 'Cubed'
)I also like exotic, space odyssey type titles:
Logopolis
Castrovalva
Galaxy 4
The Tenth planet
Frontier in Space
Terminus
Another personal favourite has always been 'Remembrance of the Daleks'. What a wonderful word to use in a title and a quite inspired choice of word for a 'Something of the Daleks' title.
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Comments
The Parting of the Ways... Quite an ambiguous title by Doctor Who standards, particularly for a finale.
School Reunion...multiple meanings in this one.
The Idiots Lantern...great concept.
Utopia...the kind of exotic title you really couldn't guess anything about in regards to the episodes content.
The Sound of Drums...I'm not sure why I like this one. It just seemed like a really cool title for a finale, especially before I knew what it was all about.
The Unicorn and the Wasp...before I saw this or knew what it was about my best guess was that it was the name of a pub or something. Awesome and ambiguous.
Midnight...also ambiguous
The Pandorica Opens... Nice and fantasy sounding.
A Christmas Carol...borrowed from my favourite book.
Let's Kill Hitler...I actually think this was a very relevant title. The story starts out with a whimsical comment about killing Hitler before escalating into something so much more, echoing the story of River which starts out here as the tale of a psychopath and finishes with the promise that she will go on to be so much more, that she will be amazing.
I also liked a lot of story titles during the 80's as they kept it simple. Like Meglos, Logopolis, Castrovalva, Kinda, Snakedance, Terminus, Frontios and Survival for example. Sometimes having just that one word as a story title is more intriguing than say The Rescue or The Dalek Invasion Of Earth which is a bit self explanatory.
Top Prize for the worst story title for me is still The Invisible Enemy. Far from being invisible in that story, it was more like a large king sized prawn.....:o
Whilst I agree in principle that self explanatory story titles are rather dull, the pedant in me is compelled to point out that "The Rescue" and "The Dalek Invasion Of Earth" are titles appended to those stories some years after they were shown as most of the Hartnells didn't have story titles at all. As a result, many of the Hartnell story titles that we commonly use today are somewhat dull and basic - The Chase, The Gunfighters, Marco Polo etc etc
In fact DIOE's first episode had the far more intriguing title "World's End" which not only implies the catastrophe that has already befallen the Earth, but is also a neat little nod to the area of Chelsea in which it was set, commonly known as World's End.
Absolutely, wouldn't disagree with you on that point. I suppose when you have to title stories retrospectively the temptation to go for the obvious is at the forefront of your mind. The Time Meddler for example, just sums it up in three words, can't see a better title for that story.
With the episode titles, I do chuckle at the dead giveaway to what's happening next week. The Daleks, for example, has episodes called 'The Escape, The Ambush and The Rescue.' Not many clues there as to what's gonna happen next episode!
oh wait, misread
Ha ha! That's Terry Nation for you!
He was never very good at hiding the surprise was he? (I suspect that David Whitaker came up with "World's End" as it's the only good title within DIOE - and some of the others are utterly nonsensical - "The Waking Ally" for example - what does that have to do with the plot?)
Even later, when Nation only had to think of one overall title, he frequently seemed bereft of inspiration - "Planet of the Daleks" is especially dull, and "The Android Invasion", whilst correct but prosaic, also gives away a massive plot point. The first two episodes make a huge deal of the mysterious villagers and the puzzle of what's actually going on, and this might actually be interesting had the Big Reveal not been utterly blown by the title! Doh!
I'm not sure if I'm right but always thought The Waking Ally was actually The Doctor, who's been out cold for one episode and then wakes up to help the others in their fight against the Daleks. Could be wrong but that's how I've always interpreted it.
I agree about The Android Invasion. I think they should have done with that like they did with Invasion Of the Dinosaurs first episode which was deliberately shortened to Invasion to keep the story's content a secret. (Hence the confusion with the Second Doctor story of the same name and this episode's subsequent accidental junking) That way at least having everyone an Android sort of would have been more of a surprise!
Planet Of The Daleks I find dull all round but that's a topic for another day....
Ah, makes me nostalgic for the pointless thread about one-word titles.
Actually, although that was what was thought to have happened, Richard Molesworth's superb book on the missing episodes Wiped! (now a little out of date) makes it clear that Invasion Of The Dinosaurs was scheduled to be wiped completely, but due to some administrative error only part one was junked. The Invasion was junked at a different time, and there was no confusion between the stories.
Invasion of The (add as required) seemed to spoil it somehow!
Well I thought that was the case. It would be understandable that my original thought on the subject were true, and it does seem odd that particular episode was junked but none of the others........
How did I forget Earthshock in my previous post?! ! !:o
Now that really wasn't a giveaway title. Certainly didn't expect the Cybermen back by that one......
Nobody expects the Cyber-Inquisition!
• Blink
• The Tomb of the Cybermen
• The Daleks (Well, any story that has the word 'Dalek' or 'Daleks' in the title)
• Attack of the Cybermen
• Rise of the Cybermen
• Doomsday
• Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
• Name of the Doctor
These ones have great inticing titles. Titles that make you want to watch them, sort of pull you in, as it were. For me, anyway.
There are so many, that I couldn't possibly list them here. It would be a long post.
Genesis of the Daleks
Snakedance
Yes, and going off the subject of DW, the Beatles 'Yesterday' went under the working title of 'Scrambled Eggs'.
is that true?
Yep. It was just dummy lyrics, like 'Scrambled eggs, oh baby how I love your legs'. Another of their songs from that era had a working title of 'That's a Nice Hat'.
One of my favourite Beatles tracks and I never knew that lol!
Yes, apparently. They even mentioned it on the BBC1 show 'Pointless' last year.
You know, I think my brain instantly rewired and all I am going to hear from now on is that lyric!
I find Planet of the Daleks rather an enjoyable watch. I think the story overall has been well thought up.
It was good of the restoration team to re-colour the third part of the story, and I thank them for that. The only thing I would say about part three is that the picture quality isn't as sharp and clear, like the other five parts. The sound is a bit muffled in places too. Other than that, the rest of the story, as I said above, is enjoyable.
My most favourite scene, is when the Doctor and one of the Thals managed to push one of the Daleks into the swamp. My second favourite bit is when the Doctor and the Thals manage to hang onto several long pieces of rope and go up the shaft, with the Dalek following them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwzkVY7M9i0&feature=player_detailpage#t=395
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MmSCnSZFyzM#t=249
Yes i read it wrong!;-)