Geeky Regards

"Revolution of the Daleks" was my most anticipated episode of the Chris Chibnall/Jodie Whittaker era since their debut episode. It was sold as having Daleks, Captain Jack Harkness, and connective tissue to previous episodes. What's not to love? Well, the episode had even more - Dalek civil war, companion exits, and even a tease toward the future. While it was enjoyable, there were many glaring issues with the episode that kept it from being great.

Just like that, another season of Doctor Who  is over. But unlike last season, this season changed the entire mythology of the show. It is a foundation laid that future showrunners will use for the rest of the show's history. The episode even hearkened back to the Russell T. Davies era with a great cliffhanger to make audiences wait for the special.

The penultimate episode of a season of Doctor Who can be vary greatly. Usually it is part of a two or 3 part finale. It can either support the finale, or supersede it which is an issue. Take "Heaven Sent" for example. That is one of the best episodes to ever exist. Its follow up, "Hell Bent", does not live up to what "Heaven Sent" set up. So there are two prisms to look at when it comes to an episode like this. The first is how it is on its own, and the second is how it stacks up compared to the finale.

While Doctor Who  can be anything that it wants to be on any given week, the best episodes are the ones that check certain boxes for good reasons. While this season has a been a bit uneven, "The Haunting Of Villa Diodati" is the best episode of the season, and is classic, quintessential  Doctor Who !

Concept and execution are both needed to make a strong episode. The latest episode of Doctor Who  had a really strong concept. But it was the execution that was lacking this week. There were some amazing moments, and a strong villain, it just didn't all get brought together very well.

After the incredible high of " Fugitive of the Judoon " it was going to be interesting to see how the next episode "Praxeus" would hold up. "Praxeus" was written by Pete McTighe (and showrunner Chris Chibnall), who also did " Kerblam " last season. It was a perfectly fine episode that might be more kindly regarded on future viewings.

There are only a handful of Doctor Who  episodes that are true game changers. Most of them are usually finales or specials. But the halfway point of season 12 is likely one of those episodes, depending on how everything shakes up. It was cool enough to see a returning alien menace in the Judoon. But for a fan favorite character to come back, and to have a reveal that shakes the fandom to its core, is spectacular. There are spoilers for the episode ahead.

It is always fun when the Doctor meets a real life person from history. Whether it is Charles Dickens, the Queen of England, or Rosa Parks , there is always something inherently interesting about it. This time, the Doctor got to meet two revolutionary inventors: Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

After the strong two part story to start things off ,  Doctor Who  got into the meat and potatoes of the season with "Orphan 55", written by Ed Hime, whose first episode was pretty good . It felt more like an episode that would fit into last season, instead of what Spyfall was. The good, the bad, and the ugly, all felt like a change in pace from the premiere.

A common trend in Doctor Who  since its return in 2005 are two part episodes with a cliffhanger at the end of episode 1. What is also a common trend is for the cliffhanger to be much better than the resolution presented in the second part. Take season 9 for example. "Heaven Sent" is one of the best Doctor Who  episodes ever made. Its follow up, "Hell Bent", is not at all on the same level. Fast forward to s12. Chris Chibnall drops the premiere on New Year's Day with the excellent  " Spyfall Part 1 " . It had stakes, big reveals, and strong character moments. So how did the follow up go?

The sophomore season of a Doctor's run can be tricky. But in the case of Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor, and Chris Chibnall as showrunner, this is not the case yet. The premiere went off with a bang, and showed that Doctor Who  has returned to form.

Every Doctor needs a Dalek story - and every Doctor usually gets it their very first season. Jodie Whittaker's first season did not have one...until now. The New Year's Day Special brought the 13th Doctor face to face with a Dalek, in a traditional story flipped on it's head.

Doctor Who finales are always a spectacle to look forward to. This year, the finale was right in line with the rest of the season - for better or for worse. It didn't have a finale feel, instead it felt on the same scale as the rest of the episodes.

I do not have a definitive ranking of episodes this season, and while I don't think anything will beat "Rosa", the penultimate episode of the season "It Takes You Away" is about as good as it gets. The way it started, I didn't think it would be. Then it slowly won me over, until I was completely enthralled. I wish more TV did that.

Hot off the heels of Kerblam! Doctor Who shows what its capable of by giving us an adventure that couldn't be more different. From the biggest store in the universe, to a witch hunt with King James. "The Witchfinders" had stakes, emotion, and an interesting alien race.

Every season has at least one episode that feels like it could fit into any era of the show's rich history. "Kerblam!" is that episode for season 11. It had an Eccleston-era feel, yet it is easy to imagine David Tennant, Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi starring too. It even feels like you could have sneaked this into the Sylvester McCoy era. That alone makes this one of the better episodes of the season.

Sometimes Doctor Who reminds us that human beings can be the worst monsters that the universe has to offer. "Demons Of The Punjab" - written by Vinay Patel (and the first episode of the season not to be written or co-written by Chris Chibnall) demonstrates that very effectively. You can read all of my reviews for this season of Doctor Who right here .

This week had the Doctor and her friends stranded on a spaceship with an alien destroying the ship. That's classic Doctor Who ! Even though the plot was welcome, there are a lot of little things that added up to make "The Tsuranga Conundrum" a mostly forgettable episode.

The first "spooky" episode of the Chris Chibnall has come at last. What is creepier than giant spiders? It's a testament to the show that you can do something as serious as Rosa Parks one week, and then giant spiders in a hotel the next. You can read all of this season's reviews right here .

I was very nervous about this episode going into it. For a fun sci-fi show to deal with a pioneer like Rosa Parks had me nervous. The show has dealt with historical figures before, but this had to be handled delicately. Luckily, it was, and the result was one of the most stunningly beautiful episodes in the show's 55 year history.