If we know each other in real life, or if we are friends on social media, you know I am a huge fan of Doctor Who, in general. I'm critical of parts of it, but, for the most part, as long as I don't see  Mark Gatiss's name as the writer of an episode, I go into it with an open mind.

I was incredibly excited for the Thirteenth Doctor. I like Jodie Whitaker as an actor, and I enjoyed the first season of Chris Chibnall's Broadchurch (I haven't seen the other seasons).

I, uh. I don't love it. I love Jodie Whitaker as The Doctor. I love some of the risks they've taken in the interest of writing a more progressive series. I like the idea of the companions. But ... it took me years to be able to finish an honest Twelfth Season comprised only of episodes that I like. Chibnall's take on the characters is Super Clunky. His companions are rarely given enough time to be interesting, and his Doctor never quite  figures out who she is, which didn't work when Moffat/Capaldi tried it for a single season a few years ago, and it didn't work for Chibnall/Whittaker.

But in November 2019, I started rewatching the modern Doctor Who episodes with my partner. And I used this series of blog posts as a guide. It's been great, and helpful. I had made some mistakes in episode selection when I created the original list, and we would watch a Not So Great episode, talk about why it didn't work, and then I'd find an episode that I'd previously left off, and update the list. I stand by the current incarnation of this list. And I'm glad through three full seasons, I was finally able to get ten episodes that I enjoyed watching. Even if it took until the final episode to reach that number.

Episode 1: The Woman Who Fell To Earth
(13,  Ryan, Yasmin, Graham, Grace, Tim Shaw)
64 minutes

The Doctor: "Why are you calling me madam?"
Yasmin Khan: "Because… you’re a woman?"
The Doctor: "Am I? Does it suit me?"
Yasmin Khan: "What?"
The Doctor: "Oh yeah, I remember – sorry, half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman!"
​
It's a whole new Doctor. This one, a goofy steampunk engineer is an absolute delight. She spends most of this episode trying to figure out who she is, and why some tooth-stealing alien is killing humans.


Episode 2: Demons Of The Punjab
(13, Yasmin, Ryan, Graham)
50 minutes

As a favor to Yasmin, The Doctor and crew head to Partition era Pakistan to learn about Nani Umbreen (Yasmin's grandmother)'s past. Of course there are aliens involved. It's Doctor Who. But there are some great misdirects, interesting historical notes, and significantly less whitewashing than most Doctor Who historical episodes. While you may learn a lot, and there are certainly political notes, this feels more like a character driven story with political messages than a political statement that they wrapped a plot around. It is my second favorite episode of this season.


Episode 3: KERBLAM!
(13, Ryan,  Graham, Yasmin)
49 minutes

It's Amazon Dot Com in the future! Fewer humans. More robots. Less humanity. This was the first episode of Whittaker's reign that felt like a fun, classic Doctor Who scrape. 
 

Serial 4 : Spyfall
(13, Yasmin, Ryan, Graham, The Master)
120 minutes

An alien race is killing international spies indiscriminately. The companions realize that they really don't know anything about The Doctor. The Master is back. The fictional version of Google is run by a truly evil dude (no, not The Master). Plus, important female historical figures serve as temporary companions when The Doctor is separated from her more boring, contemporary companions. The new Master is fantastic in this serial.


Episode 5: Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror
(13, Yasmin, Ryan, Graham)
5o minutes

There have been some great comics and stories about the two warring 20th century genius inventors: Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. Edison is, according to history, justifiably cast as the villain in most of these stories. Here, too. This is just a fun, one-off historical story, which have become rare as the 21st century of the show has matured.


Episode 6: The Fugitives Of The Judoon
(13, Fugitive Doctor, Ryan, Graham, Yasmin, Jack Harkness, The Judoon)
50 minutes

Vinay Patel is far and away the best writer from Chibnall's era of Who. Having also written "The Demons Of Punjab". This episode, reintroduces The Judoon, introduces a new Doctor, and brings back a companion we haven't seen since the end of our Season 9. Everything about this episode is perfect. I loved it even before the returning companion. 


Episode 7: War Of The Sontarans
(13,  Yasmin, Dan, Swarm, Azure, Passenger, Vinder, Sontarans)
​59 minutes​

This is technically the second part of a six episode storyarc, but it's not only stronger than the first part, it's much more interesting if you haven't seen the first part. The Doctor and her companions (one of whom is new) have become unstuck in time and are locked out of the TARDIS. And history is unglued, as historical Earth events have been interspersed with familiar Doctor Who aliens. And several mysterious new lifeforms are also trying to fix the timeline.


Episode 8: Village Of The Angels
(13, Yasmin, Dan, Azure, Bel, Passenger, Weeping Angels)
56 minutes

When I started including the 2021 episodes in the continuity, I pulled out five not very good episodes from 2019 that led up to "The Timeless Child". I already wasn't enjoying Chibnall's run, but I thought Chibnall was an Idea Writer who wasn't good at execution.  There are many of them in comics. I can see their intentions and their world-building concepts, and their sense of characters but they lack the ability to translate that into dialogue and plotting. I thought that was Chibnall's flaw. He structured his entire second season of Doctor Who to answer a question posed in "The Brain Of Morbius", which was the first episode of this website's Season Three. It didn't need an answer, but it was an intriguing concept. It was just also a confusing mess. Chibnall writes like a fan of the series who lacks any understanding of what makes the show work. He's not an Idea Writer, he's a Fanfic Writer. I am hoping that when Russell T Davies takes over the show, the pre-credit teaser to the very first episode is an homage to Bobby Ewing's return to Dallas, and we find out it was all a fever dream? Whose? Jo Grant's Doctor. Let Davies give Grant a whole new back story who had a dream she was ... *a spoiler would go here* ...

I hope the series gets to a point where I can erase this episode, too. It's not very good, but it's significantly better than parts 1, 3, 5 and 6 of Flux, which are incoherent nonsense with a dull thud of a finish. There's at least a coherent plot in this episode, even if it is Incredibly Stupid and contains a reveal that falls somewhere between laughable and a solid reason to stop watching the show forever. Yes, this episode includes The Weeping Angels, and no it's not going to make you enjoy their presence.  


Episode 9: Eve Of The Daleks
(13, Yaz,  Dan, Daleks)
58 minutes

This whacky time loop episode with two human guest stars and Daleks is a perfect antithesis to the horrible clusterflux of the previous season. It's silly in an endearing way.


Episode 10: Power Of The Doctor
(13, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, Fugitive Doctor, Yaz, Graham, Kate Stewart, Dan, Vinder, Ace, Tegan, Jo Grant, Melanie Bush, Ian, The Master, Daleks, Cybermen)
87 minutes

To say I was worried about the ending of Chibnall's reign as Doctor Who scribe would be a massive understatement. I don't enjoy his dialogue or his inability to take parts of a story and tie them into a conclusion. I don't even expect him to make satisfying conclusions, I just want him to make an ending that doesn't make me want to hurl a laptop across the room.

And he did!

Oh, this is a horrible mess of a story with too much going on, and a lot of things seeming like random fan service. But at least it's fun. There are characters who pop up in this episode who haven't been on the show IN 57 YEARS. No other show can do that. Toss in your Daleks, your Cyberpeople, whacky Master, and the daftest regeneration of a Doctor since David Tennant regenerated into David Tennant, and you at least know that you've definitely watched an episode of Doctor Who, and not some generic knockoff.

And while this wasn't the female-centric episode that I wanted (I posited an entire season of Whittaker's Doctor along with Clara, River Song, CyberBill, Kate Stewart, Ashilde/Me, and Missy inside the Diner TARDIS before Moffat threw a bunch of those characters out the widow), it made some awesome choices, allowing some classic characters to get well-deserved closure. 

It's a better multi-Doctor finale than I imagined or hoped for, even if it was, again, kind of an uneven mess. But for Chibnall's run? This was probably his third best episode after "Fugitive Of The Judoon" and "Eve Of The Daleks". It was 100000000000000000% better than "Flux".

Phil Collins peaked with this, his first solo album. I'm not sad that the albums that follow exist but none of them even attempt to capture the restrained intensity of this album. It definitely sounds related to the late 70s/early 80s Genesis output than his later, more poppy albums. While it definitely still falls into the Soft Rock category, it's not quite the Limp Rock he'd soon embrace. 

1. Tomorrow Never Knows

First a slow snare, then a pounding bass drum rise out of squeaking whistles. Someone is breaking through a wall of progressive rock. When the vocals hit, they don't sound like lilting Genesis. The timbre is there but there is a sharper enunciation. While still definitely something you could hear on soft rock radio, this jagged Beatles cover sets a menacing but upbeat tone for this, in my opinion, best album to come out of any member of Genesis.

2. In The Air Tonite

Peak Genesis. Peak Collins. Peak drum fill. Peak creepy. I've loved this song since I was in elementary school. I sighed and nodded when it was used in NBA commercials. Overplayed? Oh yea. But with reason. It's the most iconic song he was ever a part of.

3. If Leaving Me Is Easy

This is the smokey pop ballad on every late 70s/early 80s album. It's the drippiest track on what is, otherwise, a pretty restrained album. There is, of course, obligatory 80s sad sax on the intro and outro.

4. I Missed Again

Horns! Big checkered suits! Jilted lover! Near-falsetto! Basic Betty chorus! Catchy lyrics! Only cheesily dancable! This is the upbeat song that this album doesn't actually need. It's great, and it has the sound production vibe that is pretty much exclusive to this one Phil Collins album. It's just so much happier than this mostly monotone album. The sax is as neutral as it can be but it's overpowered by the brightest horns in this discography.

5. Thunder & Lightning

Maybe this album isn't as monotone as I remember? The horns get no less dull on this song that sounds somewhere between early 80s Billy Joel and late 70s Genesis. How come this feels so nice? Phil asks. And, yea, why does it? I never remember this song when I'm thinking of the album but it's definitely catchy, inoffensive album rock. It even has a fairly listenable guitar solo between all the horn breaks and hand claps.

6. The Roof Is Leaking

This is the song I tend to think of when I remember this album. Oh, sure, "In The Air Tonite" is unquestionably both the best and most well-known track, but this spare track with it's weirdly country-esque twang just seems to best embody the album. The lyrics are passionate, and Phil definitely puts the right spin on them but he's not straining or completely rocking out. He soft rocks the piano out of this not quite ballad. It also has crickets as an intro and outro, which is Very 80s version of alternative.

7. Droned

This track really feels like a continuation of "The Roof Is Leaking". The floating piano starts to brighten and increase in volume, while the synths remain in the spooky background. This is a sort of instrumental track. There are wordless chant style vocals. And drums, of course. It's a very percussive track.

8. Hand In Hand

The 80s tried to be very tropical for a while. More organic drum sounds, a wider variety of woodwinds, and a spare ... chiminess to the sounds. This is another instrumental track that gives the impression of a spooky atmospheric piece but then the drums and horns kick in proper, and it starts to morph into an 80s TV theme song. A sitcom about a family of grifters. We also get the return of those non-word chanty vocals. 


9. This Must Be Love

The title gives the impression that we're going back to the weepy sax of "If Leaving Me Is Easy", but nah. We're continuing with the tropical beat, pushing the synth back into the forefront, and Phil's vocals have a restrained, whispery quaver. It really doesn't feel like a love song at all. I really appreciate its incongruence.  This isn't a "Wow, I'm so happy, THIS must be love." It's more a "I thought I had indigestion but it turns out this is as close to happy as I can get right now."

10. I'm Not Moving

We kick the falsetto up higher. And the piano and drums return to 80s Billy Joel level, as Phil sings a much more wishy-washy version of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down". This is as close to New Wave as Collins ever gets. It has vocoded background vocals, which is one of the better uses of vocoded vocals I can think of. 

11. Behind The Lines

This is the only song on the album that I believe sounds more like a B-side. It's definitely from the neighborhood of "I Missed Again". It's not quite as catchy. The brightness seems a bit tarnished, and the lyrics are an instructino manual for introspection. t's weird that this track works as part of any Phil Collins album, but it definitely fits here.

12. You Know What I Mean

The crickets are back! The piano goes from Billy Joel to Meatloaf/Bonnie Raitt territory. Phil's vocals are suddenly 70s singer/songwriter. very broody and more natural than anywhere else on this album. If there was a video for this song, it would take place in the rain. There would be a hole in an umbrella. The camera would be looking down at Phil's upturned face as someone he loved walked away from him. 

13. I Don't Care Anymore

This is technically from Phil's next album, but it Belongs To This One. I love this song with an equal passion as I do for "in The Air Tonite". I love the snarl to the vocals. The strict drums. The teen angst lyrics.  I also love how it threatens to fade out, and then just stops in a nearly acapella fashion. It's a great end to this weird album.