The first episode of the Whoniverse I ever really saw, was the Torchwood pilot episode, which was followed directly afterward by it's 2nd installment. In an instant I was hooked, and quickly became a Doctor Who fan as well. But watching Torchwood, it quickly became apparent that the 2 series worked better in concert than as separate entities, and not just because of the obvious crossovers. I started making a list of how I felt the series was best viewed. This list changed throughout the run of the shows, but this list is what I ended up with.
When creating this list I had 3 basic rules. Rule #1 was that the season ending crossover had to be supported by the episode order. Rule #2 was similar to Rule #1, in that I decided that all multi-part stories should remain intact, uninterrupted; complete. Rule #3 was to (wherever possible) place episodes together that support a cohesive continuity. This last rule was something that came to me later than the first two, as I realized that placing certain episodes together supported series continuity in interesting ways that may not have been intended, but was none the less helpful, and seemed oddly appropriate.
Season 29: (2006-2007)
738 Everything Changes ****
739 Day One ****
740
The Ghost Machine ***
I chose to place 3 episodes of Torchwood to start off Season 29 for several different reasons. The first reason was that from this point on, Torchwood has to be on a level playing field with Doctor Who, and I felt having a few episodes air first would be a good idea, to get to know the characters we've not yet met (Gwen, Ianto, Owen, Rhys & Andy), while catching up with those that we'd met on Doctor Who some time ago (Captain Jack & Toshiko Sato). The 2nd reason, and the reason that I chose 3 episodes to lead off with instead of 2 or 4 was that it just helped balance out the season's episodes so they played off each other better, as we'll see later on. And lastly, though it's not said on screen, the Doctor seems to have been traveling for awhile between "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones", so having this 3 episode breather, really helps the audience feel the passage of time for the Doctor, which was part of my mandate for supporting the continuity of the stories by viewing them in an order that makes the most sense.
741 Smith and Jones ***
742 Cyberwoman ***
Placing "Smith and Jones" just before "Cyberwoman" was another example of Rule #3's effects on the order of Season 29. In the first of these 2 episodes, The Doctor & Martha Jones discuss the Battle of Canary Wharf; the final battle between the Daleks, Cybermen & Torchwood in Season 28's finale, which included Freema Agyeman as her cousin Adeola, referenced here to explain the nearly identical appearances of the characters who are played by the same actress. While in the 2nd episode we actually see new flashbacks to the Battle of Canary Wharf and more concrete fallout from the episode, while tying Torchwood character Ianto Jones to a confrontation previously only seen on Doctor Who. I thought that having these two episodes back to back supported continuity in surprising ways, which increased my enjoyment of both episodes. That said, I've never truly loved either of these episodes, though they do have moments of brilliance and are definitely integral episodes, continuity wise.
743 The Shakespeare Code *****
744 Small Worlds ****
There's really nothing continuity wise that suggests that these two episodes should be viewed in this order, but thematically I think they play off each other rather well, with both episodes playing as Whoniverse fantasy episodes, featuring Witches and Faeries as villains, respectively.
745 Gridlock ****
746 Countrycide *****
747
The Infinite Quest ***
"The Infinite Quest" was an animated episode produced for the children's program 'Totally Doctor Who'. I'm the only person that I know of who lists the episode as fitting between 'Gridlock' & 'Daleks in Manhattan', or rather 'Countrycide' & 'Greeks Bearing Gifts'; most people seem to place it at a random point after "The Lazarus Experiment", but to me it makes the most sense here. Martha had already stayed longer than she was meant to at this point, and she was wearing her hair and clothes the same way for "Smith and Jones" - "The Lazarus Experiment" - it just doesn't seem like she'd dress that way again anytime soon after having to do so by necessity. This is also a neat spot to put the episode as Martha and the Doctor are not seen entering the TARDIS at the end of "Gridlock" or plotting their course at the start of "Daleks in Manhattan"; the only such place in the early episodes to allow for this episode. It's also nice to see another episode early on where Martha's attraction to the Doctor is seen as just that, rather than "love" as it's played out all too quickly in upcoming episodes, allowing for more time for her feelings to grow.
748 Greeks Bearing Gifts ***
749 Daleks In Manhattan [Part I] *
750 Evolution of the Daleks [Part II] *
Rule #2: All multi-part stories are to be left intact, even horrible, bottom of the barrel stories like this one, which is my least favorite Doctor Who story ever - though these episodes lead to some of the most AMAZING episodes ever - in Season 30, and are therefore, integral, damn it. I can't just skip them anymore, as I used to do.
751
They Keep Killing Suzie ****
752 The Lazarus Experiment ***
753
Random Shoes ***
754 42 ***
755
Out of Time ****
756 Human Nature [Part I] *****
757 The Family of Blood [Part II] *****
Another 2-Part story left intact.
758
Combat **
759 Blink *****
This final 7 Part Story (8 if you include the coda elements from "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang") is extremely well executed, and rather odd all at the same time. Each episode basically stands on it's own, but has crossover material from one episode to the next. In "Captain Jack Harkness", Owen used the Rift Manipulator to bring Jack & Tosh home. In "End of Days" the Rift fractures as a results of Owen's actions in the previous episode, and we're left with Jack's disappearance after hearing the sound of the TARDIS. In "Utopia", The Doctor notes that the Rift has been active, thanks to the events of the previous episode, and Jack hitches a ride on the TARDIS, with a closing cliffhanger, that's resolved in the next episode, which has a cliffhanger, that's resolved in the next episode, and so on - with each solution presented after the fact. And with the special mini-episode "Time Crash" (actually fitting inside of an interval before a cliffhanger) we got even more continuity and surprises, just before the fantastic closing of the 2007 Christmas Special, "Voyage of the Damned". Aside from all that wonderment, these episodes play together beautifully, and end the season in style.
760
Captain Jack Harkness
[Part I] *****
761
End of Days
[Part II] *****
762 Utopia [Part III] *****
763 The Sound of Drums [Part IV] *****
764 Last of the Time Lords [Part V] *****
765
Time Crash
[Part VI] *****
766 Voyage of the Damned [Part VII] (2007 Christmas Special) *****
And while Torchwood's 2nd Season premiere episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" picks up the story of Jack shortly after "Last of the Time Lords", it doesn't feel right to me having it here; placing it within this run of episodes seems to interrupt the flow a bit. It does however work much better as a coda to this series, and lead-in to the rest of Season 30 - and that's why I chose it as the first episode of Season 30.
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