Favorite/Best: Doctor Who 2008-2010 Specials

[Koete]

David Tennant's swan song.

[Dan]

In my opinion, the best is "The Waters of Mars". It was a very good story in a fairly ho-hum year. My favorite, though, is "The End of Time", despite the fact that the first half was pretty bad, because we get great performances from Bernard Cribbins, Timothy Dalton, and David Tennant, the re-appearance of the Time Lords still gives me goose bumps, and Matt Smith makes an incredibly charming first impression.

[SuaveStar]

The Next Doctor was a fun Dr Who story that I can watch again and enjoy. It wasn't great, but it was fun.

But End of Time has Matt Smith's first appearance and is on an epic scale, so that was the best of the specials.

[dc20willsave]

In my opinion, the best is "The Waters of Mars". It was a very good story in a fairly ho-hum year. My favorite, though, is "The End of Time", despite the fact that the first half was pretty bad, because we get great performances from Bernard Cribbins, Timothy Dalton, and David Tennant, the re-appearance of the Time Lords still gives me goose bumps, and Matt Smith makes an incredibly charming first impression.

Ditto. The emotional impact and Donna getting a happy ending makes me love the second part which makes up for some of the crazy of the first.

[slothian]

I'm going with Waters of Mars as the best/most tehcnically proficient, and I'm going to go with The Next Doctor as my favourite because David Morrissey is fantastic in it.

There's too much wrong with part 1 of The End of Time for me to vote for it in either poll, whilst Planet of the Dead can fuck right off.

[JasonC]

My favourite is Planet of the Dead, mostly due to Lady Christina. And before I get flamed into a crisp, I am aware that fandom as a whole seems to regard her with contempt and distain, but I like her dammit. I thought the stupid flying bus was indeed dumb as a post, as well as Lee Evans' scientific advisor, who only seemed to be there to provid comic relief... but I don't care. I like it.

The Best? End of Time. Because of all those quiet moments between Wilf and the Doctor, and just generally Wilf himself. I really don't like John Simm as the Master, but that's mostly because of the portrayal forced on him by RTD. IF they do bring Simm back as The Master, I hope they let him play it the way he originally wanted to.

But no amount of happy endings given to Donna will ever erase the travesty of what was done to her in the first place.

[slothian]

My favourite is Planet of the Dead, mostly due to Lady Christina. And before I get flamed into a crisp, I am aware that fandom as a whole seems to regard her with contempt and distain, but I like her dammit. I thought the stupid flying bus was indeed dumb as a post, as well as Lee Evans' scientific advisor, who only seemed to be there to provid comic relief... but I don't care. I like it.

You see whilst I thought the flying bus was bullshit, I have a very specific beef with Lady Christina which I'm sure is not the one commonly held by fandom. As a freelance museum worker, I don't see why I should like someone who casually steals priceless artefacts from public collections which are held for the enjoyment of local communities. Especially one who does it so casually for shits & giggles. I was given absolutely zero reason to like her or empathise with her - she's a selfish criminal who specifically hurts not individuals but the general public at large. She deserved to be carted away to jail, not have everyone laugh and smile and wave as she made her escape in a fucking flying bus.

[Missy]

Favorite: "The Next Doctor" is fun and emotional, and David Morrissey plays a great "Doctor." The only problem with it is the giant Cyberman.

Best: Though I do have some gripes with the episode, such as there's a lot of The Doctor standing around doing nothing, "The Waters of Mars" takes it. When The Doctor decides to act, Tennant is spot on; his dark turn gives me chills. And Adelaide's decision at the end is a punch to the gut.

As for "The End of Time," it has plenty of emotional beats at the end, Tennant's final line makes me cry, Matt Smith nails it right away, and Timothy Dalton is wicked, but the story is terrible. I'm sorry, but it is.

[Koete]

My favorite is "The End of Time" for the scenes between The Doctor and Wilf, the scenes with The Doctor and The Master when The Master isn't jumping around and shooting force lightning at people, Timothy Dalton, and the regeneration at the end. Most of the episode though is, as Mike said, terrible.

"The Waters of Mars" is the best for the dark turn it takes with The Doctor and the show itself. While not a fault of the episode in itself, I do have a problem with this episode being done without any time to explore the ramifications of what The Doctor has done, in terms of the universe and The Doctor himself. However, episodes like "Amy's Choice" and "A Christmas Carol" make me think that Moffat is picking up that thread and doing something with it.