What is this?

What is this?:

Welcome to the Doctor Who: Alternative Seasons! I hope you'll have a good time! My posts on this blog serve 2 purposes. It is both a way for me to post my reviews and create a new, alternative way for both new and old fans to experience the program.

Although I'm quite experienced with New Who, the Classic series is completely new ground for me. With these posts, I hope to reflect on the stories and determine what works for me and what doesn't.

The other purpose of these posts is to create 'Alternative Seasons'. These will be explained below.

 

What makes these seasons "Alternative"?: 

Each post on this blog not only looks at the episodes within a TV season, but also at the audio's and other media that are released with the same tardis team. This is approach is mostly based on the work of U/Pakimonsa15 on Reddit. but other stories, like Short Trips and Companion Chronicles have been added by myself.

By adding those stories and rearranging some others, I hope to create a varied, fun throughline for someone who goes through (Classic) Doctor Who for the first time, or someone who wants to experience the stories anew in a bigger context. The focus here is not necessarily continuity, but rather cohesion, variation and emotional throughlines that form throughout a character's tenure. Still, where possible, stories will still be told in the right order. The continuity between stories should not be jarring.

Most parts will tackle 1 TV season, with additional audio's and other material if available and fitting. Big Finish and TV Episodes will be the primary focus of each part, and no stories will be skipped. Sometimes other media will be added on, like novels people seem to like or BBC audiobooks. Adding these will mostly be based on me coming across them. If people seem to love a specific novel, I might add it to the list. I am also very open to suggestion people have, so if you feel like a specific story is missing, whatever the medium, I am open to including it (Most of the time). This can even include fanmade material, if considered good quality.

So if you have any additions or other stories you'd like to see, like certain audio's, books or comics, anything, feel free to message me. Either leave a comment here or message me on reddit (u/joniejoon), and I'll see if I can add your recommendation to the list.

 

Other Questions: 

Will you tackle Spin-offs?:

Mostly, Yes. I will at least mention them if they seem relevant to the season at hand.

The way they are mentioned can differ, however. The general rule is: "If it will influence the Doctor substantially at a certain point in time, I will include it in the main list". So stories like "The Year of Martha Jones" would be in the list, while "Jago and Litefoot" will be mentioned as a footnote. Footnote stories might still get reviews, but they will be in a seperate side-post.

Will you tackle the Virgin New Adventures/Eighth Doctor Novels?:

Let's leave that one up to time for now ;)

 

Do you have any reasoning for your placement?:

Yes, I do. Most stories are placed where they are for specific reasons. My reviews will not always mention these, however. If you want to know a particular reason, feel free to ask! I might expand on my placements in future side-posts as well. Maybe make an audio or video post about it, if enough people are into that. I'm still deliberating what shape that might take. If you have any suggestions or preferences, feel free to let me know. Even if you don't want them at all! It all helps!

You missed <Fill in story here>!!!!

That can happen. Sometimes I've put a story in the wrong place, or just overlooked it. Maybe I planned it for another season. I will include a changelog with every post, where I'll mention any problems I've come across, like wrongly placed stories that belong in past seasons. I will edit the past seasons as well, so they'll always stay up-to-date. Any changes will be in a changelog there too. Feel free to mention anything I might've missed.

I have an idea/question!

Yes please! Any feedback is welcome! Hit me up with any thoughts! I love sharing ideas, questions and story discussions! About as much as Big Finish loves stories! You can message me here, or on Reddit at u/joniejoon.