I'm watching modern era Doctor Who (2005-present) for the second time. Doctor Who is a TV series that is dear to me but at the same time somewhat uneven so for the benefit of future me and hopefully others I'm writing a short episode guide this rewatch.

I try to avoid spoilers as far as possible except when needed to justify my verdict or when spoiler warnings are well past their due date, such which episodes have the Doctor reincarnate. Double episodes are combined into one review.

S04E00 Voyage of the Damned - Skip

Nothing to see here, move along. The script is so bland that it might as well have been written by a large language model.

S04E01 Partners in Crime - Watch

Already from the first episode featuring Donna as companion it is clear that she and the tenth Doctor were made for each other. As fun and whimsical as a Doctor Who episode can be.

S04E02 The Fires of Pompeii - Watch

A nice moral dilemma and Donna acting as the Doctor's conscience. Awesome! The plot otherwise, less awesome, but it's good enough to sustain the episode.

S04E03 Planet of the Ood - Ok

It's a decent story and I think Doctor Who generally tells slavery themed stories well. I just never found the Ood very believable though. They are at the same time too fantastical creatures with their curious anatomy while too obviously being human actors in suits.

S04E04-05 The Sontaran Stratagem & The Poison Sky - Watch

Contrary to the Ood, the Sontarans' look, acting and expression are sufficiently different from humans to be believable aliens. Their long-winded monologues about glorious warfare are sensible and fitting for their characters. Martha is back and makes a great performance both as companion and as the evil Martha similar to Rose in S02E01 New Earth. The asshole boy genius is in my opinion even more believable now than in 2008 as he may as well be a portrayal of a real tech billionaire from the 2020's.

S04E06 The Doctor's Daughter - Skip

So much stuff in this episode but no point to make. They shoved in some additional lore that is basically irrelevant to the series just to make the episode seem more interesting, but it is not unless you are maintaining a Doctor Who wiki.

S04E07 The Unicorn and the Wasp - Ok

It's entertaining but I feel like they missed the shot they had with an Agatha Christie themed episode. Too weird and with too many bad jokes. As a counterexample I love Knives Out and how it makes fun of the murder mystery genre. The jokes in this episode missed the mark for me though.

S04E08-09 Silence in the Library & Forest of the Dead - Watch

A nice scary Steven Moffat story and the introduction of River Song. Wildly imaginative.

S04E10 Midnight - Watch

The first time I watched this I didn't like it at all. It felt creepy in an annoying way and I thought the plot was too similar to the Twilight Zone episode The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. On rewatch however, I appreciated it more. The main point about crowd psychology showing the worst in us was probably as relevant in 1960 (I wouldn't know by experience) as it was in 2008 and still is today. Even knowing what would happen in the episode it was still terrifying.

While the story is not that original in my opinion, the application of it onto Doctor Who where the Doctor is defeated by taking his way with words and using it against him, is just excellent writing.

S04E11 Turn Left - Watch

Possibly my all time favorite Doctor Who episode. It combines two TV tropes that I tend to enjoy in general: alternative history and societal collapse. The way the nation disintegrates and turns on foreigners, throwing them in labour camps and Wilf comparing those to World War II concentration camps is brilliant writing. A great example of fiction reminding us of the actual past we must never forget.

S04E12-13 The Stolen Earth & Journey's End - Ok/Meh

I just don't like Davros the comic book villain. Based on that I would skip these. However, there is some good stuff in these and they are (unfortunately) important for continuity in several ways. So watch them and try to gloss over the comic book parts, unless you are into Marvel and that sort of thing.