Apollo's Rebellion

To add to the celebrations of the Fiftieth Anniversary year, I have decided to post my favourite stories from Doctor Who since its revival in 2005. Every Saturday I will post a list of my favourite stories from each series leading up to the week before the Fiftieth Anniversary. Feel free to also share your thoughts in the comments below.

5. The Crimson Horror by Mark Gatiss
This episode played out like an old detective story where the pieces were being put together in front of our eyes. The return of the Paternoster Gang was a wonderful relief and the mystery of "The Crimson Horror" was something that definitely kept me on my toes. I loved that the story followed Vastra, Jenny and Strax more, allowing us to see it more from their perspective.
Highlight(s) of the episode: The Doctor's Yorkshire accent and, real life mother and daughter duo, Rachel Stirling and Diana Rigg as Ada and Mrs Gillyflower respectively.

4. A Town Called Mercy by Toby Whithouse
I'm not much of a fan of the old west, but I really did enjoy this episode. It really showed just how damaged the Doctor is and just how much he needs a companion. It reflected just how volatile the Doctor can become
and that he really does have a darker side to him. The episode also proved that sometimes the real monsters aren't the science experiments, but rather the scientists themselves.
Highlight(s) of the episode: Amy stopping the Doctor from allowing Kahler Jax to die.

3. The Angels Take Manhattan by Steven Moffat
New York City, the Weeping Angels and a heartbreaking end. The angels are back and this time they're sending people to the 1940's. Of course, being a Moffat episode, everything is a bit wibbly wobbly. River Song makes a return for what seems like the penultimate time and this time she's known as Melody Malone of the Angel Detective Agency. Then there's that soul wrenching rooftop scene with Amy and Rory. Then just when you think it's all over and that the Pond family are actually going to have a happy ending, your heart gets ripped out again. But it was a good ending and Mr and Mrs Pond finally got what they wanted: a normal life.
Highlight(s) of the episode: Amy and Rory getting a happily ever after, although not the one some wanted, but they did get to live to an old age and Rory did get his wish of growing old with Amy. I also loved the concept of incorporating a novel written by one of the characters into the story as a sort of means to send a message. Also, Amy's afterword to the Doctor.

2. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS by Stephen Thompson
I've always wanted an episode where we got to see more of the TARDIS. I absolutely loved getting to see the infamous swimming pool, the Doctor's
library and what exactly keeps the TARDIS flying. The fact that the TARDIS is so big that it can hide bad things that even the Doctor doesn't know about sent shivers down my spine. I enjoyed the story line of the Van Baalen brothers and that even after time reset itself the events still left echoes of it within everyone.
Highlight(s) of the episode: The chance to see more of the TARDIS, my favourite place being the study/library for obvious reasons.

1. The Name of the Doctor by Steven Moffat
I'm pretty sure you know why this episode has made it to the top of my list. It was the episode that this entire series has led up to. Finally, secrets are revealed and the nature of what Trenzalore is was discovered. The story was pretty good and the overall concept was also intriguing. Having both the Great Intelligence and Clara play an important part in the story was wonderful as those two have quite literally been the red herrings throughout the entire second part. And, as I've said before, the fact that the actions of Clara make her special shows that travelling with the Doctor has changed her.
Highlight(s) of the episode: The TARDIS being so distraught that she makes herself the monument to the Doctor and the return (and sad departure) of River Song.

Episodes of note: The Power of Three and Asylum of the Daleks
The Power of Three gets a special mention for it being from the perspective of Amy and Rory and how their lives are changing and for the introduction of Kate Stewart who is the daughter of the much loved Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The only reason that it didn't make my countdown was because the story line was a bit weak and the resolution wasn't much of a resolution.
Asylum of the Daleks would have made it onto my countdown, but after watching it I felt like there was something missing. The introduction to Oswin Oswald and the return of the Daleks was enough to let it get a special mention, but the episode left me with more questions than answers.

To add to the celebrations of the Fiftieth Anniversary year, I have decided to post my favourite stories from Doctor Who since its revival in 2005. Every Saturday I will post a list of my favourite stories from each series leading up to the week before the Fiftieth Anniversary. Feel free to also share your thoughts in the comments below.

5. Bad Wolf/ The Parting of the Ways by Russell T Davies
 Gatiss took Dickens' classic tale of Christmas and expertly twisted it to give it more Doctor Who feel.

Irene Adler is one of the most famous woman in literary history. Known as the only woman to attract the interest of Sherlock Holmes, Irene first appeared in the short story A Scandal in Bohemia in the novel The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This was the very first Sherlock Holmes story I had ever read which made me very interested with the character of Irene Adler. She is known as the only woman to beat Sherlock which elevates his admiration and respect for her. We only get a brief background of Irene but that makes her mysterious.

Will the real Irene please stand up.

In my opinion Irene should just be in A Scandal in Bohemia and left at that. I feel now with more adaptions of Sherlock Holmes comes the possibility of Irene being in them. I dislike that. People don't know enough about Irene's character to bring her into adaptions. In the Guy Ritchie version of Sherlock Holmes Irene is shown to be a skilled thief and has "mutual romantic feelings" towards Sherlock. It was never stated in the book that Sherlock ever had "romantic feelings" towards Irene Adler. He had an admiration for her but never anything more than that. Sherlock is a masterful detective who would never let something like a love for a woman get between him and his job. In the film it does. He is tricked by her and she runs off again.

Another example is the BBC's modern adaption of Sherlock Holmes titled Sherlock written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. Irene first appeared in the episode A Scandal in Belgravia  where she is a dominatrix who serves high-end clients. The episode, written by Steven Moffat, has received criticism for the exist portrayal of Irene Adler. I have not seen the episode yet (wake up, BBC South Africa!)  but the few clips I have seen almost shocked me. One of the first clips I saw was of Irene naked and talking to Sherlock on a couch. The first thing I thought was, "Great, the only strong woman character and you make her into some sort of sex symbol. Why, Moffat, why?" but seriously though, why? Irene was one of the only female characters I looked up to and now you make her into mistress who could possibly be bi. To me Irene was a smart and witty character. She saw past Sherlock's disguise and she got away before he could catch her again. I wanted to be as clever as her: the woman who outwitted Sherlock Holmes and got away with it. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle showed people that woman can be as smart as men and sometimes even smarter. Irene was an equal to Sherlock and that's what made her so well-loved.

There have been other adaptions of Sherlock Holmes which brings in the character of Irene Adler just because she is "The woman". A Russia adaption of Sherlock Holmes has introduced Irene Adler just because she was popular in the Guy Ritchie version. In a 2007 production called Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars she is shown as one of Sherlock's arch enemies. If she isn't a love interest then she's an enemy. Why can't Irene just be "The Woman" and left at that? I feel as if my favourite character is being murdered over and over again. This is my plea to anyone who wants to introduced Irene into their own adaptions. Please keep her true to the story, don't try to change her. Or, better yet, don't introduce Irene Adler. She stays within the pages of A Scandal in Bohemia written by the only person who knows her: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sources:
http://stavvers.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/irene-adler-how-to-butcher-a-brilliant-woman-character/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Adler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_(TV_series)


Update:
I have watched 'Scandal in Belgravia' and I have to say that I didn't like Irene as much as I wanted to. I didn't particularly like the fact that she sold her body and I also didn't like that she had to get help from Moriarty. I'll tell what I did like: her passion and her brains. Which irks me more because she chooses to swap her intelligence for a job that demeans women. All in all I loved the episode and it did keep me on the edge of my seat at times. I always like when I can solve the case with Sherlock and this episode provided enough for me to figure out. Also the score was fantastic.