Hey Harbo I preferred the original title you gave the video "that time Doctor Who fought a shapeshifting wasp", the words shapeshifting wasp are what jumped out at me, the new title you chose is a bit generic, I prefer the more humorous titles you give them like "That time Doctor Who fought baked potatoes from space", especially to someone taking a trip down Doctor Who memory lane
22:28 I think the implication here was that, due to this specific point in time marking a several-day absence with no explanation forthcoming at any later date, the real Agatha could have been killed, then replaced with an impostor.
Doctor: "I need something salty!" Donna: *brings over salt* Doctor: "What's that?" Donna: "SALT!" Doctor: "No, no, that's too salty!" Donna, *sarcastic:* "Oh that's TOO salty, of course!" Seriously, their banter in Series 4 was some of the BEST. 😆
Something I never noticed until now is how Donna and her relationship with Agatha really reflects Donna's end fate. Agatha doesn't think she's all that good or important and goes through this growth throughout the episode, the Doctor and Donna showing her she is brilliant, only for her to ultimately forget them and everything she did (To an extent). Just as Donna's growth by the end of the series, forgetting the Doctor.
I think the Wasp wasn't made unambiguously evil due to poor writing, but because it had taken on the persona of a killer in a murder mystery from Agatha's books, rendering it evil outside of it's free will.
I also really liked the Doctor/Donna duo in this especially. The bit where Donna comes out all dressed up and the Doctor says 'you look lovely' was just really sweet, don't even think he was that complimentary with Rose. Just showed how good their friendship was.
these are the sorta simple yet fun episodes that the show needs in a season fits its purpose and anyone can sit down for an hour and chill have a laugh watching it
you could literally make a drinking game out of this episode. take a shot when you spot an Agatha Christie reference or one of her novels is mentioned by name (that saying please drink responsibly). When I watched this episode with my mum she spent the whole episode spotting all the references to Christie books.
@@garr_inc google all the Agatha Christie book and then rewatch the episode and like take a shot(or you know eat some chocolate or something) every time a title of one of her books is mentioned in the story. It's a fun game.
"d-d... d-don't do that" actually had its pay-off in Midnight ;) I remember the season 2 one with Scottish Rose and this but I don't remember the one in between, but I LOVED how he did it in Midnight with a COMPLETELY different tone
I actually love all the references to Christie's books strewn throughout the episode, because they're all references to books published _after_ these events, so they can be read as more examples of her subconsciously remembering the events and drawing on them for future novels.
I know you said the Christie references feels very shoe horned in. the most subtle one is the Doctor himself. We know this Doctor's iconic outfit is either a brown or blue suit with the long coat. notice how for this episode he is in the brown suit. The Man In The Brown Suit is a Christie novel. Clever. You have to really know your Christie to spot that one.
In the original opening (with an older Christie recounting the episode) she calls him The Man in the Brown Suit, so originally it wasn't supposed to be subtle at all!
Him being 'typically evil' could be because in murder mystery novels the villain is often evil. Not sure if this is remotely correct but just my thoughts
I like how right up until the ending, you could replace the alien with a human and the story would still largely work. Doctor Who really needs to do more stories like this, where The Doctor is on earth in the past (or indeed the present) and the conflict of the story isn’t aliens.
This is unironically one of my favourite episodes. It is my comfort episode. It is also my mum's fave cus she is a huge fan of Agatha Christie. I am too. I dunno why I love this so much. I just do. Just a shame the writer is kind of awful.
@@HarboWholmes same with my mum. She always watched the TV and Movie adaptations and had pretty much all of the books. my mum never re-reads books. Like she would read a book and then donate it to charity shop once she finished it. The only exception was Agatha Christie novels. Her favourite is And Then There Were None. My mum's love of Agatha Christie novels is the reason why I love mystery style programmes and stuff on TV. I find them interesting.
@@frde2190 Yeah he was really transphobic and basically said that like trans people are not real or valid that like a trans woman is still a man and other stuff like that. He is trash.
this was the first episode of doctor who i ever watched. i caught it randomly on my grandma's tv one night when she was babysitting me and I only caught the 2nd half (rocked up straight into the de-poisoning scene). I had so much fun watching it that I remembered the show and ended up watching all of drwho that had come out up to that point and the rest is history. here I am over a decade later having rewatched/caught up on all the nuwho eps and marathoning you series review playlist to get psyched for DT's 3 ep return to the show. this ep may not be the best on a technical story level and it isn't even one of my favorites anymore (having been knocked down by others) but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
@@benstringer3133 Yes, and to add insult to injury I didn’t see the Pompeii episode until I was in high school. GENUINELY have no idea how I got so far into my life without hearing about it lol
I've always loved these types of stories, and the aesthetics they come with. That plus Catherine and David being on top form make it a very fun time to me. Some people like Curse of the Black Spot or Boom Town for similar reasons - I like this. It does take on a new light now, of course. Important to remember that - though he never took credit - every episode of this era is just as much Russell's as it the penned writer's (i.e., Gareth).
I think the fact that The Doctor needs a shock, and Donna proceeding to kiss The Doctor, was a perfect move as they've both established that they're nothing more than mates
I really like this episode, and it's pretty clever how it foreshadows Donna getting her memory wiped with Agatha Christie's memory being wiped herself. It sets up the climax to Donna's story in quite a subtle way.
I guess you could say the story references stayed as fragmented in christies mind and that's why they were used in future books (if the timeline of releases is correct)
Fun fact: the house that was used for the location shots is Athelhampton hall. This was also the location for Harrison Chase's house in The Seeds of Doom in season 13 of the classic series.
I actually enjoy turning to this one when I feel like a one-off episode. Its pretty mucht he only episode in the series that has absolutely no connection to any of the season arca or other episodes. It could easily just be a lighthearted short film.
Hey the first doctor who episode I ever saw! Saw it on PBS as a kid and thought it was a weird fever dream until I found out about DW properly in HS and started watching with series 7b, was really surprised to find out UatW wasn’t just something I imagined when I watched series 4 the first time.
Despite it being one of the "Weaker" stories of Series 4, I have a soft spot for this episode, thanks to my quality time with my Nanna watching Poirot, Midsomer Murders and most recently McDonald & Dodds. It's also a soft break from the high emotional stories of The Doctor's Daughter and the library two parter, not to mention a good stand-alone episode to introduce to new viewers or have as those one-off free DVDs from a newspaper. It's a shame we had to wait until Series 10's "Knock Knock" for famous Poirot actor Sir David Sutchet to appear in Doctor Who, as it would have been the best crossover between the Doctor and a famous fictional character before people wanted the 11th Doctor to meet Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes. And finally, there is, and always will be a Noddy!
Fun episode and good mistery. But i agree that the wasp being evil just for the sake of evilness was kinda lame. Maybe it could have worked better as in the second Arya stark episode, maybe if the wasp would have needed the gem for bringing his army to earth or something like that
27:44 is what Season 12 needed in Doctor Who. Just putting those issues to light without drawing attention to them as "issues" to be ashamed of works so much better as recognizing progressive ideas as normalcy. Not a challenge, not a grand opportunity to show your morals, but just life
One of my favourites of the new era of Doctor Who. When the Doctor reveals that the young lady was not who she claimed to be, for the reason that she said "toilet". Makes me smile.
Something I love about rhis story is that it has a shared cast member with a fan-favourite historical from Classic Who, The Talons Of Weng Chiang. The actor who plays Jago (Christopher Benjamin) is in this episode playing a character somewhat reminiscent of Jago (especially when you listen to the later audios he was in as Jago.
@@blobfish5730 I always forget about Inferno. It's been a while since I watched that story, but I love it. It also ties into the Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off series.
I'm sorry, but to say imposter syndrome is a "productive, and positive way" to improve is just untrue. There's a difference between being critical of your work, and imposter syndrome.
Yeah there's a reason why the term impostor syndrome exists. Like if it was just a way of thinking that you need to live up to expectations that other people have of you as motivation to do your best but it doesn't have a negative impact on your wellbeing then sure, that's positive but it isn't impostor syndrome. Impostor syndrome is where you believe that you do not deserve the positive feedback from your work because you're tricking people to believe you're better than you are regardless of reality. The reason why this term and subsequent studies observe this phenomenon is because it has such a negative impact on a person's wellbeing that it intertwines with depression and anxiety disorders. It can be a cause or a symptom of mental illness. In my opinion, it's more like a form of dysmorphia since the mind will twist reality to fit its own narrative like when someone has body dysmorphia, they can be the thinnest person but because their mind is convinced the body is massively overweight the mind will twist facts and distort how people perceive reality. I understand the confusion surrounding impostor syndrome as we all will doubt that we deserve good things at some point in life but that isn't impostor syndrome. It's akin to someone who likes things neat and tidy saying that they have OCD, since to public knowledge the disorders have been oversimplified to the point where natural human behaviour is ascribed to mental illness.
Im pretty dissapointed that this episode only got a C ranking. Because if I don't think too hard about it, this is my favorite episode (if I do think too hard, its still top 5 but can't decide its placement). But this video is well done and its arguments make sense. So im glad you didn't criticize it too hard and actually discussed it well.
I always thought that Martha would have been great in this episode, it would have highlighted the difference between Martha and Donna. Martha wouldn’t have found the situation too much of a coincidence, because she is so much like the doctor. I also think it would have been better served if Donna had noticed the things the guests were hiding in their flash backs (like she observes Rodgers sexuality), things the doctor wouldn’t (in this version) notice because they weren’t directly related to the crime.
All the characters are based on cluedo characters! Professor Plum: Professor Peach Mrs Peacock: Lady Edison Reverend Green: Reverend Golightly Miss Scarlet: Robina REDmond Colonel mustard: Colonel Hugh Mrs White: Miss Chandrakala
Bro I just wanna say. Most of us have a lot of self doubt but I can tell you as a matter of fact you are unbelievable at what you do. I have for the first time ever looked into video editing and it’s a huge struggle yet you make it look so easy. And I cannot get the confidence to commentate and you do this seemingly flawless. Keep it up!
The way everybody expects Agatha Christie to act as a crime detective like she does writting her books reminds me the movie "JCVD" where Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the rol of himself and gets involved in a robbery. Everyone expects him to act like the action hero he is on his movies, but he is just a human after all. Like everybody else. I totally recommend that movie. It gives a interesting point of view about that concept. "JCVD" directed by Mabrouk El Mechri
At the time the secret baby's bedroom was sealed, teddy bears hadn't been invented yet. It's pretty minor but I thought it was more common knowledge, and every time I watch it I think about how it should have been a doll or something instead.
In my ideal version of Series 4, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, and The Doctor's Daughter would be skipped. But not this one. Series 4 has _so many_ dark episodes, it needs this one story to lighten it a little. If you did want to go full-dark then yeah, sure, get rid of this. It just leaves me wondering why Donna would travel in the TARDIS with so much trauma hahahaha
I saw on the tv tropes page where every main character in this episode was based off of a Cluedo character: Professor Peach is Professor Plum; Lady Eddison is Mrs Peacock; Reverend Golightly is Reverend Green; Colonel Carbury is Colonel Mustard; Miss Redmond is Miss Scarlett and Mrs Chandalakra is Mrs White. It’s actually very clever since Agatha Christie inspired Cluedo in the first place.
10:44 and if you have never read an Agatha Christie book before this right here is the formula she always uses. The killer is the one person that seems nice (or has a perfect alibi) so couldn’t possibly have done it. And as the Doctor states in the episode it fools you every time…. Well not every time a couple of… ok once. But it is a good once.
But why didn't they ask....Heavens! I get the joke but who was the original concept Didn't realise Bernard Cribbins was in Horror of Glam Rock! Now I want to listen to it more!!! The 'typically evil' aspect could be part of the identity moment. He's behaving like that because that's what he believes he should've behaved
I know it's not a particularly good episode, but I've always enjoyed Unicorn and the Wasp (certainly the best of the Davies historical author episodes imho.) (Also thank you for including that fabulous clip from Before the Flood)
I always appreciated the gay characters in this episode. It's something present throughout modern doctor who, but Roger and the servant were just... there. It felt really validating as a child to see people like me. Honestly, I think the show is (in places) more progressive than shows that come out today.
Overall, this is a fun, light-hearted episode that is a breath of fresh air and flowers amidst a season filled with brooding, serious, and frightening episodes. Not only does it highlight the chemistry between the Doctor and Donna, but it reveals the great chemistry and warmth David Tennant and Catherine Tate have for each other. You can clearly see how much fun they were having making this episode. In addition, it is great to see Christopher Benjamin return to "Doctor Who", thirty years after his very memorable role as Henry Jago in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".
I feel like Doctor Who can be silly as long as the characters themselves treat the threat seriously. I... didn't get that in this episode. Agatha Christie herself treats the situation with the gravity it deserves but the Doctor and Donna are having a bit too much fun for my liking. I think it's a well-written, well-acted episode, but designed with a very specific kind of audience in mind, which I'm not part of. Many parallels with Tooth & Claw now I think about it. Celebrity historicals, involving a monster picking off guests at a stately home one by one, and the Doctor and companion are just goofing about and pissing off the historical celebrity.
Yeah, celebrity historicals always seem to fall into that rut, even up to the 13th Doctor. I think this episode was one of the best of them, all things considered, certainly turned out much better than Tooth & Claw.
I watched this episode with my family and my dad asked "why does a wasp use a lead pipe?" I made the connection to cluedo before looking it up and finding this episode takes place the same year as cluedo is meant to take place. Then when Donna made the reference i was so happy
I think I kind of understand when the doctor means by fixed points/time in flux. The issue with Pompeii is that the doctor would have prevented it because he knew that it happened. Therefore making his motive vanish because it would be stopped. Creating a paradox. The reason why this event is in flux is because the wasp isn’t a time traveler combined with the fact that the doctor and Donna would have saved her regardless of knowing who she is. The wasp killing Agatha wouldn’t create a paradox because it changes none of his motives. It would definitely change the details, but not prevent it. I think if this is actually the case then it’s just worded really weird. Although waters of mars does kind of put a hole in this theory(even if in the end it wasn’t technically a fixed point)… just a tiny bit, but it might still work. The only reason the doctor would have stayed is because he knew what would happen to them.
Hearing things like Cluedo and (while not in this video) Where's Wally never fails to remind me that Britain is actually a parallel world America that has slightly different names for everything (or the other way around)
Cluedo was invented here! It's not our fault Americans have trouble with words of more than one syllable. I actually live about a 20 minute walk away from the very house where it was invented.
I love this episode, but I did decide to my own investigating when it came to Agathas sudden disappearance and reappearance, and I honestly don’t think there is a mystery behind it at all, and a mystery was only willed into existence by the media at the time. Agatha was already in a depressed state of mind the day she went missing, and based on the fact she left a note stating where she was going, she probably drove off, got into a car accident, and some minor head trauma coupled with her depressed or stressed state of mind, probably left her in a functional dissociative fugue state where she forgot she was Agatha Christie but was still functioning and acting like your everyday person, and because the hotel was the most recent thing on her mind, she ended up going there while in this state. For some reason during the whole thing of Agatha Christie going missing, police never bothered to actually check the hotel, since the note was discovered. Multiple people did report seeing and interacting with Agatha in her dissociative state at the hotel as well. Eventually she found herself again, but lost her memory of her time at the hotel, but that seems to be a common thing of returning from being in a dissociative fugue state. Probably due to how the brain itemizes stuff like memories
I absolutely love this episode. The premise, the humour, the acting, the reveal are all great. Definitely a series favourite among the circles I'm in, I really don't have much to criticise about it.
@dr103 he doesnt hate anyones existance. All he said that he personally disagrees with gender ideology. He said so respectfully and everyone lost their shit. He is entitled to his opinion but many peopke are too intolerant to accept it.
Next review is silence in the library and forest of the dead. Also who remembers the collect and build figures of the vespiform and the battles in time cards of the vespiform?
Go check out my Patreon to see what all the buzz is about:
www.patreon.com/harbowholmes
Hey Harbo I preferred the original title you gave the video "that time Doctor Who fought a shapeshifting wasp", the words shapeshifting wasp are what jumped out at me, the new title you chose is a bit generic, I prefer the more humorous titles you give them like "That time Doctor Who fought baked potatoes from space", especially to someone taking a trip down Doctor Who memory lane
i like birds
22:28
I think the implication here was that, due to this specific point in time marking a several-day absence with no explanation forthcoming at any later date, the real Agatha could have been killed, then replaced with an impostor.
0000@@PlanetNateGaming
Doctor: "I need something salty!"
Donna: *brings over salt*
Doctor: "What's that?"
Donna: "SALT!"
Doctor: "No, no, that's too salty!"
Donna, *sarcastic:* "Oh that's TOO salty, of course!"
Seriously, their banter in Series 4 was some of the BEST. 😆
he doesnt understand what she means by something salty?sus
“HOW IS HARVEY WALLBANGER ONE WORD!?” 😂
The most ironic thing is when Donna referenced Clue, she should have known that Agatha Christie was inspiration for Clue
I need a shock
Something I never noticed until now is how Donna and her relationship with Agatha really reflects Donna's end fate. Agatha doesn't think she's all that good or important and goes through this growth throughout the episode, the Doctor and Donna showing her she is brilliant, only for her to ultimately forget them and everything she did (To an extent). Just as Donna's growth by the end of the series, forgetting the Doctor.
"I can understand Pompeii being fixed, because that just makes a lot of sense"
10/10 argument right there
Hes right though
Supreme Dalek on the bridge: "Explain. Explain! EXPLAINN!!"
@@pundahandz7403 we will explain later - dalek from curse of fatal death
@@pundahandz7403god, I can hear the Dalek voice…
I think the Wasp wasn't made unambiguously evil due to poor writing, but because it had taken on the persona of a killer in a murder mystery from Agatha's books, rendering it evil outside of it's free will.
Necroing a comment here but yeah, this was the actual reason.
i think the unicorn is just meant to function as a red herring really, and just makes for a cooler, more spellbinding title than "the wasp" :p
I haven't read any of her books, so learning this episode is full of references to their titles was super interesting!
Same
I haven't read any, either, but I know some of her better-known titles; I'm sure a lot went over my head, all the same
I also really liked the Doctor/Donna duo in this especially. The bit where Donna comes out all dressed up and the Doctor says 'you look lovely' was just really sweet, don't even think he was that complimentary with Rose. Just showed how good their friendship was.
*Donna, but yes, I love their friendship.
@@rkah6187 ah damn yeah 😂
these are the sorta simple yet fun episodes that the show needs in a season fits its purpose and anyone can sit down for an hour and chill have a laugh watching it
Agree, these are actually some of the most fun episodes in my opinion!
@@alessandrac7573 Yup. DW ain't DW without these type of eps imo.
Fun fact, David Tennant's dad plays one of the butler's in this story :D
Also Christopher Benjamin (Colonel Curbishley) plays Jago
@@HarboWholmes How have I never noticed that?
@@HarboWholmes and Sir Keith in Inferno
@@HarboWholmes thought it was him, couldn't remember his name unfortunately 🤣
Well at least we know the butler didnt do it
you could literally make a drinking game out of this episode. take a shot when you spot an Agatha Christie reference or one of her novels is mentioned by name (that saying please drink responsibly). When I watched this episode with my mum she spent the whole episode spotting all the references to Christie books.
omg yeah
I was rewatching the poisoning clip just before watching this video, and was curious what the "sparkling cyanide" was. Turns out, it's a book.
@@garr_inc google all the Agatha Christie book and then rewatch the episode and like take a shot(or you know eat some chocolate or something) every time a title of one of her books is mentioned in the story. It's a fun game.
I noticed several, but I'm sure there were just as many that I missed
"d-d... d-don't do that" actually had its pay-off in Midnight ;)
I remember the season 2 one with Scottish Rose and this but I don't remember the one in between, but I LOVED how he did it in Midnight with a COMPLETELY different tone
it's with Martha speaking Shakespearian to Shakespeare
Harbo: Praises nearly EVERYTHING about the episode during the review.
Harbo in the Conclusion: *It's kinda Mediocre*
Yeah that was weird for me
Harbo does that a lot, honestly.
That's Harbo for ya!
The trilogy joke of: ‘no don’t do that’ kind of finished as a quadrilogy with the ending of Midnight.
I actually love all the references to Christie's books strewn throughout the episode, because they're all references to books published _after_ these events, so they can be read as more examples of her subconsciously remembering the events and drawing on them for future novels.
18:15 We really shouldn't have to point out the concept of "Red Herrings" to you.
I love how the episode ends with the Doctor showing Donna a book and the next episode starts in a library.
Brilliant.
I know you said the Christie references feels very shoe horned in. the most subtle one is the Doctor himself. We know this Doctor's iconic outfit is either a brown or blue suit with the long coat. notice how for this episode he is in the brown suit. The Man In The Brown Suit is a Christie novel. Clever. You have to really know your Christie to spot that one.
In the original opening (with an older Christie recounting the episode) she calls him The Man in the Brown Suit, so originally it wasn't supposed to be subtle at all!
@@HarboWholmes but I like that they changed the opening allowing for that subtly .
"Doctor Who's weirdest historical?"
The story with evil jellyfish attacking a lighthouse: 👁👁
Wait hold up which one was that?
I, too, would like to know which one that is
@@elliot1111 Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock, a Tom Baker story from Season 15 with Leela and a very good story aswell!
I don’t care about the writer, I bloody love this episode
Art exists beyond its creator, no?
I don't want to sound naive, but what did the writer do or say exactly? I really like this episode but I'd still like to know what happened.
I'm in the same boat. One of my favourite episodes. Separate the art from the artist
@@joeduffy4547 He made some transphobic comments on Twitter I do believe
@@EmotionalVortex That really does suck. No wonder Harbo doesn't want to day his name.
Him being 'typically evil' could be because in murder mystery novels the villain is often evil. Not sure if this is remotely correct but just my thoughts
-And he got his whole identity from Agatha Christie murder mysteries- shouldve added that
Imo this is the most underrated Doctor Who episode.
I like how right up until the ending, you could replace the alien with a human and the story would still largely work.
Doctor Who really needs to do more stories like this, where The Doctor is on earth in the past (or indeed the present) and the conflict of the story isn’t aliens.
This is unironically one of my favourite episodes. It is my comfort episode. It is also my mum's fave cus she is a huge fan of Agatha Christie. I am too. I dunno why I love this so much. I just do. Just a shame the writer is kind of awful.
My Mum is a big Christie fan too, she used to have every single book and she still remembers most of the twists when she sees adaptations aha
@@HarboWholmes same with my mum. She always watched the TV and Movie adaptations and had pretty much all of the books. my mum never re-reads books. Like she would read a book and then donate it to charity shop once she finished it. The only exception was Agatha Christie novels. Her favourite is And Then There Were None. My mum's love of Agatha Christie novels is the reason why I love mystery style programmes and stuff on TV. I find them interesting.
What did the writer do? I heard that they were being transphobic but I’m not sure
@@frde2190 Yeah he was really transphobic and basically said that like trans people are not real or valid that like a trans woman is still a man and other stuff like that. He is trash.
Me too, and I'm not a big fan of mystery!
this was the first episode of doctor who i ever watched. i caught it randomly on my grandma's tv one night when she was babysitting me and I only caught the 2nd half (rocked up straight into the de-poisoning scene). I had so much fun watching it that I remembered the show and ended up watching all of drwho that had come out up to that point and the rest is history. here I am over a decade later having rewatched/caught up on all the nuwho eps and marathoning you series review playlist to get psyched for DT's 3 ep return to the show. this ep may not be the best on a technical story level and it isn't even one of my favorites anymore (having been knocked down by others) but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Just like the Pompeii episode, this episode is how I learned about Agatha Christie lol
I can somewhat never having heard of Agatha Christie before this but Pompeii really??
@@benstringer3133
Yes, and to add insult to injury I didn’t see the Pompeii episode until I was in high school. GENUINELY have no idea how I got so far into my life without hearing about it lol
@@camo6465 I wouldn’t worry. My friend didn’t know about the atomic bomb droppings until I told them a few years ago.. we’re 16 xD
@@hgwells1899 or maybe they just like. Have a life lmao
I've always loved these types of stories, and the aesthetics they come with. That plus Catherine and David being on top form make it a very fun time to me. Some people like Curse of the Black Spot or Boom Town for similar reasons - I like this.
It does take on a new light now, of course. Important to remember that - though he never took credit - every episode of this era is just as much Russell's as it the penned writer's (i.e., Gareth).
I think the fact that The Doctor needs a shock, and Donna proceeding to kiss The Doctor, was a perfect move as they've both established that they're nothing more than mates
Bruh I bet the Tardis remembered that the Doctor wanted to meet Agatha and decided to let him.
I really like this episode, and it's pretty clever how it foreshadows Donna getting her memory wiped with Agatha Christie's memory being wiped herself. It sets up the climax to Donna's story in quite a subtle way.
I guess you could say the story references stayed as fragmented in christies mind and that's why they were used in future books (if the timeline of releases is correct)
13:31 Was actually pretty smooth and also made me feel clever for understanding the references haha
This is one of my favorite historical episodes. I really enjoy the levity of it, and Ten and Donna's interactions are absolutely spiffing.
I always loved this episode was
Surprised that people hated it
People don't hate it, its just weaker in an amazing series
Yeah, I don't think many people actually hate it. It's a good bit of fun, but not the highest quality episode ever made.
It’s my favourite doctor who episode
I don't know anyone that hates this episode. In fact it's a series favourite among my friends.
Fun fact: the house that was used for the location shots is Athelhampton hall. This was also the location for Harrison Chase's house in The Seeds of Doom in season 13 of the classic series.
This is one of my favorite episodes to show to people new to Doctor Who, it's just so classically fun.
I actually enjoy turning to this one when I feel like a one-off episode. Its pretty mucht he only episode in the series that has absolutely no connection to any of the season arca or other episodes. It could easily just be a lighthearted short film.
Hey the first doctor who episode I ever saw!
Saw it on PBS as a kid and thought it was a weird fever dream until I found out about DW properly in HS and started watching with series 7b, was really surprised to find out UatW wasn’t just something I imagined when I watched series 4 the first time.
Doctor Who is definitely the kind of show you'd mistake for a fever dream if you don't know much about DW at all
@@StormgemThunder yuuup
He may have screwed up his career but Gareth Roberts wrote two brilliant episodes for the series revival and U&W is one of my favourites!
I've gotten into the habit of watching the episodes you're reviewing before I watch the reviews. It allows me to compare my opinions to yours.
A Horror of Glam Rock mention in a video about the Unicorn and the Wasp? That's something I never thought could be done.
Despite it being one of the "Weaker" stories of Series 4, I have a soft spot for this episode, thanks to my quality time with my Nanna watching Poirot, Midsomer Murders and most recently McDonald & Dodds. It's also a soft break from the high emotional stories of The Doctor's Daughter and the library two parter, not to mention a good stand-alone episode to introduce to new viewers or have as those one-off free DVDs from a newspaper.
It's a shame we had to wait until Series 10's "Knock Knock" for famous Poirot actor Sir David Sutchet to appear in Doctor Who, as it would have been the best crossover between the Doctor and a famous fictional character before people wanted the 11th Doctor to meet Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes.
And finally, there is, and always will be a Noddy!
Fun episode and good mistery. But i agree that the wasp being evil just for the sake of evilness was kinda lame. Maybe it could have worked better as in the second Arya stark episode, maybe if the wasp would have needed the gem for bringing his army to earth or something like that
For the Vince McMahon reference, this is my favourite HW video ever.
I was waiting for this when you started those video essays
Never really made the Black Orchid connection. Makes sense and I think they're two underrated gems.
27:44 is what Season 12 needed in Doctor Who. Just putting those issues to light without drawing attention to them as "issues" to be ashamed of works so much better as recognizing progressive ideas as normalcy. Not a challenge, not a grand opportunity to show your morals, but just life
Let's not forget Donna kissed the Doctor after he chugged a whole jar of anchovies.
One of my favourites of the new era of Doctor Who. When the Doctor reveals that the young lady was not who she claimed to be, for the reason that she said "toilet". Makes me smile.
Something I love about rhis story is that it has a shared cast member with a fan-favourite historical from Classic Who, The Talons Of Weng Chiang. The actor who plays Jago (Christopher Benjamin) is in this episode playing a character somewhat reminiscent of Jago (especially when you listen to the later audios he was in as Jago.
Christopher Benjamin is a joy to watch in all of his stories. He's even amazing in Inferno.
@@blobfish5730 I always forget about Inferno. It's been a while since I watched that story, but I love it. It also ties into the Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off series.
I'm sorry, but to say imposter syndrome is a "productive, and positive way" to improve is just untrue. There's a difference between being critical of your work, and imposter syndrome.
Yeah there's a reason why the term impostor syndrome exists. Like if it was just a way of thinking that you need to live up to expectations that other people have of you as motivation to do your best but it doesn't have a negative impact on your wellbeing then sure, that's positive but it isn't impostor syndrome. Impostor syndrome is where you believe that you do not deserve the positive feedback from your work because you're tricking people to believe you're better than you are regardless of reality. The reason why this term and subsequent studies observe this phenomenon is because it has such a negative impact on a person's wellbeing that it intertwines with depression and anxiety disorders. It can be a cause or a symptom of mental illness. In my opinion, it's more like a form of dysmorphia since the mind will twist reality to fit its own narrative like when someone has body dysmorphia, they can be the thinnest person but because their mind is convinced the body is massively overweight the mind will twist facts and distort how people perceive reality. I understand the confusion surrounding impostor syndrome as we all will doubt that we deserve good things at some point in life but that isn't impostor syndrome. It's akin to someone who likes things neat and tidy saying that they have OCD, since to public knowledge the disorders have been oversimplified to the point where natural human behaviour is ascribed to mental illness.
When I was watching this episode a wasp came into my room and I never noticed until I paused the video.
Im pretty dissapointed that this episode only got a C ranking. Because if I don't think too hard about it, this is my favorite episode (if I do think too hard, its still top 5 but can't decide its placement). But this video is well done and its arguments make sense. So im glad you didn't criticize it too hard and actually discussed it well.
Colonel Curbishley and Henry Gordon Jago (from The Talons of Weng Chiang) are played by the same person.
Top 10 pranks: #1 Inhibiting your friends enzymes
I always thought that Martha would have been great in this episode, it would have highlighted the difference between Martha and Donna. Martha wouldn’t have found the situation too much of a coincidence, because she is so much like the doctor.
I also think it would have been better served if Donna had noticed the things the guests were hiding in their flash backs (like she observes Rodgers sexuality), things the doctor wouldn’t (in this version) notice because they weren’t directly related to the crime.
All the characters are based on cluedo characters!
Professor Plum: Professor Peach
Mrs Peacock: Lady Edison
Reverend Green: Reverend Golightly
Miss Scarlet: Robina REDmond
Colonel mustard: Colonel Hugh
Mrs White: Miss Chandrakala
Bro I just wanna say. Most of us have a lot of self doubt but I can tell you as a matter of fact you are unbelievable at what you do. I have for the first time ever looked into video editing and it’s a huge struggle yet you make it look so easy. And I cannot get the confidence to commentate and you do this seemingly flawless. Keep it up!
The way everybody expects Agatha Christie to act as a crime detective like she does writting her books reminds me the movie "JCVD" where Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the rol of himself and gets involved in a robbery. Everyone expects him to act like the action hero he is on his movies, but he is just a human after all. Like everybody else.
I totally recommend that movie. It gives a interesting point of view about that concept.
"JCVD" directed by Mabrouk El Mechri
I think a celebrity historical where H.G Wells stows away on the tardis and later goes on to write the time machine would be a brilliant episode
They’ve done that already...
It’s a story called Timelash
@@DanTheMan2150AD Oh god no
@@tinykemper2561 oh god indeed.
@@DanTheMan2150AD And what a wasted opportunity _that_ was!
@@DanTheMan2150AD was that a big finish drama?
"when I mean gaint I don't mean big, I MEAN FLIPPEN ENOURMUS" love that bit
At the time the secret baby's bedroom was sealed, teddy bears hadn't been invented yet. It's pretty minor but I thought it was more common knowledge, and every time I watch it I think about how it should have been a doll or something instead.
In my ideal version of Series 4, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, and The Doctor's Daughter would be skipped. But not this one.
Series 4 has _so many_ dark episodes, it needs this one story to lighten it a little. If you did want to go full-dark then yeah, sure, get rid of this. It just leaves me wondering why Donna would travel in the TARDIS with so much trauma hahahaha
I saw on the tv tropes page where every main character in this episode was based off of a Cluedo character: Professor Peach is Professor Plum; Lady Eddison is Mrs Peacock; Reverend Golightly is Reverend Green; Colonel Carbury is Colonel Mustard; Miss Redmond is Miss Scarlett and Mrs Chandalakra is Mrs White. It’s actually very clever since Agatha Christie inspired Cluedo in the first place.
😂 what the heck was that spy kids clip
P e r f e c t i o n
I love this episode! It's one of the episodes that stuck with me through my childhood ^^
ah yes, David Tennant’s Dad’s most famous episode!
I played Clue as a kid. I loved the blatant game references. I've never read any Agatha Christie novels, but now I want to.
Start with murder on the orient express it is wild. The language is dated through
10:44 and if you have never read an Agatha Christie book before this right here is the formula she always uses. The killer is the one person that seems nice (or has a perfect alibi) so couldn’t possibly have done it. And as the Doctor states in the episode it fools you every time…. Well not every time a couple of… ok once. But it is a good once.
But why didn't they ask....Heavens!
I get the joke but who was the original concept
Didn't realise Bernard Cribbins was in Horror of Glam Rock! Now I want to listen to it more!!!
The 'typically evil' aspect could be part of the identity moment. He's behaving like that because that's what he believes he should've behaved
Are you making a Torchwood season 2 ranking series? I loved the first series you did.
I know it's not a particularly good episode, but I've always enjoyed Unicorn and the Wasp (certainly the best of the Davies historical author episodes imho.)
(Also thank you for including that fabulous clip from Before the Flood)
I always appreciated the gay characters in this episode. It's something present throughout modern doctor who, but Roger and the servant were just... there. It felt really validating as a child to see people like me. Honestly, I think the show is (in places) more progressive than shows that come out today.
Overall, this is a fun, light-hearted episode that is a breath of fresh air and flowers amidst a season filled with brooding, serious, and frightening episodes. Not only does it highlight the chemistry between the Doctor and Donna, but it reveals the great chemistry and warmth David Tennant and Catherine Tate have for each other. You can clearly see how much fun they were having making this episode. In addition, it is great to see Christopher Benjamin return to "Doctor Who", thirty years after his very memorable role as Henry Jago in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".
I feel like Doctor Who can be silly as long as the characters themselves treat the threat seriously. I... didn't get that in this episode. Agatha Christie herself treats the situation with the gravity it deserves but the Doctor and Donna are having a bit too much fun for my liking.
I think it's a well-written, well-acted episode, but designed with a very specific kind of audience in mind, which I'm not part of.
Many parallels with Tooth & Claw now I think about it. Celebrity historicals, involving a monster picking off guests at a stately home one by one, and the Doctor and companion are just goofing about and pissing off the historical celebrity.
Yeah, celebrity historicals always seem to fall into that rut, even up to the 13th Doctor. I think this episode was one of the best of them, all things considered, certainly turned out much better than Tooth & Claw.
When the Doctor took out the Death in the Clouds book, I thought it meant it would say "copyright Donna Noble" in it, lol XD
Was surprised when I looked up the cast list for the episode and found out David Tennants dad played a minor character in the episode.
the unicorn and the wasp is one of my favorite episodes-
I love the vince mcmahon cameo with the "it was me Austin!" but
"Unrelated clip from Spy Kids"
ok
not really. I think the writer for the eposide in question played a thumb I think in the Spy Kids
I watched this episode with my family and my dad asked "why does a wasp use a lead pipe?" I made the connection to cluedo before looking it up and finding this episode takes place the same year as cluedo is meant to take place. Then when Donna made the reference i was so happy
ten little ‘lovecraft cats’ 😳
This is one of my fav episodes it is just such a fun episode
I think I kind of understand when the doctor means by fixed points/time in flux. The issue with Pompeii is that the doctor would have prevented it because he knew that it happened. Therefore making his motive vanish because it would be stopped. Creating a paradox.
The reason why this event is in flux is because the wasp isn’t a time traveler combined with the fact that the doctor and Donna would have saved her regardless of knowing who she is. The wasp killing Agatha wouldn’t create a paradox because it changes none of his motives. It would definitely change the details, but not prevent it.
I think if this is actually the case then it’s just worded really weird. Although waters of mars does kind of put a hole in this theory(even if in the end it wasn’t technically a fixed point)… just a tiny bit, but it might still work. The only reason the doctor would have stayed is because he knew what would happen to them.
This used to be my favourite Doctor Who episode of all time. I absolutely adore this one
0:46 *unrelated clip from spy kids*
This episode is just plain fun, and that's why i love it! And it feels just perfectly paced too, not to hurried, not to stretched.
Hearing things like Cluedo and (while not in this video) Where's Wally never fails to remind me that Britain is actually a parallel world America that has slightly different names for everything (or the other way around)
Cluedo came first!
Cluedo was invented here! It's not our fault Americans have trouble with words of more than one syllable.
I actually live about a 20 minute walk away from the very house where it was invented.
honestly this is one of my favourite Tennant episodes
HARVEY WALLBANGER?!?!!!???!??
I love this episode, but I did decide to my own investigating when it came to Agathas sudden disappearance and reappearance, and I honestly don’t think there is a mystery behind it at all, and a mystery was only willed into existence by the media at the time.
Agatha was already in a depressed state of mind the day she went missing, and based on the fact she left a note stating where she was going, she probably drove off, got into a car accident, and some minor head trauma coupled with her depressed or stressed state of mind, probably left her in a functional dissociative fugue state where she forgot she was Agatha Christie but was still functioning and acting like your everyday person, and because the hotel was the most recent thing on her mind, she ended up going there while in this state.
For some reason during the whole thing of Agatha Christie going missing, police never bothered to actually check the hotel, since the note was discovered. Multiple people did report seeing and interacting with Agatha in her dissociative state at the hotel as well.
Eventually she found herself again, but lost her memory of her time at the hotel, but that seems to be a common thing of returning from being in a dissociative fugue state. Probably due to how the brain itemizes stuff like memories
Favorite comfort episode, lost the count of rewatchs.
I absolutely love this episode. The premise, the humour, the acting, the reveal are all great. Definitely a series favourite among the circles I'm in, I really don't have much to criticise about it.
Rather a shame about who the writer of this episode is, cause it’s very much a comfort story and has some brilliant interactions between its cast.
You have to seperate the art from the artist
I agree it’s a really good story but it’s hard to ignore that it’s written by a transphobe
@@nicolebee3283 yeah but at the same time. The story shows a very interesting and compelling set of gay characters. Seperate the art from the artist
I bloody love gareth roberts, he is great
@dr103 he doesnt hate anyones existance. All he said that he personally disagrees with gender ideology. He said so respectfully and everyone lost their shit. He is entitled to his opinion but many peopke are too intolerant to accept it.
Next review is silence in the library and forest of the dead. Also who remembers the collect and build figures of the vespiform and the battles in time cards of the vespiform?
This was the first episode of docter who I ever owned a dvd of lol
If Somone didn't know who agatha Christie and hear she's the queen of crime it's like she's a crimeboss
Start of video: Why the hell is there a random Thumb-thumb? What is this alluding to???
End of video: Nice. A+. S+. Molto bene!
The scene where all the suspects open their doors after they chase the wasp is a reference to Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express
Did Harbo seriously say, *"YEET it into the lake?"*