The Episode Titles Of Fatal Death

Two weeks after BOTIS’s idea of reusing evocative Who titles, here’s an SFX forum thread on the best titles of the era. Which suit the “Doctor Who And The - ” format and which don’t?

There’s also The Vortex Oracle which randomly generates Whovian titles cut up from existing ones, and plot points to boot, like so:

The God Madness
A disaster must be averted before it ever happens.
A disembodied brain crackling with psychokinetic force.
A ship on a mission.
Lovers, separated by a powerful force.

And of course I’ve done this kind of thing before once or twice.

So, anyone fancy dropping a dozen or so titles on me?

In the meantime, inspired by BOTIS’s post, here are a few quick wilful misreadings of some of the titles so far revealed. Cut for SPOILERS:


Asylum Of The Daleks
This could basically go one of two ways - “political” or “insane”. Let’s go with “insane”. A Dalek POW kept in a secure unit, out of its armour and floating in a tank, about as cooperative as Van Statten’s example to the doctors trying to make it talk and using psychology to do so. It wants out, it wants back in its armour and free, it wants to do some exterminating, and it does not want to see any more Rorschach ink blots.

Dinosaurs On A Spaceship
As mentioned above, this puts me in mind of the immortal SNAKES ON A PLANE. So... we’re on a spaceship in the far-ish future, and someone with access to time travel really wants someone aboard killed, so...

The Gunslinger
The Western was going to be called this, apparently. It’s clearly a Western title, but the idea of people who live and die by their weapon skills is universal. Duelling with pistols in the late 18th Century, futuristic laser fighters, fighter pilots - or the other tropes that attach to the archetype, like the old fighter putting up his guns or the young buck looking to prove himself with a quickdraw contest. How would a not-so-keen-on-violence type like the Doctor deal with someone looking to trade on his reputation for defeating monsters?

A Town Called Mercy
Yes, the Western still undeniably sounds like a Western, but the name of the town is also a point of interest, so go with it... “Mercy” is the name of the leading medical facility in a heavily-populated solar system. (If it’s good enough for Mercy Heights and Mercy Point...) and like any facility with a staff of thousands and an open door to emergencies from a crossroads of multiple spacelanes, it doesn’t always run smoothly. Remember: this is a kindness.

Cubed
Rather close to Cube, so let’s consider a less gory option... The characters wake up, alone, in 10’x10’x10’ cells, with a voice from no obvious speaker announcing that their sentencing will begin shortly...