Individual episodes that were a little more ambitious than all the rest

[Sebastian Cobb]

i'm sure I remember an episode of diagnosis murder where dick van dyke did a kind hearts and coronets and played every member of the same family. it was shit.

There was one where Jack Klugman plays a murderous doctor.

Actually looking at imdb he was in it more than once as he also played an LAPD agent.

[biggytitbo]

When Terry and June got stuck in a Belfry for the entire episode and were forced to confront the dark secrets from their marriage.

[non capisco]

The one where Alfie was on a mission to buy condoms was a cracker, a welcome bit of comic relief when you consider how miserable things often are on the square.

If I remember rightly one of Shane Rags' attempts to buy johnnies was thwarted by some people committing armed robbery on a chemists but with supersoakers instead of guns.

Of course as we all know the most ambitious episode of Eastenders was the one where Grant and Phil go to Spain and eat a Gutbuster fried breakfast each in real time as the camera circles slowly round them and "sort of pixie music" plays in the background then after a punishingly long pause Phil Mitchell goes "Gorrrrr! I could go annuva wunna them, bruv!", which definitely happened no fuck off it did I cannot accept that it did not. Arthouse Eastenders.

Biggytitbo once mentioned on here an early episode where Arthur Fowler went on a gameshow dressed as a mouse and against all odds that actually turned out to be true.

[colacentral]

Late Night with Conan O'Brien did a claymation episode.

The Simpsons did a lego episode apparently, though I never watched it.

The South Park episode "Kenny Dies" where everyone takes Kenny dying as if it's real. I remember at the time that all the fans online assumed it meant that Kenny was dead for good and went mental complaining on the forums. Matt and Trey later came out and said that it wasn't intended that way, just intended as a joke that for some reason the death is being treated seriously, but after all the fan outrage it gave them the idea to go ahead and keep the death permanent. Only lasted a season in the end, of course.

The "Great Expectations" episode of South Park which follows just Pip is great; so too is the Terrance and Phillip episode "Not Without My Anus."

There's also the season three "meteor trilogy" which follows each kid individually on the same night over three episodes.

[Brundle-Fly]

When Harry Cross (Bill Dean) very briefly returned to Brookside nine years after he left the show. The character was suffering from dementia and thought he still lived in his old house. Glum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJlzb8lObqY

[mr. logic]

The Sopranos episode set during two different Christmases (one mid-nineties; the other during the show's present day) that zig-zagged between the two years in that brazen way the Sopranos often did things.

The best bit is when Chris, talking about the Grinch, says that they should make it into a movie starring Jim Carrey. The audience all groan- flashback episodes can never resist that sort of joke. Except that moments later it's revealed that Chris was actually speaking in the present Christmas universe, and the film starring Jim Carrey already exists. He just hasn't realised.

I fucking love The Sopranos.
 

[Phoenix Lazarus]

New Doctor Who has so many of these that it sometimes seems like it's the rest of the show being
unambitious...

Season two's much-loathed Love & Monsters is told by an unreliable narrator in a choppy fashion, sometimes using archive footage, and ends completely deranged.

Three has Blink, in which The Doctor and his companion barely appear, and the story unfolds like an elaborate puzzle, with a clever double use of a brief bit of video footage.

Four has Midnight, which is a bottle episode constrained to three sets (with two of them barely glimpsed) that mostly consists of characters talking, as the unseen monster transmits itself through language.

It also has Turn Left, in which - due to some time trickery - The Doctor dies right at the start and the companion watches the world go to shit as a bunch of world-ending plots that The Doctor stopped in previous episodes occur in his absence, and Britain slides into a fascist hellscape.

Five has Vincent the Doctor, which takes time out from wacky adventures to talk about the torment of depression and visualise Van Gogh's unique vision in a very lovely way.

Six and seven probably have notable episodes, I dunno, I'm typing this quickly and nothing's coming to mind.

Eight has Listen, which is The Doctor having a nervous breakdown with no monsters or villains in sight.

Nine's stand-out is Hell Bent, which is The Doctor talking to himself about grieving, then ends with a twist/montage that is jaw-dropping.

Ten has Extremis, which is the first is a terrible three-part story but is actually brilliant in of itself, sliding inexorably from wacky intro to a massively dark, weird ending, and the final two-parter which has a grand high-concept setting (a spaceship where time runs differently in different sections due to its proximity to a black hole) and balances that with two villains, Cybermen, body horror, a mystery, battle scenes and a great speech about what makes The Doctor The Doctor.

Eleven has Arachnids in the UK, which is an astounding examination of what a story would look like if you got every conceivable thing wrong about it.

Utopia I found to be quite the mini-epic.  The variety and quality of incidental music in that, alone, made it like a mini-movie, as did the emotional swings, from comedy at the start, with Captain Jack riding the Tardis, to the solemnity of the escape plan from the end of the universe, to pathos, with Professor Yana weeping, to edge-of-the-seat drama.  Rarely have I ever seen any TV or film scene done as atmospherically as the lead-up to the revelation about Professor Yana, then its aftermath.

[Shaky]

Quantum Leap had a fair few of these across it's five seasons (especially the final series when they got a bit desperate):

- The one where Sam trades places with Al and is able to return to his own time for a bit.

- The one that sees Sam leap outside his own lifetime and into the American Civil War (breaking the main rule of the show)

- The Halloween episode where Al is "possessed" by the Devil

- The batshit silly final episode where God/Time/Whatever takes the form of a Bartender and pulls an "It's A Wonderful Life" on Sam. The series hastily
   ends with some bleak onscreen text because the show had been cancelled.

- The shows with the "evil" leapers as they were genuinely a big surprise at the time. The complete lack of explanation made the whole thing quite
   unsettling.

[beanheadmcginty]

Plane crash episode of Emmerdale.

[Gerald Fjord]

The Sopranos episode set during two different Christmases (one mid-nineties; the other during the show's present day) that zig-zagged between the two years in that brazen way the Sopranos often did things.

The best bit is when Chris, talking about the Grinch, says that they should make it into a movie starring Jim Carrey. The audience all groan- flashback episodes can never resist that sort of joke. Except that moments later it's revealed that Chris was actually speaking in the present Christmas universe, and the film starring Jim Carrey already exists. He just hasn't realised.

I fucking love The Sopranos.

I have absolutely no recollection of this episode and it sounds great

[Hemulen]

Six and seven probably have notable episodes, I dunno, I'm typing this quickly and nothing's coming to mind.

Series 6 has The Girl Who Waited - a three-hander between the main cast on a minimalist set.

Series 7 has Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, the novelty of which is hopefully self-explanatory.

Also, whilst I'm at it, from what I've seen so far of the classic series (currently midway through Davison's era)...

Hartnell
(I could have picked loads from this era really because they were so obviously trying out any mad idea they could get away with and seeing what stuck)
- The Edge of Destruction. Bizarre bottle episode set on the TARDIS with everyone going slightly mad for two episodes.
- Planet of Giants. The TARDIS crew are accidentally shrunk to insect size with hilarious life-threatening consequences.
- The Chase. The Daleks chase the Doctor through time and space with notable stops including the Empire State Building, the Marie Celeste and a Haunted House theme park.

Troughton
- The Mind Robber. Surreal story where the crew end up in "The Land of Fiction", which appears to be a pocket dimension where normal time/space rules don't apply.

Pertwee
You could say his entire era is an ambitious departure, but...
- Inferno. Specifically the middle episodes where the Doctor hangs out in a parallel universe where the Brig's evil because he has an eyepatch.

Baker, T
His stories are all over the shop so it's hard to single out any particular one that goes too far in a particular genre/direction, but...
- Warrior's Gate maybe? That one has a lovely dreamlike quality to it.

Davison
- Kinda, which seems to be 4 episodes of overwrought subtext with some vague semblance of a plot begrudgingly grafted onto it (this might read as negative but I bloody loved it).
- Black Orchid - a short "pure historical" long after the show had abandoned this style of story.

[Bently Sheds]

There's an episode of Banshee (3rd series, I think) where the gang break into a heavily guarded army base and it's all filmed from the viewpoint of their helmet cameras. Well good.

[holyzombiejesus]

There was an episode of Lovejoy once where he'd lost his mojo.

[imitationleather]

There was an episode of Lovejoy once where he'd lost his mojo.

Did he go to WHSmiths and buy another copy?

[St_Eddie]

Brian and Stewie in the safe in Family Guy. It's not one of the best IMO, but it is one where they've tried to do something different.

That's the only episode of Family Guy that I like.

- the Eastenders episode that is just Dot Cotton monologuing on her own on a sofa.

The only episode of Eastenders that I like is the one where blokey is on a mission to procure a condom.

EDIT: Ah, I see that it's already been mentioned.

The x-files episode, Postmodern Prometheus (the Cher loving deformed guy) in particular.

That's a good episode but not the only one that I like.

[holyzombiejesus]

Did he go to WHSmiths and buy another copy?

No, he stopped using his gift for profit, rediscovered his love for antiques and it just came back.

[St_Eddie]

The Halloween episode where Al is "possessed" by the Devil

There's also an episode with a vampire.  The plot sees Sam debunking a supposed vampire as a hoax but then a coda reveals that there was an actual vampire all along.  Barmy.

[Bad Ambassador]

There's also an episode with a vampire.  The plot sees Sam debunking a supposed vampire as a hoax but then a coda reveals that there was an actual vampire all along.  Barmy.

Also the one at an excavation in Egypt, where people are dying because of a mummy's curse. Turns out one member of the expedition is killing off the others to steal the treasure, and gets stuck in the tomb... at which point the mummy really does come to life and kills him horribly, witnessed only by Al because he walked through the wall to see what all the screaming was. The scariest TV moment of my young life.

[Bad Ambassador]

With regard to other "weird" Doctor Who stories/episodes:
Mission to the Unknown: a single-episode prologue to The Daleks' Master Plan, featuring none of the regular characters.
The Celestial Toymaker: the TARDIS is captured by an immortal being who demands mortals play games with him - if they lose, they become his toys forever.
The Gunfighters: the closest DW has got to a musical, with a song running through the serial in lieu of score and the whole thing having a light comic tone.
The Androids of Tara: The Prisoner of Zenda, but with android replicas instead of doubles. Again, largely a light comedy adventure.
The Happiness Patrol: A planet where unhappiness carries an immediate death penalty, lead by someone who definitely isn't Thatcher. A sledgehammer subtle parody of Britain in the 80s, with an obvious gay rights subtext. It's been noted that this only got made because no one on the sixth floor was paying attention any more.
The Doctor's Wife: The TARDIS's essence is distilled into a woman, allowing the Doctor and her to communicate properly for the first time. Potentially a terrible idea, but it leans into the title concept and results in a rather lovely romance. Suranne Jones as the humanised TARDIS is perfect.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

The Happiness Patrol: A planet where unhappiness carries an immediate death penalty, lead by someone who definitely isn't Thatcher. A sledgehammer subtle parody of Britain in the 80s, with an obvious gay rights subtext. It's been noted that this only got made because no one on the sixth floor was paying attention any more..

If that was a satire of Thatcher, who was the Kandyman meant to be?

[Bad Ambassador]

The notion of 80s capitalism, killing with sweeties.

[St_Eddie]

Also the one at an excavation in Egypt, where people are dying because of a mummy's curse. Turns out one member of the expedition is killing off the others to steal the treasure, and gets stuck in the tomb... at which point the mummy really does come to life and kills him horribly, witnessed only by Al because he walked through the wall to see what all the screaming was. The scariest TV moment of my young life.

Ah, yes.  At the risk of sounding like a 'member berry, I too remember that one.

[mr. logic]

I have absolutely no recollection of this episode and it sounds great

Series three. Regarded as one of the weaker ones, I believe.

[Norton Canes]

Nine's stand-out is Hell Bent, which is The Doctor talking to himself about grieving, then ends with a twist/montage that is jaw-dropping

That's Heaven Sent

In the classic series the Jon Pertwee story Carnival Of Monsters sees the third Doctor (SPOILERS! And I really would recommend even Who haters watch this brilliant story) arrive inside a Miniscope, a portable machine containing miniaturised humans and monsters from different time zones and planets, all brainwashed and forced into playing out endlessly-looped dramatic scenarios for vicarious spectators. There are lots of very meta concepts and dialogue relating to how viewers perceived Doctor Who itself in the 70's; at one point the Moniscope's showman owner proclaims "Our purpose is to amuse, simply to amuse. Nothing serious, nothing political", and when the story's giant reptilian monsters the Drashigs appear, he delightedly exclaims "My little carnivores. Ho, ho, they're great favourites with the children, you know, with their gnashing and snapping and tearing at each other".

[A Hat Like That]

the opening episode of Carnival of Monsters is great, with the two story lines just doing their own thing.

I read the Target long before I ever watched the episode, so in my head, this:



was a LOT more frantically paced. And the guy's wig stayed on.

[Rizla]

Biggytitbo once mentioned on here an early episode where Arthur Fowler went on a gameshow dressed as a mouse and against all odds that actually turned out to be true.

It was called "Cat and Mouse" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h96vI03l0eE and was the smart-arse answer to the classic smart-arse question "so what's on BBC1 at 7.30 in the 'stenders universe?" I've not checked if it is on at 7.30 in the clip there, but he didn't dress as a mouse, although I thought I remembered that he did too, that'll be yer Mandela Effect again eh.
EDIT no, he did dress as a mouse later on, I did no research.

[mojo filters]

The Buffy "Once More With Feeling" episode is an absolute masterpiece. Even more impressive when you learn about the genesis, especially Joss Whedon's musical inexperience.

My only significant criticism is that they rushed the individual DVD release to market, compromising on dated matrixed Dolby that was later fixed to discrete surround tracks, when the full S6 boxset was released. Not that big a deal, but back then I had a permanent home with an ever-evolving mid-market 5/6/7.1 surround system I was constantly upgrading as the tech improved to trickle down just below the THX certified kit.

Nevertheless that DVD saw a lot of action. I'm still feeling the scars from two ex-girlfriends who thought my obsession with that episode was a simple attraction to Sarah Michelle Gellar or Alyson Hannigan. It also taught me the valuable lesson that young ladies are not necessarily interested in the technical differences between matrixed VHS Dolby surround decoding, versus 6 or 7.1 discrete high quality DTS soundtracks...though that's their problem!

The flip side was that the whole of the rest of Season 6 seemed to suffer as a result of all the work involved in producing that one outstanding episode, becoming the least coherent season of Buffy in my opinion. Thus I guess it was easier to flatter via that one special episode.

I remember not long after it was broadcast, Aaron Sorkin was interviewed (maybe Charlie Rose?) and talked about a musical he'd backed out of due to creative differences. He referenced all the obvious musical follies such as "show don't tell" and "tell the story through the songs, sung-through style" that caused him to fall out with that potential project as he didn't feel his skillset would constructively add anything.

Although I've seen lots of musical theatre as a kid, I never really gave much thought to the structure. It was interesting to hear such an accomplished writer basically reference everything perfect about Once More With Feeling, that made it sit so neatly into the overall Buffyverse.


I'm a big M*A*S*H fan, but I wouldn't say that final episode (mentioned above, Hawkeye and the bus/chicken/baby etc) was especially impressive. It is undoubtedly ambitious in scope, but exploited the "appointment viewing" captive audience through excessive broadcast length - though I appreciate for the time, it was a triumphant ratings success, deserving of recognition considering how the show evolved over 13 seasons.

I prefer the early era / Larry Gelbart episodes, when Hawkeye was charmingly cynical without being overwrought, and Trapper wasn't encumbered with the faux, cheap sentimentality subsequently exploited and easily invoked by BJ's wife and/or kids.

Captain Tuttle from late in season 1 is probably my favourite episode. It pushes the boundaries of the network sitcom format, simply through using the superficially simple story, to offer several layers of viewer interpretation; all relevant way beyond the typical Vietnam/Korean war original dynamic - yet sitting perfectly coherently within that nascent first season, the latter albeit entertaining but not yet showing the promise of 12 more fruitful seasons.


It's obviously a cliché to notice how badly many episodes of Star Trek TNG have dated. However The Drumhead bottle episode looks as good now as it did way back then.

Whilst I still enjoy watching all the good Star Treks, from TNG through DS9 to Voyager, I have no interest in reading whatever fanfic or other stereotypical fat Simpsons comic book guy type amateur musings appear when you search for information about anything specific.

Hence I might be wrong but have no desire to check it for accuracy...The Drumhead as I recall, was written and conceived as a cost saving measure, caused by budget overruns on the preceding season.

Additionally my understanding is that his quality direction of that episode, led the production team to better assess the directorial capability of Jonathan Frakes - as used to good effect in subsequent episodes, plus a couple of very decent movies!

[mothman]

With a few notable exceptions - the aforementioned "Improbable" starring Burt Reynolds as God - really there's very little to recommend The X-Files past season 7. That's when it should have ended. And s7 contains a few quite out-there eps I love - "Je souhaite," "all things" and "Fight Club." Recently however I've fallen in love with "Rm9sbG93ZXJz" from the last season. It's really quite extraordinary. Unfortunately I inadvertently deleted it off my PVR so that's that.

[Phil_A]

Quantum Leap had a fair few of these across it's five seasons (especially the final series when they got a bit desperate):

- The one where Sam trades places with Al and is able to return to his own time for a bit.

- The one that sees Sam leap outside his own lifetime and into the American Civil War (breaking the main rule of the show)

- The Halloween episode where Al is "possessed" by the Devil

- The batshit silly final episode where God/Time/Whatever takes the form of a Bartender and pulls an "It's A Wonderful Life" on Sam. The series hastily
   ends with some bleak onscreen text because the show had been cancelled.

- The shows with the "evil" leapers as they were genuinely a big surprise at the time. The complete lack of explanation made the whole thing quite
   unsettling.

Also the episode where Sam leaps into a mental patient undergoing shock treatment, which causes him to start flipping into the personalities of people he's previously leapt into. Which was also a clever way of filling in some gaps in the lore of the show regarding what happens to those Sam has leapt out of them and how they process the experience, which they never really went into detail about up till then. And also Al does a rap.

The Buffy "Once More With Feeling" episode is an absolute masterpiece. Even more impressive when you learn about the genesis, especially Joss Whedon's musical inexperience.

My only significant criticism is that they rushed the individual DVD release to market, compromising on dated matrixed Dolby that was later fixed to discrete surround tracks, when the full S6 boxset was released. Not that big a deal, but back then I had a permanent home with an ever-evolving mid-market 5/6/7.1 surround system I was constantly upgrading as the tech improved to trickle down just below the THX certified kit.

Nevertheless that DVD saw a lot of action. I'm still feeling the scars from two ex-girlfriends who thought my obsession with that episode was a simple attraction to Sarah Michelle Gellar or Alyson Hannigan. It also taught me the valuable lesson that young ladies are not necessarily interested in the technical differences between matrixed VHS Dolby surround decoding, versus 6 or 7.1 discrete high quality DTS soundtracks...though that's their problem!

Didn't they also bungle the aspect ratio as well? I remember on VHS(and presumably the original broadcast) that episode was framed in full glorious cinematic ratio, but on the DVD boxset it was just standard 16:9 framing(which was a botch-up in any case as the format for every other episode should've been 4:3, a fact that has also escaped the individuals responsible for fucking up the HD remaster).

That show had some extraordinarily ambitious episodes, but most all I think "The Body". For a show that had such an initially fluffy premise to be the vehicle for such a cold hard look at Real Death is pretty astonishing. And in isolation it's still a stark and shocking piece of television.

[imitationleather]

The episode of Cavegirl set entirely in a lift.