The Green Death - Broadcast and Reception

Broadcast and Reception

Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping gave the serial a favourable review in The Discontinuity Guide (1995), though they noted that it "patronises the Welsh". In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker felt that the story was "nicely set up", although the script resorted to stereotypes with the hippies and the Welshmen. While they noted that the story "suffers from an over-reliance on CSO" and the acting of the Global Chemicals employees failed to impress, they praised the maggots and Jo's departure. In 2010, Mark Braxton of Radio Times described The Green Death as "entertaining, frightening, poignant and important". He also felt the CSO was "woeful" but the maggots a success, and additionally praised the moral and cultural messages. In 2012, SFX named Jo's departure as the fourth greatest companion farewell, noting how it was the first time the Doctor was "truely upset" since leaving Susan. In 2009, they listed the scene where a giant maggot approaches Jo as the eighth scariest Doctor Who moment. The magazine also listed the scene where the Doctor dresses in drag as one of the silliest moments in Doctor Who's history in a 2010 article. In 2013, Ben Lawrence of The Daily Telegraph named The Green Death as one of the top ten Doctor Who stories set in the contemporary time.