Doctor Who: The not so definitive ranking

Spoilers for all of Doctor Who (2005-Present)

Since its triumphant return in 2005 with Russell T Davies at the helm, Doctor Who has been a mainstay of British television, changing the facing of popular culture in the process. It scored legions of fans and for over ten years has spawned an incredible amount of television with hundreds of episodes, sketches and spin-offs.

Despite the loyalty of some fans wavering over the last couple of years, myself included, Doctor Who is still the cultural phenomenon that it was back in the 60’s and 70’s and has proven itself time and again to be one of the best shows on TV.

With series 10 having just finished, I now will try to rank all ten seasons (worst to best) of the BBC’s flagship show as best I can. It will, of course, be my opinion. I love Doctor Who as a show and despite the weaker last few years, I believe that the show will always go through good and bad periods, by way of the shows nature.

I’d be interested in what you think.

So, here we go.

10. Series Seven

I don’t have as much of a problem with Stephen Moffat as other people but I do think that his storylines were sometimes too all over the place and self-indulgent to the point of terrible. This particular disappointment was none-more-so evident than in series seven, which split it’s 13 episodes (plus a Christmas special) over two years.

I hate how the creators felt the need to split the show over so much time. It wasn’t fair to the fans, especially when most of the episodes were a bit rubbish. The first half of the season saw us wave goodbye to the Ponds, which was full of emotion but lacking in well-written logic.
Then we met Clara Oswald for the first time and despite some good stuff here and there, it kind of sucked that her character existed solely for the purpose of The Doctor.

This characterisation got a modicum better later on but it proved how much of a missed opportunity series seven was. Then Steven Moffat spent too much time on the myth of The Doctor, making him face death every series and making his character way too downbeat and dour in the process.

After The Doctor stared death in the face in Season Six, it was too much for him to be contemplating his own existence yet again. I know it was all build up to the 50th but cmon, stop pontificating and retconning the timeline.

Though Day of The Doctor was fine, I didn’t like the TimeLord retcon, I hated the 2013 Christmas special, Time of The Doctor, with a passion. It was the episode that finally made realise how much I had been forcing Doctor Who to be good over the previous two seasons.

Best episode:-
Name of the Doctor – Though Clara’s timeline jaunt was a flat explanation for what was a flat mystery, the episode that surrounded it was a creepy, well thought out pre-cursor to the 50th-anniversary special.

Special Shoutout to Rings of Akhaten – Not many people like this one but I do. The music was nice and the speech was a great display of Matt Smith’s talent.

Worst episodes:-
The Bells of Saint John – Flaccid, monotonous and painfully ridiculous. It’s startlingly unmemorable and the bike driving up The Shard is head-smackingly stupid. Worst. Episode. Ever.

Journey to the Centre of the Tardis – Crushingly disappointing. Like most of the season, it had potential but was let down by poor writing and unfocused ideas.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – Please, stop trying to be quirky and oddball for the sake of it. This is possibly my least favourite episode of Doctor Who. God awful.

Nightmare in Silver – What happened here, Neil Gaiman?

Time of The Doctor – Badly written, drawn out and a hollow goodbye for the excellent Matt Smith. His last scene and line are melodramatic nonsense and the sneeze regeneration is a complete tension killer. Also, when David Tennant said, “New Teeth” that was funny. When Matt Smith said “Still got legs” that was a nice callback. By the time Peter Capaldi comes along and comments on his new kidneys, it’s so much been there done that it completely wastes any potential for greatness.

Yeah, I didn’t like it.

9. Series Eight

When Series Eight began, I was on a Doctor Who downer, one that not even Peter Capaldi could help. I was never a big fan of Clara, not to do with the performance but how she was written and the whole story with Danny Pink, whilst an improvement on the last season, still felt a little tacked on.

There were a couple of good episodes but ultimately the entire series was decidedly poor with Doctor Twelve being undefined and sometimes unlikeable.

Best Episodes:-
Mummy on the Orient Express – Old school romp that I can see every previous Doctor doing

Flatline – Both of my favourites from this season were written by Jamie Mathieson. A classic Doctor-less episode and a good showcase for Coleman.

Special shoutout to Listen – Started as a conceptually different and interesting episode but eventually succumbed to needing to explore The Doctors past

Worst episodes:-

Into the Dalek – I remember hating this one. Only episode two of a new Doctor and you trot out the Daleks again. Once again destroying the mythos of a once scary foe.

Robot of Sherwood – Not really one for this particular period setting. Felt like they started at a funny title and went with it.

8. Series Nine

Of all the odd structures of Moffat’s previous series, the concept of filling a series with multiple two-parters was partially successful. There was no real arc and a few cool concepts and stories. Capaldi came to his own a bit more and Clara left twice (only one of them was a decent goodbye)

There was a lot of rubbish to wade through however but there were some real gems hidden amongst it. Maisie Williams was a fascinating new character and for the first time in years I was sort of excited for new Who

Best Episodes:-

Under the Lake/Before the Flood – Good old fashioned fun with some smart twists and cool design.

Heaven Sent – Of course. I watched this episode when I was in America and I was blown away by it. Audacious, beautifully written, directed and performed with an incredible concept. Usually, I hate it when The Doctor lives hundreds of years off screen but here I didn’t mind at all. A real gem.

The Girl Who Died – An incredible setup. Decent fun adventure with some key information for filling out a key mystery and setting up the immortal girl in one incredible moment towards the end. I was genuinely excited for the possibilities of this episode afterwards.

Worst Episodes:-

The Woman Who Lived – A massive disappointment. Set in one time and following a rather boring story about highwaymen. Despite some great moments regarding her centuries of loneliness, the episodes failed to deliver on the promise of its predecessor. What a letdown.

Sleep No More – Wut?

Magicians Apprentice/Witches Familiar – The first Dalek two parter went back to the pool of convoluted Moffat stories and again stretched the mythos of the show into tiring territory. Though young Davros was frankly the biggest surprise I’ve had from the show in years the rest of the episode was indulgent and embarrassing. The Doctor, a tank and a guitar. Clearly, Moffat just went with quirky for the sake of it again.

Hell Bent – It looks good, is performed well but again the fault comes down to the writing. It’s a mess.

7. Series Six

A little underrated actually, despite having an arc that loosened Moffat’s grip on the show, there were many excellent individual episodes.

Look, I liked River Song when she was introduced and even in series six I was somewhat interested in her story but by The Wedding of River Song I was just confused and annoyed. Stephen Moffat is a great writer and I respect him when he’s good. Yet, when he’s bad, I wish I wasn’t watching Doctor Who.

I loathe the fact that The Doctor was always facing his own mortality. Did anyone, at any point, ever think that he was really going to die? No. Also, stop trying to make River Song happen.

Best Episodes:-

The Doctors Wife – Neil Gaiman, Suranne Jones and Michael Sheen. It was a beautiful fairytale.

Let’s Kill Hitler – Apart from being damn fun, it also felt like it had stakes and it explored River Song’s character in genuinely interesting ways, in particular, her previous forms.

The God Complex – Creepy and old school with enough mystery and a classic Sci-Fi twist

The Girl Who Waited – Karen Gillan gives the performance of her career. This episode is in the same emotional leagues as The Next Gen episode The Inner Light. Lovely and emotional.

Worst Episodes:-

Rebel Flesh/Almost People – The Doctor’s has a flesh clone thingy? That’s the best cliffhanger you have? Just bland.

Closing Time – The Lodger was good but this was a cheap pantomime with awful jokes and so much forced quirkiness that it felt like it was only made only so it can be giffed on Tumblr.

The Wedding of River Song – Moffat, always trying to top himself (to be fair that started with RTD). The end of the Universe wasn’t enough, Time had to end too and at no point when he was thinking about funny things like trains and Churchill did he ever try to make any of it make a damn bit of sense. Plus it took the River Song story to confusing lengths and I care not for The Doctor death fake-out.

6. Series Two

Going back a while now. David Tennant was a hit from his first moment and it was soon going to be clear that he was going to help make the show what it would then become. His first series had some rough patches but overall it nailed its series arc and the sad departure of Rose was a tore de force.

Plus, back then, seeing Daleks and Cybermen together was the most incredible thing you’d ever seen on Television.

Best Episodes:-

School Reunion – A tricky choice out of the first six as they’re all pretty good but I have to go for the fantastic re-appearance of Sarah Jane, which went on to spawn another Who spin-off. Plus Tony Head is always good.

The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit – A personal favourite that’s as creepy as it is bold. A bit of Alien, Sunshine and 2001, it mixes hard Sci-Fi with religious concepts and feels like it could make its own series. Not many Who episodes can do that. It also gave us The Ood. Who doesn’t love The Ood?

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday – The peak of my childhood. The first episode is funny and wistful but it has an underlying current of tension as you know that something bad is going to happen. Doomsday is frankly a masterpiece. It tore our hearts apart and was one of the only final episodes to improve on its predecessor. The moment where we think she’s going to the void but is grabbed by her dad mid-fall is the purest example of hold your breath, jaw-dropping Television.

Worst Episodes:-

The Idiots Lantern – Kind of absurd and way over the top. Maureen Lipman is terrible. This episode is just a bit ok but not much more.

Fear Her – Rose doing it by herself and the scary dad are quite good. The rest is kind of meh.

5. Series Three

Martha doesn’t get enough love. She left the Tardis off her own damn back and she saved the world single-handily to boot. A good arc plot and plenty of great episodes made series three memorable but it was the self-determination of Martha frickin’ Jones that made this series a success

Best Episodes:-

Gridlock – An ingenious Sci-Fi concept and the third part of the Boe trilogy. An endless traffic jam where all life takes place could be the basis for a film let alone 45 minutes of children’s entertainment. It was fun, funny and smart plus just a little heartbreaking.

Human Nature/Family Blood – A solid idea with two wonderful performances from our central duo and a pre-war setting that shivers with foreboding. Plus The Family were terrifying and David Tennant got a chance to stretch his acting abilities

Blink – The high concept episode that draws in non-fans, like Buffy did with Hush, Blink creeps the hell out of us and sends us cowering behind our seats. It’s a classic for a reason.

Utopia/The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords – For me, Utopia is the real stand out as I love the idea of the very end of the universe but all three episodes brilliantly build up a real threat from The Master and pretty much all work. Though the final may go a bit too far with The Doctor/Jesus metaphor, the three episodes put together are brilliantly written and terribly exciting and the triumphant return of Captain Jack is reason enough to celebrate.

Plus, MARTHA FRICKIN’ JONES.

Worst Episode:-

The Lazarus Experiment – More about set up than containing its own story, this episode was wrong-footed by a campy performance from Mark Gatiss and an awful CGI creation

4. Series Ten

A real surprise for me as I found myself enjoying each new episode week after week. Capaldi finally, truly cemented himself in the role and Bill was introduced as the sweet, down to Earth companion with no mystical connection to The Doctor and happened to be a gay POC.

Matt Lucas did surprisingly enjoyable work as a quirky side character who never became annoying and the re-introduction and redemption of Missy gave Michelle Gomez an opportunity to play more than a caricature.

Stephen Moffat took out the convoluted arcs and timey-wimey nonsense of his yesteryear and instead told some more straightforward stories. The episodes all built up to a superb final two-parter with some smart Sci-Fi concepts, emotional character arcs and wonderful performances that cemented the series as one of the very best of New Who.

Best Episodes:-

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls – Great concept, terrifying Cybermen, made me cry and love Capaldi and Missy more than ever before. Smart, emotional and a really great closer.

Thin Ice – Classic Who adventure romp with The Doctor punching a racist. Simple.

Extremis/Pyramid/Lie – Series ten is great but it is flawed. The 3-parter in the middle of the series has issues but overall it’s bold enough to tell a large story. As a whole, it doesn’t leave much of an impression but there are tonnes of great character moments and touches throughout that make it a great watch.

Worst Episodes:-

The Empress of Mars – Sorry Mark (Gatiss), you haven’t written a decent episode of Who since Davies days. This episode has a funky concept but is poorly executed

The Eaters of Light – Not a bad episode by any means but not entirely memorable either.

3. Series Four

I divide season four into two very distinctive halves. I don’t like any of the first seven episodes, they’re a mix of awful ideas and stupid monsters and despite the return of the incredible Donna Noble, the first half of the series felt dreary and slogging.

However, the latter six episodes are a tour de force that goes from strength to strength, starting with the fantastic Library two-parter and ending with one of the more bombastic yet heartbreaking finales in Who history.

To the episodes.

Best Episodes:-

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead – A genius concept (Library planet), the introduction of River Song (back when she was a mystery), a terrifying foe (Pirhana in the air) and a two-parter that mixed emotion, humour and an intricate, nuanced story that had lasting repercussions on the mythos of the show. Creepy and intelligent = perfect Who.

Midnight – You thought it was just Moffat who could do big concept episodes huh. This is one of the smartest, creepiest episodes in the whole Who cannon and you genuinely fear for The Doctors life because he so utterly loses control. Impeccably written, shot and performed. A masterpiece.

Turn Left – This episode could only work because of the four years RTD had spent building up his world of Who and it effortlessly comes to fruition in this superb alternate history version of the last couple of seasons. I get chills every time I see the Titanic crash into London and half of Britain becoming refugees is startlingly dark and grim. Plus we get to see Rose again and Catherine Tate acts everyone off the screen.

The Stolen Earth/Journeys End – The Stolen Earth is a fist pumping, thrilling hour of television, where we reconnect with a number of New Who’s best and brightest. There’s a real sense of scope when the Earth is stolen and we see a number of different locations and I positively get chills when you see the reactions of Sarah Jane and Jack to the sound of the invading Daleks.

Plus, one of the most shocking cliffhangers in TV history as we think they’ve snuck a surprise regeneration upon us. If only it wasn’t such a cop out. However, despite Journeys End suffering from being less than it’s predecessor, it still has many superb moments and one of the saddest moments in the Whoniverse as The Doctor must erase Donna’s memories to save her life. Terrific.

Worst Episode:-

Partners in Crime – The Adipose are stupid. Even for Doctor Who, they are stupid. I hate them and I hate this episode because of them.

2. Series Five

Stephen Moffat did a lot to remove the good will of his first crack at showrunner but I must say that I love his first year on the show. Firstly, it was one whole series instead of split in two and secondly, Matt Smith was instantly fascinating as the first Doctor after the wildly successful David Tennant.

Smith’s take on the time lord was playful and silly, with more than a hint of darkness under his skin and even though the series tried to coin lots of fandom appropriate catchphrases and quotes, the arc plot worked because it built real stakes and based its new characters in a history of their own.

Amy Pond and Rory Williams were great new characters and had strength and vulnerability in equal measure and though there could be an uncomfortable dynamic between them and The Doctor, they eventually developed into a loving and layered couple.

Also, River Song was remarkably more interesting than what she became.

Best Episodes:-

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone – Reintroducing the Weeping Angels was a risky move for Moffat but thankfully the episodes mostly did them justice (except for the whole walk like you can see thing). River was great and the second part went to an interesting place as the crack in the universe came back in a big way and set up the rest of the season.

Amy’s Choice – Toby Jones, some wonderfully imaginative science (Cold sun) and some wonderful weirdness courtesy of the alien elderly make this one of the most underrated episodes of New Who. Plus, it was great to see Amy make a big decision.

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang – Though I have a problem with how each showrunner feels the need to top each series finale with something bigger, due to the interwoven history of Amy and The Doctor, this time, it worked. The universe ended and the eye of the storm was in a museum, which gave the second part a beautiful and engaging feel to it.

The Doctor gave a great speech, Murray Gold absolutely nailed his beautiful score, we got some answers to some jacket related questions and the fairytale themes of the series were wrapped up in a nice way. It was well crafted and masterful.

Worst Episodes:-

The Vampires of Venice – Pretty standard fare that does nothing new or remarkably interesting.
1. Series One

Despite all of the great stuff in the eight series that followed, for me now, series one is where it’s at. The show had a rich and darker feel, with the right amount of humour and a small amount of pathos. Christopher Eccleston is phenomenal and plays the part of ravaged war survivor expertly. He’s the right balance of bristly and loveable and his short time as Doctor was faultless.

He is the first Doctor I saw and the one that made the biggest impression.

Billie Piper as Rose Tyler set the standard for tough and loveable companions and she defined the early series. Her character journey was well defined and proved that the show was at its best when it was more about the companion than The Doctor.

Also, her family were endearing and the introduction of Jack only added to the series. There was silliness, yes, but the moral questions each episode posed were grown up and proved that this was a show that would set a standard for modern television.

Best Episodes:-

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances – World War 2, gas mask zombies, Captain Jack, “Go to your room”, “Everybody Lives”. A perfect two-parter that set the standard for scary, smart and funny and proved that this was a show that was here to stay.

Boom Town – I could’ve gone Dalek or Fathers Day but I want to go for this because it’s underrated. Not only did it perhaps inspire Torchwood but for a few glorious scenes it had The Doctor, Rose, Jack and Mickey all having a great time together before things went to crap. There’s also a wonderfully moral message to the episode.

Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways – Where do I start. Two of my favourite moments in all of Doctor Who are these lines “You were fantastic, absolutely fantastic and do you know what? So was I” and “Coward, any day” A sad farewell to my favourite Doctor and a superb two-parter that made the Daleks scary and gave Jack his immortality.

Worst Episodes:-

The Long Game – Sort of by default really. I don’t enjoy this episode a whole lot but it was important for the series story arc. Adam was awful, so perhaps that’s why.

So there we have it, my personal ranking of all ten series of (New) Doctor Who. I’ve not really bothered to mention any of the Christmas specials here because not even the best ones are that good.

Soon they’ll be a season eleven to add to the ranks and a twelve and a thirteen. Doctor Who is ever changing and its future is a long one. As long as the people in charge make good decisions and don’t get hung up on the past then they’ll always be love for the show.

Now it’s time to wait excitedly for the reveal of the new Doctor.