Part 2 of ranking all the Doctor Who episodes (Top 3rd, Bottom 3), and the main thing to take away from the middle 3rd was how close together they all are. The bottom 3rd had far greater range with some terrible eps and some pretty good ones. These are all good, and I wouldn’t have a lot of trouble swapping them about in the rankings. Yes, 97 is not a winner the way 49 might be, but there is nothing here not worth watching once, or twice, or maybe more. I sound a bit grumpy with these, but only because I’d rather, in reviewing, focus on what should have been better than what is already excellent. The excellent has no need to improve.
The middle section is ruled by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.
#98Â The Idiot’s Lantern (S2-E7)
Ten, Rose
A weak, middle of the season ep. There usually is one, and at time of first broadcast, this was the weakest the show had been. Ah, those were the days. In general, this feels like the earlier, more juvenile version of Doctor Who. There is some satisfaction in seeing the fascist get his comeuppance, and both the political and television-related themes are solid (always amusing to see a TV show attacking TV). But the real joy here is in Ten and Rose interacting. At this point, the two of them together are fun no matter what they are doing, which is handy as they aren’t getting much help this time.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Missing too long. Villain: Weak. Plot: Weak.
#97Â Night Terrors (S6-E9)
Eleven, Amy, Rory
Another non-arc horror story about an alien child that’s not getting enough love. It seems to be a re-write of Fear Her, and I can’t think of any reason why you’d want to revisit that episode. The Doctor isn’t bad, and Amy and Rory are entertaining. Too bad they didn’t have a better story.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Good. Villain: Weak. Plot: Seen it before.
#96Â Nightmare in Silver (S7-E12)
Eleven, Clara, Annoying children
Gaiman’s a good writer, but you wouldn’t know it from this, although if he was assigned the plot of children at an amusement park and the Doctor fighting himself, there isn’t much he could have done. Why would you write this and not kill the children? Clara doesn’t bring much, but she’s more amusing than the Doctor. The only time Clara worked with children was in The Snowmen, but they just kept trying, and failing.
Doctor: Weak. Companion: Weak. Villains: Weak. Plot: Middling.
#95Â The Rings of Akhaten (S7-E7)
Eleven, Clara
The main things this ep establishes is that Clara is going to remain weaker and less fun than her two earlier incarnations. Bad space scooter FX, and the music gets cloying. Not surprising when, once again, love saves the day.
Doctor: OK. Â Companion: OK. Â Villain: OK. Â Plot: OK.
#94 The Return of Doctor Mysterio (S10-E0)
Twelve, Nardole
After a twelve-month drought following the spectacular The Husbands of River Song, this is one of the most disappointing moments in Who history. It isn’t a bad episode; it isn’t significant enough. It is emotionally empty. Since superheroes are all the rage, they added a costumed superhero to the Who universe, but they had no idea of what to do with one and nothing to say. There are some lackluster villains and a forgettable story. Twelve is in pretty good form but that’s not enough to make this memorable.
Doctor: OK. Companion: OK. Villain: Weak. Plot: Poor.
#93Â Oxygen (S10-E5)
Twelve, Bill, Nardole
One of the âa few people stuck on a spaceship about to dieâ eps that Doctor Who loves so much. This is weaker than a majority of the others but is strong for season 10 with an emphasis on theme. The look at capitalism is solid.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Good enough. Villain: Good. Plot: Good.