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.
#104 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.
#103 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.
#102 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.
#101 73 Yards (S14 – E4)
Fifteen, Ruby
The first of two Doctor-lite episodes made because Ncuti Gatwa was still filming for another series, this ep has great execution, but lousy ideas. Little is explained, and the partial explanations are frustrating. Add in a reset button and it becomes nothing but 40 minutes of stuff that happened—well acted, well filmed, but meaningless and empty. If there were some rules this could have been a great one.
Doctor: Missing. Companions: Excellent. Villain: Uncertain. Plot: Just some stuff that happened.
#100 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. Companion: OK. Villain: OK. Plot: OK.
#99 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.
#98 Oxygen (S10-E5)
Twelve, Bill, Nardole
One of the “a few people stuck on a spaceship about to die” 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.
#97 The Bells of Saint John (S7-E7)
Eleven, Clara
After a faux-Clara in The Snowman gave me every reason to think Clara would be an excellent companion, the “real” Clara appeared with a whimper. They took all the strength and joy out of her and left her as a puzzle, and as it later turned out, not an interesting puzzle. Eleven acts like he’s the one that’s new.
Doctor: OK. Companion: Weak. Villain: OK. Plot: Sucking in people…again.
#96 The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion (S9-E7/E8)
Twelve, Clara
Another two-parter with a lot of good character stuff and a disappointing ending. That’s pretty much the theme of season 9. Also, like the rest of the season, it is best not to think about what is going on too closely. So, the head of the U.N. secret organization goes on her own into a town known to have been infested with the enemy. That seems an odd plan. Not any stranger than the convoluted way the Zygons go about what should be straightforward. Could have been cut down to a single episode. I do like Evil Clara; she has style.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Good. Villains: Off-kilter. Plot: Filled with holes.
#95 Deep Breath (S8-E1)
Twelve, Clara, Paternoster Gang
The new doctor gets off to a poor start, and Clara continues her road of weakness. However, Madame Vastra and Jenny are outstanding, stealing the show when they are in it, even when they are given little to work with. When they are missing, we have a grumpy Doctor, useless Clara, and a drab enemy in robots who need human parts…again. The Paternoster Gang deserves a better story.
Doctor: Weak. Companions: Mixed. Villain: Weak. Plot: Weak.
#94 Demons of the Punjab (S11-E6)
Thirteen, Ryan, Yaz, Graham
It takes a while to get past Yaz being a dolt (Ok, the ep might get past that, but I didn’t), but once it does, there’s real emotion and a pair of deeply engaging characters. The demons are my favorite new creatures. I wished they existed in our reality. I also wish more happened and that we had different companions who weren’t so useless while also being annoying.
Doctor: Good, Companions: Bratty, Villains: Surprising, Plot: Old hat
#93 Space Babies (S14-E1)
Fifteen, Ruby
I may be giving this one a boost due to watching it first time with a young mother who really connected with the space babies in ways I couldn’t. The ep works because the basic story is good, the themes are powerful, and Gatwa is energetic and fun. But there’s problems. It’s too silly, sometimes in ways that really distract. Why is he moving the space station with gas from soiled diapers when he could take everyone in the TARIS? This is more kids show than family show. Also, RTD has stated this is a soft reboot, so he’s aiming at new viewers on Disney+. That means he’s spending time telling us stuff old viewers already know–a lot of time–and repeating (or “paying homage to” if you want to be kindly) scenes we’ve already seen in previous episodes. It’s not a bad episode, but weak for a season opener.
Doctor: Very Good. Companion: OK. Villain: Missing. Plot: Silly.
#92 The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar (S9-E1/E2)
Twelve, Clara, Missy
The ninth season kicks off in confusion. The main plot, Doctor, and villain are as boring as Doctor Who ever gets. Missy and Clara, however, are fabulous. They are a dark comedy team, high on wit, though even that sub-plot ends poorly. This combination of boring and brilliant makes for an uneven viewing experience. As a whole, it fails, but parts are great. Watch it with a finger on the fast forward button and its ranking goes way up. And watch the prelude webisode they made to go with it, which goes more into Twelve’s time in the past.
Doctor: Sleep-inducing. Companions: Witty. Villain: Poorly used. Plot: A negative.
#91 The Name of the Doctor (S7-E13)
Eleven, Clara, River, Paternoster Gang
Clara’s impossible girl arc ends with a whimper and saving her is yet another cheat. We are deep into Whovian techno-silliness with leaping into time streams. The Great Intelligence and his creatures look good but are underdeveloped. River and the Paternoster Gang are great but used poorly.
Doctor: Weak. Companions: Excellent. Villains: Lacking. Plot: Poor.
#90 Boom (S14 – E3)
Fifteen, Ruby
There’s so much good to this one: drama, suspense, commentary. But it’s also filled with really dumb people doing really dumb things, including Fourteen and Ruby, which gets tiring. The Doctor tells people to run from a nuclear bomb. Huh. If anyone spoke reasonably, then half of the problems wouldn’t occur. Start every sentence with, “There’s an explosive here about to go off, get back” and that would have at least helped. Oh, and the child is insane, and apparently has stealth abilities.
Doctor: Very Good. Companions: OK. Villain: Interesting. Plot: Good.
#89 Fugitive of the Judoon (S12-E5)
Thirteen, Ryan, Yaz, Graham, Captain Jack
The event episode of the season gives us the return of the Judoon, the return of Captain Jack, and a huge twist, one which isn’t explained, and needs to be at some point. I like everything we got, but we didn’t get enough. As is it doesn’t mean much and Captain Jack is great, but poorly used in the story. This should have been the big two-parter of the season.
Doctor: Good, Companions: Functional, Villains: Good, Plot: Unfinished.
#88 The Crimson Horror (S7-E11)
Eleven, Clara, Paternoster Gang
I can never get enough of Vastra and Jenny, and Strax is pretty funny. Think how good this would have been without The Doctor and Clara, just The Great Detective on a case, with a bit of romance and violence supplied by her wife/maid. That would have been worth seeing. Oh well. Diana Rigg is a fine villain, but the ancient worm is lacking.
Doctor: Unnecessary. Companions: Excellent. Villains: Mixed. Plot: Weak.
#87 The Vampires of Venice (S5-E6)
Eleven, Amy, Rory
Gotta love vampires, even when they aren’t vampires. It’s a fast-paced, action ep, without too much wackiness but with a reasonable amount of humor. Not a standout, but good enough.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Good. Villain: Good. Plot: Predictable.
#86 Fear Her (S2-E11)
Ten, Rose
Written specifically to appeal to children (before the darker climax of the season), Fear Her did its job. As a kids story, its pretty good, with some mild scares for the little ones and the mother/daughter stuff feels real; only the Olympic references feel too cheesy for a cynical adult. But this ep is way better than it has any right to be because of Tennant and Piper. This is Ten and Rose at at the height of their chemistry. Their relationship is what shines. There are plenty of better episodes with the two of them, but I’m not sure they were ever better. They are charming, smart, and really a joy to watch, and more, listen to.
Doctor: Excellent. Companion: Excellent. Villain: Missing. Plot: For kids.
#85 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (S7-E2)
Eleven, Amy, Rory
We’re back to a youth-oriented, rollicking adventure. Lots of jokes, lots of running. Dinosaurs. Funny robots. Not a whole lot to care about. It’s sort of fun and sort of embarrassing.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Good. Villain: OK. Plot: OK.
#84 Rogue (S14 – E6)
Fifteen, Ruby
It’s so much fun that I could mostly ignore the many, many flaws. Yeah, lots of it doesn’t make sense, people move in impossible ways (how does The Doctor plant the first two transport pieces?), and the villains’ power levels are wildly inconsistent (as are their sense of smell). Much like the game shows in Bad Wolf, I suspect all the topical references won’t age well.
Doctor: Excellent. Companions: Good. Villains: Fun. Plot: Good but dumb.
#83 Victory of the Daleks (S5-E3)
Eleven, Amy
The least serious of the Historical celebrity episodes, until we meet Hitler. Churchill is awfully cheery as people die. It was way too early for the Daleks to return. It’s down to Amy to save the episode, and luckily, she does. I like the nod to Where Eagles Dare.
Doctor: Low. Companion: Sexy. Villain: Tired. Plot: Poor.
#82 Time Heist (S8-E5)
Twelve, Clara
The Doctor, Clara, a Johnny Mnemonic want-a-be, and a mutant shapeshifter, find themselves with their recent memories erased after having agreed to rob the most secure bank in the universe. The heist story would be more fun if they had a plan instead of just finding pre-set tools waiting for them, and if there were fewer cheats. The Doctor is again overly cranky in a way that isn’t amusing, but he does get some good quips in.
Doctor: Mediocre. Companion: OK. Villain: Existing. Plot: Middling.
#81 The Haunting of Villa Diodati (S12-E8)
Thirteen, Ryan, Yaz, Graham
Yet another historical in the Jodie Whittaker era, this time with the Shelleys and Byron. Doctor Who does like haunted houses, which makes sense because it can do them well. This is spooky and twisty, with a dash of humor. Everyone gets something to do and it moves quickly. It’s the setup for the final, which doesn’t deliver.
Doctor: Good, Companions: At their best, Villain: Fair, Plot: Good.
#80 42 (S3-E7)
Ten, Martha
A horror/sci-fi bottle story, similar to Alien and Event Horizon. And like those films, this episode is played very seriously. The Doctor, Martha, and a blue-collar crew must stop a mysterious monster on a spaceship that only has 42 minutes till it crashes into a sun. It’s a good example of the troupe but doesn’t rise above it. It is also lesser than a similar episode (The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit) in season 2.
Doctor: Good. Companion: OK. Villain: Good. Plot: Good if familiar.
#79 The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People (S6-E5/E6)
Eleven, Amy, Rory
A Star Trek the Next Gen type morality/identity tale. The message is pounded on us, and then ignored at the end—which kills the pounding. Stories like this can get old fast, but there was enough here for a single ep. And what’s with Rory’s sudden behavioral shift?
Doctor: OK. Companions: Odd. Villain: OK. Plot: Morality play.
#78 Flatline (S8-E9)
Twelve, Clara
An attack by two-dimensional creatures (I don’t think the writer actually understood what two-dimensional means) leaves the TARDIS shrunk down to mini-size and The Doctor trapped within. Clara has to do all the legwork this time, and she’s the best she’s been since she was a Victorian governess.
Doctor: Not bad. Companion: Not bad. Villain: Nonsensical but cool. Plot: Good.
#77 The Power of Three (S7-E4)
Eleven, Amy, Rory
The Doctor hanging with Amy, Rory, and Rory’s dad is fun. Hanging with Unit is even better. Unfortunately, the reason he’s doing so is a huge nothing with a tacked-on ending that’s supposed to explain it all—but how does one explain a plan that stupid? Watch for the jokes, not the story.
Doctor: Good. Companions: Excellent. Villains: Weak. Plot: Weak.
#76 Love & Monsters (S2-E10)
Ten, Rose, Elton
Often placed near the bottom by reviewers, the ep is better than people remember. The Doctor is mainly absent, but Elton (the always good Marc Warren) and Ursula (the equally good Shirley Henderson) are worth spending 42 minutes with.
Doctor: Barely there. Companion: Excellent. Villain: Weak. Plot: OK.
#75 Mummy on the Orient Express (S8-E8)
Twelve, Clara
The Doctor/Clara reconciliation story is best ignored (Since the reason for it, the horrible Kill the Moon episode should be ignored) and slows the first quarter of the episode. Ignore that, and it is a fun closed-room, period-type mystery combined with a horror story, both of which work really well in Doctor Who. In fact, skipping everything involving Clara in this one would improve the episode, but no need to get picky on this one as it is the best of Season 8.
Doctor: OK. Companion: Weak. Villain: Good. Plot: Strong.
#74 The Curse of the Black Spot (S6-E3)
Eleven, Amy, Rory
Where did Amy learn to fence?
Everything in this episode is too familiar, the worst (or best) being yet another smart/stupid healing machine. The pirates are old movie types, which could be good or bad, but here is just bland. But it has Amy and Rory being Amy and Rory, so that’s good.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Good. Villain: Nothing new. Plot: Been done.
#73 Robot of Sherwood (S8-E3)
Twelve, Clara
Clara is finally given a chance to be useful and everyone is given a chance to be funny as the Doctor joins forces with Robin Hood in a tongue-in-cheek episode that still manages to have a better plot and better villains than its immediate predecessors. Capaldi finally demonstrates that he can play the role—he hasn’t found his way, but the improvement is sizable. The arrow-shot ending is a little hard to take, but that’s a minor quibble when the season shows the first signs of life.
Doctor: On the upswing. Companions: Also on the upswing. Villain: Good. Plot: Middling.
#72 The Church on Ruby Road (S14-E0)
Fifteen, Ruby
The first full adventure for Fifteen is a Christmas episode, and the show has never looked better. The cinematography is solid and the FX are miles above what we’ve had in the past. More importantly, our new Doctor is joyful, charismatic, and easily carries the show. Ruby works well in her role. She doesn’t standout as much as Rose or Amy or Clara did on their first eps, but there is potential. The story dips more into fantasy than we’ve seen in New Who, and suggests this will be the new norm. It’s a lot of fun, though aims more at children than at families.
Doctor: Excellent. Companion: Good. Villains: Fanciful. Plot: OK.
#71 The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (S7-E0)
Eleven
We had A Christmas Carol, so now we get Narnia. The Doctor is irrelevant (except for supplying a portal). This is a story of a mother rescuing her wandering children from fairyland. It is also a story of grief. It manages both of those stories well, treading carefully at times, and diving in at others. There’s a real feeling of loss and need. The Doctor may be an extra in his own show, but he acts as comic relief and this is one of the times when Smith’s gags work.
Each of the several endings is heartwarming.
Doctor: Baggage. Companions: shrug. Villain: None. Plot: OK.
#70 Asylum of the Daleks (S7-E1)
Eleven, Amy, Rory, Clara
So, what’s stupider, the Daleks calling in The Doctor to help them or Amy and Rory’s pointless and against character breakup? Yeah, it’s Amy and Rory, but there is plenty of stupid to go around. On the other hand, Amy and Rory are almost always a good time, and if you can ignore the basis of their split (it was really stupid…), they are one here. And Clara is great. She’s so good it is hard to figure out how they managed to so mess her up later.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Weak. Villain: Good. Plot: Nonsense.
#69 Pilot (S10-E1)
Twelve, Bill
A restart for the series (the title is a pun). Bill is a solid portal character. The Doctor being a professor feels homey. The strange girl has potential and I’d have preferred if they’d have spent more time with her before she became a fright-fest/god.
The ep makes all kinds of promises for a season, none of which it kept.
Doctor: OK. Companion: Good. Villain: Underdeveloped. Plot: Thin.
#68 Dot and Bubble (S14 – E5)
Fifteen, Ruby
This one is tricky to rank. It’s all satire, all the time, and that satire is harsh and in-your-face. It targets multiple things & groups: social media, modern social media users, the purposefully ignorant, the rich, supremists of all stripes, and maybe just humanity. It’s funny. It’s nasty. That’s all great. But there’s a problem with satire, in that if your main character is the representative of all that’s wrong, as she is in this case, then we hang out with a flawed person, and that’s not always fun. And this case, she’s not flawed; she is terrible. She’s the worst. I hated her from the first moment. One minute with her was unpleasant. And she only gets worse. So…Much…Worse. I didn’t want to spend 40 minutes with her.
So, it’s not really a good time watching it. But it is good. So… Ahhhhh. Yeah, this one is tricky..
Doctor: Occasional. Companion: Occasional. Villain: Complicated. Plot: Excellent.
#67 The Lodger (S5-E11)
Eleven, Amy
Amy is stuck in the TARDIS in the yearly money-saving episode. It’s all comedy fish-out-of-water stuff as The Doctor rents a room from James Corden. The monster upstairs doesn’t make any real difference. That’s OK. Matt Smith can be a pretty good comic. While it’s all fluff, it’s pretty tasty fluff.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Barely there. Villains: Weak. Plot: Barely there.
#66 The Time of the Doctor (Christmas special)
Eleven, Clara
So, was there any reason any number of ships, like the papal one, didn’t just blow up the planet instantly? Eleven regenerates after we suddenly learn the Doctor is on his last regeneration. (Really? Was there any reason not to have mentioned that a season ago and then done something with it?) We get sudden answers to multi-season-long questions that turn out not to be very interesting. And the end is a cheat. I do love the church, and Clara is quite good for Clara. It doesn’t fit together as satisfyingly as it should have, but it is about the moments, and a lot of those are good.
Doctors: Weak. Companion: Dull. Villain: Goodish. Plot: Poor.
#65 The Snowmen (S7-E6)
Eleven, Clara, Paternoster Gang
An episode that would have been greatly improved by eliminating The Doctor. He is unnecessary to the plot. Clara, Vastra, Jenny, and Strax are all that’s needed and are all wonderful. Clara would never be this much fun again while the other three prove they deserve a spin-off. Think about how good the end of S7 and all of S8 could have been if this version of Clara had become the companion.
Doctor: A drag. Companions: Excellent. Villain: OK. Plot: OK.
#64 The End of Time Parts 1 & 2 (Christmas/New Year’s special)
Ten, Wilfred
A combination of lost opportunity, stupidity, brilliance, and emotion, Ten’s era ends in weirdness. It starts by ignoring everything Ten had been leading to: The Time Lord Victorious. Oh well. Part 1 then layers on silliness: electro, super-undead, Hulk-Jumping Master; turning everyone into The Master; misusing Donna. Part 2 has its dim moments as well: Wilfred turning into a moron, and the Doctor leaping from a spaceship. Is it a problem that almost everything in the first half is just tossed away once the Time Lords show up when all that plot was terrible? Well, at leas it wasn’t boring. The Time Lords are a lot of fun, and the Master, who was so bad, suddenly becomes pretty damn good. But the high points of most of this two-parter is Ten’s emotional rollercoaster and Wilfred and his interactions.
And then we have the ending and all is forgiven: deeply emotional, occasionally funny, and thoughtful. The last 20 minutes are gold. It’s a proper ending for Ten.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Plot device. Villains: OK to pathetic. Plot: A mess.
#63 The Unicorn and the Wasp (S4-E7)
Ten, Donna
The season’s historical celebrity ep, with Agatha Christie involved in an Agatha Christie-type mystery. The solution of the mystery is less interesting than the setup, but the setup is fun. I wished they’d come up with something other than a big wasp.
Doctor: Excellent. Companion: Good. Villain: Iffy. Plot: Mixed.
#62 Dark Water / Death in Heaven (S8-E11/E12)
Twelve, Clara
Some Doctor Who episodes are good, some bad, and some both at the same time. The season 8 finale is a mish-mash of brilliant, fun, slow, and ridiculously stupid, but just don’t think about it and you can ignore the stupid. The basic setup works well—that of turning the world’s dead into cybermen. The data storage afterlife works a lot less well and only exists so that Danny can return. The season-long relationship of Danny and Clara never worked, but it is at its best here. Only Danny and the Brigadier can overcome cyber programming. Huh? Why can they? Is it love? Seems to be, which is a sad statement that no one else in a cyber body has ever felt love.
Of course, it is Missy that elevates the procedure. This is the best version of The Master (including in the older show) and she’s a riot. I can nitpick this one, but I love the statement that love is a promise too much to care.
Doctor: Workable. Companion: She’ll do. Villain: Superb. Plot: Good enough.
#61 Under the Lake / Before the Flood (S9-E3/E4)
Twelve, Clara
Doctor Who loves this type of episode: A small number of people are trapped in a secluded space with monsters. They’ve done it on a spaceship; they’ve done it on a distant station several times; they’ve done it in a library, and now they’ve done it under the sea, and they’ve done it pretty well this time,
While this double episode doesn’t stand out, it does demonstrate that Clara finally has reacquired her pre-companion personality, and Moffat and Capaldi have figured out what to do with Twelve.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Good. Villain: Nothing special. Plot: Nothing new.
#60 The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone (S5-E4/E5)
Eleven, Amy, River
A sequel has one duty beyond being a good story—don’t harm that original. Otherwise, don’t make it a sequel. They could have easily used a new monster, but instead, they messed up the Weeping Angels and so, Blink. Doesn’t help that Amy has to suddenly be a moron for the story to function. To make up for that, we get River Song being fabulous.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Mixed. Villain: Disappointing. Plot: Mixed.
#59 Tooth and Claw (S2-E2)
Ten, Rose
The second historical celebrity episode of the modern era, and like the one with Dickens, it’s a Victorian horror story, all the more so as the celebrity is Queen Victoria. It’s a nice little werewolf story. The monks don’t fit, some of the shots are weak, and a few gags go on too long, but overall a nice little Halloween-type story.
Doctor: Excellent. Companion: Good. Villain: Good. Plot: Very Good.
#58 Hide (S7-E9)
Eleven, Clara
Based on ’70s ghost hunter films–the beginning, in a gothic haunted house with a psychic, works beautifully, as does Eleven’s contrasting way of behaving. It can’t hold that level as Clara continues her decline as a character, moaning about seeing the end of the world (She hadn’t realized that The Doctor would travel forward?), and the pacing in the final act is a bit off (less running please), but all in all, a surprisingly solid effort.
Doctor: Good. Companion: Weak. Villain: Good. Plot: Strong.
#57 Twice Upon a Time (S10-E13)
Twelve, One, Bill
It leans more on nostalgia than I’d like, but new Who has rarely done it so well, and if that’s the plan, going back to the first Doctor is nice. There really isn’t a plot, although for a while the two Doctors think there is one. This is about two dying Doctors thinking about their past and if they want to go forward. The play between the two of them is good, and the nods toward your racist uncle are funny and relevant. It’s very sentimental, but then the Xmas eps usually are, and this one isn’t cloying. I wouldn’t have tossed Bill in (her ending has been mangled enough), but this is her best appearance since her first, so it worked out.
This ep is usually placed in season 11, but I’m putting it in season 10 as it has the season 10 Doctor, companion, writer, and showrunner, all of which would be changed with season 11.
Doctors: Very Good. Companion: Good. Villain: none. Plot: none.
#56 Boom Town (S1-E11)
Nine, Rose, Captain Jack, Mickey
A sequel to the juvenile Aliens of London/World War Three, it starts out with comedy, and then asks an ethical question at that same simplistic level. The comedy works better this time (fewer flatulence jokes), the message less so. Doctor Who is rarely subtle, but this is a hammer gone wild. The cheap way around its central question is…cheap. The weakest episode of the Eccleston period, which shows how good that season was as this is still a good watch. Just having Nine, Rose, and Captain Jack chat is enough to make this good TV. It doesn’t matter that a lot of this isn’t great as an hour of those three is all the entertainment I need.
Doctor: Very good. Companions: Excellent. Villain: Weak. Plot: Weak.
#55 The Wedding of River Song (S6-E13)
Eleven, Amy, Rory, River
When you no longer care about sense, but just want to go wild, you write this episode. It’s filled with cool visuals, amusing interactions, spy motifs, and attacking monsters. It’s all crazy, but crazy fun. Rory and River are great, but Amy is the big draw as a tough military-type commander. I like this ep more than its place in the ranking indicates, but I realize it is pretty dumb.
Doctor: OK. Companions: Excellent. Villain: OK. Plot: A mess.
#54 The Day of the Doctor (50th-Anniversary Special)
Ten, Eleven, War Doctor, Clara
Disappointing. The lack of imagination is breathtaking. The greatest war in history, ranging over galaxies, fought by entities who are nearly gods, is basically a few guys with hand weapons. The low-rent, rubber-suit Zygons don’t help. The weakening of the basic structure is worse. On the other hand, The Doctors chatting to each other is a lot of fun and very emotional, and John Hurt was a welcome addition to his history. All they needed to do was put these three together and sit back. I’m not a fan of them saving Gallifrey as the important moment was the two Doctor’s realizing they had done the right thing, and they shouldn’t blame their one past self. This is a good special, that should have been great.
Doctors: Excellent. Companion: OK. Villain: Weak. Plot: Poor.
#53 The Beast Below (S5-E2)
Eleven, Amy
If I was ranking on costume design, this would be one of the best episodes. Amy isn’t given enough, but Liz 10 makes it worthwhile. Hmmm. A Liz 10 spin-off? Yes. The cop-out ending kills what could have been a top-notch story. And the metaphor… My god, you do not have to pound the metaphor so much. But it does do a nice job of showing why the Doctor needs a companion and how Amy will be a good one.
Doctor: OK. Companion: Good. Villain: Philosophy. Plot: cheap.
#52 The Star Beast (60th-Anniversary Special)
Fourteen, Donna
The return of Russell T. Davies, David Tennant, and Catherine Tate is a celebration. The story is fine, but the story isn’t the point. This is all about reuniting The Doctor and Donna and that is done as well as any fan could have wished. Their dialog is witty most of the time and emotional when needed. It’s joyful. The two problems our heroes must face, that of the Star Beast and the meta-crises, are handled far too easily and quickly, which would be a real problem if any of that mattered. The production is the best the show has ever looked, which is icing.
Doctor: Excellent. Companion: Excellent. Villain: Fun. Plot: Good Enough.
That’s it for The Middle.
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