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io9: "Every Single Doctor Who Story, Ranked from Best to Worst"

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T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Don't know a lot of these, but then I'm not a huge Doctor Who fan. Blink is definitely the best that I've seen though. It's so damn clever, and probably the only episode I've seen that actually uses the time travel mechanic properly. I love how it works so brilliantly despite the Doctor barely being in it.

Is there a place to watch all episodes short of torrenting them? I'm going to assume that the BBC does not keep all of them online as that would affect DVD sales.

meow said:
I stopped paying attention after The Angels Take Manhattan. That episode destroyed me. Somehow I have vague recollections of the episodes from then until Day of the Doctor, but I must not have watched them very carefully.
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I didn't particularly like or dislike that episode, but my wife and I could not take the penis head evolved Dalek seriously.

EDIT - got my episodes mixed up. I am thinking of The Daleks Take Manhattan.

Oidisco said:
I haven't seen any of classic Who (yet!) but out of the modern series episodes in the list, I'd have put Waters of Mars at the top. It's easily my favourite episode along with Midnight.
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The Waters of Mars is really fucking creepy. It's more like a John Carpenter film than an episode of Doctor Who.
 
B

Boem

Member
Triggerhappytel said:
Is there a place to watch all episodes short of torrenting them? I'm going to assume that the BBC does not keep all of them online as that would affect DVD sales.
Click to expand...

The entire modern show is on Netflix, all regions I think. Some regions also have a selection of the classic show.

Other than that is the BBC iPlayer (don't know how far back that goes) and services like iTunes.
 
E

Exterminieren

Banned
Actually, blustering aside, the biggest injustice here is how low The Enemy of the World is. 213 is ludicrously low for a serial with that level of ambition, scale and style. Honestly, I might have it in my top 20.

Also, The Celestial Toymaker is the worst shit the classic series ever put out, and its presence above anything is an insult to those stories.

179) Warriors of the Deep (1984) - The Silurians and Sea Devils team up to start a nuclear holocaust in a future version of the Cold War. If you can ignore the horrible special effects and cheesy acting, the overabundance of subplots and zany action are well worth it. Ends with a surprisingly poignant note.
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Pfff.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
Exterminieren said:
Actually, blustering aside, the biggest injustice here is how low The Enemy of the World is. 213 is ludicrously low for a serial with that level of ambition, scale and style. Honestly, I might have it in my top 20.

Also, The Celestial Toymaker is the worst shit the classic series ever put out, and its presence above anything is an insult to those stories.
Click to expand...

I've not listened to CT. Is it really worse then Zarbi?

Though I have just noticed Paradise Towers IS below the web planet. whaa?
 
D

Diprosalic

Banned
77) The End of the World (2005) - The Doctor takes Rose to see the destruction of Earth, in the far future, showing that some things are inevitable—and then they’re nearly killed by a disaster of their own. It’s all a way for the Doctor to share his grief over his people’s death.
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i have a sweet spot for that episode. was my first one.
 
P

Protome

Member
The Girl In The Fireplace is still probably my favourite Doctor Who episode, Dalek is up there too and probably a couple of other Tennant episodes. Not sure I'd put many of the Matt Smith era episodes anywhere high in a list except The Doctor's Wife, Vincent And The Doctor and Day of The Doctor, which appear to be the only three that have made it high in the io9 list too so I guess I agree with them quite a lot.

Skimming this list has also reminded me how great a return to form the Capaldi series was. Looking forward to the new stuff.

Also, fuck this list. The Doctor's Daughter is great.
 
T

Tregard

Soothsayer
Personally I thought the ending to Listen was completely unnecessary and actually didn't do the concept justice, it's a much better episode without it.
 
oneils

oneils

Member
In the context of Dr. Who, what does a story mean? Is that an arc over several episodes? Seems so because I would think the Doctor has over a thousand episodes.

Is there anyway to watch some of the classic stuff on a streaming site like Netflix? Canadian Netflix starts its the 2005 series.
 
P

Protome

Member
Tregard said:
Personally I thought the ending to Listen was completely unnecessary and actually didn't do the concept justice, it's a much better episode without it.
Click to expand...

I agree, it was a fun episode despite that though.

oneils said:
In the context of Dr. Who, what does a story mean? Is that an arc over several episodes? Seems so because I would think the Doctor has over a thousand episodes.

Is there anyway to watch some of the classic stuff on a streaming site like Netflix? Canadian Netflix starts its the 2005 series.
Click to expand...

It was on US and UK netflix last I checked, but that was a while ago. I think also Amazon Prime? They even had an official youtube channel with the classic episodes, that might still be kicking around.
 
S

SomTervo

Member
Boem said:
They (the production team) say a female Doctor at one point is possible, and it's possible in the 'lore' of Doctor Who (the Master is female now), but I honestly don't think it'll happen anytime soon. I would be fine with it for the change, but it would be a very difficult. I don't think it's the BBC being sexist, I just think it's them being careful with the format of one of their most successful shows. It would make multidoctor stories a lot more interesting though.

There's no reason we won't get a black or asian Doctor soon though. Just like with James Bond, it's about time that happened. Not just to be politically correct - a lot of non-white kids watch this show as well, and it can only be good for that generation for one of their heroes to look anything other than white.

I always thought Mos Def as Ford Prefect in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie would make a great Doctor (and obviously the character was originally written as a weird version of the Doctor):

hq28qjutqvngwp8udwlq.jpg


I think the universe might implode if you play Ford Prefect and the Doctor in the same lifetime though.
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Agreed on all points. Also agreed on Mos Def as a potential Doctor (although I personally didn't like Mos Def as Ford Prefect at all. I think that defeated the joke of Ford Prefect being a totally generic man from Guildford living in the West Country.)

Exterminieren said:
It's absolutely on the table, and the recent casting of Michelle Gomez as the Master has made a woman playing the Doctor all-but inevitable down the line.

People have a go at Moffat for stuff like this, but he's canonised the possibility of a change in gender in regeneration with the Master, as well as the possibility of a change of race (when River Song regenerated into Alex Kingston, she went from a mixed-race actress to a Caucasian one).
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Yeah this is good stuff. I can't wait for it to happen.
 
oneils

oneils

Member
Protome said:
I agree, it was a fun episode despite that though.



It was on US and UK netflix last I checked, but that was a while ago. I think also Amazon Prime? They even had an official youtube channel with the classic episodes, that might still be kicking around.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I watched the show as a kid, but don't remember much about except for the creepy daleks and creepy music. I might check out the 2005 onwards stuff.
 
L

locke_21183

Neo Member
Boem said:
The entire modern show is on Netflix, all regions I think. Some regions also have a selection of the classic show.

Other than that is the BBC iPlayer (don't know how far back that goes) and services like iTunes.
Click to expand...

If you have Freeview and are in the UK, then there's a channel called Horror that shows 2 episodes every day, multiple times that day. They run fairly randomly through the classic series with a modest selection of stories, so if you want to watch a few from each Doctor it's a really good way of doing so.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Protome said:
It was on US and UK netflix last I checked, but that was a while ago. I think also Amazon Prime? They even had an official youtube channel with the classic episodes, that might still be kicking around.
Click to expand...

Classic Who has never been on UK Netflix, to my knowledge. Certainly isn't now.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
oneils said:
In the context of Dr. Who, what does a story mean? Is that an arc over several episodes? Seems so because I would think the Doctor has over a thousand episodes.
Click to expand...

Depends on classic or nu who.

In classic who, each serial would be fairly clearly labeled as such - 10 episodes comprise "The War Games", 4 episodes comprise the following serial "Spearhead in Space", and whilst some plot points can move from one serial to another (the transition I use as example is one where this happens), they are very clearly seperate serials.

In Nu Who it can be slightly more oblique - if you are looking at an episode listing, it can be hard to see, as rarely does nuwho use "Part 1/Part 2". It's mostly rather obvious within the story(for example at the end of "The Impossible Planet" the situation is unresolved, and it picks up straight away in the next episode, "The Satan Pit"), and of course the writer will always remain the same. It gets a bit harder to tell when there are common threads and the same writer though - some people see Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey's End as one story for example, while others think that Turn Left stands on its own. Same with A Good Man Goes to War/Let's Kill Hitler. Other then those two I think all of io9's story groupings are fairly logical (though of course I disagree with many of the positions).
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Just having a look over it - glad to see The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit pretty high (#28). That's a great and really creepy two-parter, and I like that despite all his knowledge and experience, the Doctor is facing off against something even he doesn't understand.

Although at the same time, I'm surprised to see Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords at #32. I thought that story was really fucking awful. John Simm was really fun as The Master, but he was given a shitty storyline.
 
I

Ignatz Mouse

Banned
SomTervo said:
Agreed on all points. Also agreed on Mos Def as a potential Doctor (although I personally didn't like Mos Def as Ford Prefect at all. I think that defeated the joke of Ford Prefect being a totally generic man from Guildford living in the West Country.)
Click to expand...

Ford is also supposed to be cool, despite being at something of a loss for social customs and the like. Mod Def played the role as more dorky than hip.

I generally liked the movie, but Ford was played wrong, IMHO.
 
I

Ignatz Mouse

Banned
I recently watched The Caves of Androzani and it was surprisingly good (as most of the classic Who I've seen has been slooooow, padded, and sometime dumb). but I don't know if I'd rate it quite so high. I'm glad I didn't realize it was held in such high regard or I'd have probably been let down. Still, I loved how intricate the plot was and pretty poignant as well.

I also would not rate the TV movie that low, largely because I think 8 is great, and I loved Eric Roberts cheesing it up. Messing with the lore and the forced love interest keep it down, though.

What I really take from this list is that I need to watch more Tom baker episodes.
 
T

TedMilk

Member
For me it'd be Blink first, then Dalek, then the two-parter with WW2 and gasmasks (forget the name).

I love Capaldi but the writing just isn't there anymore IMO.
 
R

Rimon-hanit

Member
Triggerhappytel said:
Just having a look over it - glad to see The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit pretty high (#28). That's a great and really creepy two-parter, and I like that despite all his knowledge and experience, the Doctor is facing off against something even he doesn't understand.

Although at the same time, I'm surprised to see Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords at #32. I thought that story was really fucking awful. John Simm was really fun as The Master, but he was given a shitty storyline.
Click to expand...

Well, Utopia was great from start to finish, and I think it was self contained enough to stand on it's own, but yeah the other two parts are pretty much a few unrelated strands of ideas with varying levels of quality and development connected by more then one implementation of a deus ex machina.

Dalek said:
Utopia has the greatest cliffhanger to a show I've ever seen. I was basically standing up and yelling at the TV.
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It is a great cliffhanger but it's also open ended enough that you can shove almost any master plot in their, who's to say the master didn't
use the Tardis to crate the matrix heaven featured last season
 
F

Fine Ham Abounds

Member
meow said:
I stopped paying attention after The Angels Take Manhattan. That episode destroyed me. Somehow I have vague recollections of the episodes from then until Day of the Doctor, but I must not have watched them very carefully.

However, most of the ones that popped into my head as the episodes I thought were really great are in the top 21 here. I'm feeling like I should restart watching.
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You know now that you mention it, I've been watching Who since I was 4, and yeah, I think that was about the time I went from "catch it every week" to "I'll just watch the whole series one weekend next year"

The Sunmakers below Robot of Sherwood? C'mon bruh
 
L

Lord British

Member
Can't access the list here, what did they say about The Happiness Patrol and Timelash?

The former is one of my very favourites and very misunderstood.
 
S

SpacePirate Ridley

Member
Fear her down in hell were it belongs.

I only hate doctor who when is boring. Thats probably the worst trait a doctor who episode can have. BORING. Being a bit silly, I dont mind if you turn the premise fun.
Thakfully there are not a lot of those super boring episodes in Doctor Who, at least in the new era.

Lord British said:
Can't access the list here, what did they say about The Happiness Patrol and Timelash?

The former is one of my very favourites and very misunderstood.
Click to expand...

Timelash is in the last position. The Hapiness Patrol is in 130.
 
D

Dalek

Member
Rimon-hanit said:
Well, Utopia was great from start to finish, and I think it was self contained enough to stand on it's own, but yeah the other two parts are pretty much a few unrelated strands of ideas with varying levels of quality and development connected by more then one implementation of a deus ex machina.
Click to expand...

Utopia has the greatest cliffhanger to a show I've ever seen. I was basically standing up and yelling at the TV.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
Dalek said:
Utopia has the greatest cliffhanger to a show I've ever seen. I was basically standing up and yelling at the TV.
Click to expand...

I'd put The Best of Both Worlds part one & The Stolen Earth above it.

Mainly because both those shows had cliffhangers where we genuinely didn't know whether the main character would be back the next episode (rumours were swirling at the time of BOBW that sir patrick was leaving the show). With Stolen Earth I was thinking RTD had pulled off keeping a lid on the biggest secrets in one of the leakiest shows going until I saw Journey's End lol.

"There's More Than One of Everything" at the end of Fringe season one is incredible too (do NOT google that if you haven't seen it though, it'll spoil it).
 
B

BTails

Member
Oh, we're doing lists now? Okay then, best 3 episdoes for each Doctor (in no particular order):

Hartnell: An Unearthly Child, Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Romans
Troughton: Tomb of the Cybermen, Macra Terror, War Games
Pertwee: Inferno, The Daemons, Invasion of the Dinosaurs
Baker: Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, Seeds of Doom
Davison: Kinda, Earthshock, Caves of Androzani
Baker: Vengeance on Varos, Two Doctors, Mysterious Planet
McCoy: Remembrance of the Daleks, Ghost Light, Curse of Fenric
Eccleston: Dalek, Empty Child/Doctor Dances, Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways
Tennant: Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Waters of Mars
Smith: Amy's Choice, Vincent and the Doctor, Hide
Capaldi (so far): Mummy on the Orient Express
 
K

kingocfs

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
Personally The Girl in the Fireplace is my favorite, followed closely by Blink and Vincent. Good list though.
Click to expand...

I'm still catching up but I'd have to agree with this.

In terms of my least favorite: the last ep I watched was The Rebel Flesh and I couldn't make it through the whole thing, first time that's happened for me.
 
S

spunodi

Member
Lists? I like lists.

Hartnell: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Troughton: ... I really need to watch some
Pertwee: The Sea Devils
Baker: City of Death, Genesis of the Daleks
Davison: Caves of Androzani
C Baker: Trial of a Timelord saga (for lack of other options)
McGann: Night of the Doctor
Eccleston: Father's Day, Boom Town, Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways (and others; I love his doctor)
Tennant: Human Nature / The Family of Blood, Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords, Waters of Mars
Smith: The Eleventh Hour, A Good Man Goes to War / Let's Kill Hitler, Day of the Doctor
Capaldi: Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, Dark Water / Death in Heaven

I'm sure I'll be called out on some of these :)
 
E

Esiquio

Member
So...I have always been overwhelmed by how much Dr. Who material there is. I don't have time to watch a lot, so if I want to watch some of these episodes alone, will I understand anything?
 
M

munchie64

Member
Esiquio said:
So...I have always been overwhelmed by how much Dr. Who material there is. I don't have time to watch a lot, so if I want to watch some of these episodes alone, will I understand anything?
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If you know the basic premise you should be able to understand. Although I watched all the new series in order, I randomly watch the old stuff and understood it ok.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Just watching Hide (S7, Ep 10) on Netflix right now. Good episode - didn't think I liked Smith all that much, but he's good here. I didn't like Amy very much so maybe I just prefer watching it without her. Any other good ghost stories or creepy episodes I should catch up on from NuWho? I watched it fairly regularly up until the Smith/Moffat era.
 
D

Dalek

Member
Triggerhappytel said:
Just watching Hide (S7, Ep 10) on Netflix right now. Good episode - didn't think I liked Smith all that much, but he's good here. I didn't like Amy very much so maybe I just prefer watching it without her. Any other good ghost stories or creepy episodes I should catch up on from NuWho? I watched it fairly regularly up until the Smith/Moffat era.
Click to expand...

Hide is fantastic-there's another "ghost" story of sorts in Season 8-"Listen".
 
T

Toxi

Banned
MrChom said:
Midnight. In the top 10.

Well this list is clearly off to a bad start from there. I'm not even sure how something that drawn out and dull even manages the top 100.
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Midnight is perfection. I'm not sure how it could be drawn out at 45 minutes long, especially when it's some of the most unique 45 minutes of Doctor Who.
 
JeTmAn81

JeTmAn81

Member
Ok Whovians, I finished Caves of Androzani. What exactly makes that episode so special? I had no investment in the continuity, had never seen any of those characters or Davison as the Doctor before. It just seemed like an average scifi story with the expected cheesy 80's soundtrack and rubber suit stuff. Morgus
pushing the president down an elevator shaft
was laughable. The baddies in general were fairly ridiculous, though I guess Jek was interesting. Why is this revered?
 
U

User 100115

Banned
So glad Midnight made the top five, but I honestly think it's better than Blink.

/ducks


Waters of Mars should have been higher too.
 
D

Dalek

Member
I'm in the group that doesn't like Midnight either. It's basically an entire episode of when you tell someone "Stop copying me!" and they respond "Stop copying me!"
 
U

User 100115

Banned
Dalek said:
I'm in the group that doesn't like Midnight either. It's basically an entire episode of when you tell someone "Stop copying me!" and they respond "Stop copying me!"
Click to expand...

I think I loved it because I am super into psychological horror and they took something mildly annoying that children do and made it fucking terrifying. And the fact that the Doctor didn't win, and we never know what it was was amazing too. Fandom doesnt even have a name for it, just 'The Midnight Creature' He was tramatized by that lol.
 
M

Menome

Member
Not a bad Top 10, but it's Doctor Who: No two fans will ever have an identical list!

For instance, I'd personally have Vincent & The Doctor way, way down the rankings. Bloody awful episode, but I put that down to disliking anything Richard Curtis has written since about 1994.
 
I

Ignatz Mouse

Banned
I assume people who didn't like Midnight don't care for Hitchcock's Lifeboat, either.

I think it's an amazing episode.

Gridlock, on the other hand, can bite me.
 
V

Vincent Alexander

Member
I must be one of the few who couldn't stand The Doctor's Wife. Good idea on paper. Poorly executed.

Vincent and the Doctor was good, but the final scene was waaaay too cheesy.

Besides that, I like the list.
 
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