Doctor Who is the longest-running live-action science fiction series in television history (via Guinness World Records). Beginning in November 1963, the BBC told space and time adventures featuring the titular Time Lord for 26 years straight. Following its quiet cancelation in 1989, there was an American TV movie released in 1996 that unfortunately failed to ignite interest in reviving the series back as was intended. Then, in 2005, the show was brought into the 21st Century and has been running continuously ever since.
The Doctor is an alien with the ability to travel anywhere in time and space via the Tardis (which looks like an old, blue, British police Box, but is infinitely larger on the inside). Thanks to being an alien, the Doctor can also regenerate their body at the moment of death. This is why so many actors have played the role over its 60-year history. Although the Doctor can conceivably regenerate into any gender, only male actors were cast in the part. That changed in 2017 when Jodie Whittaker was announced as the first woman to ever officially take on the role. As monumental a casting decision as this was by new showrunner Chris Chibnall, it was not without controversy (per The Guardian). Now that the dust has settled, and both Whittaker and Chibnall have completed their Tardis tenures, it’s time to take a look at the work produced and judge each story based solely on the finished product and none of the nonsensical discourse surrounding them.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
23 Legends of the Sea Devils
BBC Studios
This one-off story featured excellent production values, phenomenal costume design, and the return of a classic monster – but the story fails to measure up. It appears as though huge sections of the episode were edited out and restructured to a point where all tension was removed, and the characters came across as improperly motivated puzzle pieces that didn’t fit together.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
22 Arachnids in the UK
The title suggests that giant spiders would be running around the UK like eight-legged kaiju, but all the action is limited to a handful of characters who aren’t all that interesting (even our main cast) running around an empty hotel. Also, Robertson, the greedy Trump-like businessman is an example of a potentially interesting antagonist (even if he is played by Chris Noth) being set up with absolutely no follow-through. That is an unfortunately common trend during this era of the show.
21 Kerblam!
20 Orphan 55
Some would argue that this is the single worst Doctor Who story of all time, but that’s a tad harsh. Orphan 55 is a stellar example of the stories of this era needing more time to develop. Had this been a two-parter, there would have been more time to establish the characters, develop relationships, and introduce the climate change message more organically. Still, the sets are great, the costumes feel very 80s Doctor Who, and all the performances are solid. Besides, even if it was handled poorly, the message is an important one.
19 The Woman Who Fell to Earth / The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
Whittaker’s first full story as the Doctor is a bit of a disappointment. The show looks excellent, Whittaker is super committed to the role, and the rest of the cast is superb, but the story just builds and builds with no satisfying payoff. Tzim Sha is not an interesting enough villain to bring back for the season finale, but they do anyway. The finale itself has fascinating concepts, but the story is too concerned with unveiling the return of Sha rather than giving time to the more engaging elements. Graham deciding not to seek revenge for Grace was important, but resolved a little too conveniently. Not the best bookends for Whittaker’s first year.
18 The Ghost Monument
Whittaker’s second full adventure begins another troubling trend during her era: a fun, action-packed story juxtaposed with somber but gorgeous cinematography and music. This episode looks like a prestige A24 drama set on an alien planet. The filmmaking is begging for a deep, complex story with themes that challenge the viewer and composer Segun Akinola’s score fits that mood perfectly. There are heavy moments for sure, but the pace moves so quickly that it feels like the scenes should be more fun and exciting than they are. It’s a bizarre tone that never quite meshes.
17 The Tsuranga Conundrum
Another story that would work better as a multi-part adventure, The Tsuranga Conundrum has a bunch of characters on a cool ship trying to survive as a tiny alien with an enormous appetite eats its way through their power supply. Character conflicts and world-building are set up at such a breathless pace that we barely have time to process everything before we’ve reached the conclusion. Had we spent more time with the man having a baby or Eve and Durkas, then this ending might have blown us away. As it is, the viewer is left at the end thinking, “So, it’s over?”
16 Spyfall
The two-part opener to season 12 is super uneven with a lot of superlative details that fail to drive the story forward, but once O reveals himself to be the Doctor’s nemesis, The Master, the story finally finds its footing. This is where Whittaker’s era starts taking big swings and promises to take the Whoniverse (for better or worse) in some wild directions and the change is palpable. Plus, it’s fantastic to see the Master chase the Doctor through time by just surviving and playing the long game.
15 Ascension of the Cybermen / The Timeless Children
Season 12’s two-part finale is divisive, to say the least. While some see the revelation that the Doctor is the Timeless Child and her DNA served as the basis for Time Lord society as a problem, others feel it opens up the universe wider than ever and makes the Doctor’s origins truly mysterious again. At the same time, Ashad, the Lone Cyberman is frightening, intimidating, and tragic, and the Master’s plan to create a new race of Time Lord Cyberman is totally bonkers. These episodes are not a cohesive, satisfying story, but they’re certainly never boring either.
14 Praxeus
Another story about the dangers of pollution, Praxeus makes its message known early on and drives the point home with some effectively unsettling scenes of body horror. The story moves quickly with characters who feel like genuine people caught up in a terrifying situation, and the Doctor’s final rescue at the end is wonderful. Praxeus is a solid piece of Doctor Who storytelling.
13 Revolution of the Daleks
This era’s second special to feature the return of classic monsters, the Daleks, isn’t quite as good as the first, but it still has some great moments. Noth returns as Jack Robertson, and he’s got the bright idea to keep society in check by using armored Daleks to intimidate them. This, of course, goes wrong and Daleks just start exterminating everyone at will. Meanwhile, Captain Jack is back again to serve as a reminder that the doctor is always moving forward with rare visits to old friends, and it’s all a little shallow.
12 Eve of the Daleks
The third Dalek special is an improvement on the previous, but still no match for the first. The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan are stuck in a time loop occurring in a storage facility on New Year’s Eve. Again and again, the Daleks exterminate them, only to reset the timeline. The catch: each reset takes away a minute of time, meaning the more they reset, the less time they have to solve the problem before the loop closes. It’s a fun story certainly with some great guest stars, but it doesn’t offer much other than the basic thrill of a ticking clock.
11 Can You Hear Me?
The villains in Can You Hear Me? Are so ancient and powerful with such an interesting backstory that they could have served as villains for an entire season. Sadly, we only get them for one episode, but at least it is a celebration of humanity’s various complexities. It tackles mental illness, destigmatizing it by saying it’s nothing to be ashamed of and that the fact that we’re able to battle our own demons on a daily basis makes us powerful. It’s another important message that makes no apologies for being blunt.
10 It Takes You Away
It Tales You Away has many of the same problems as other stories we’ve already talked about, but the ending is so heart-warmingly bizarre and Whittaker’s performance is so astonishingly good that those flaws can be forgiven. The Norway setting is stunning. The guest characters are fully-realized people. Graham getting to see Grace again brings a tear to your eye. There is much more good here than bad. Some viewers took umbrage with the fact that it just ends with the Doctor talking to a frog, but that’s Doctor Who.
9 Fugitive of the Judoon
If Spyfall is where this era began to change, then Fugitive of the Judoon is when it decided there was no looking back. At first, this is a fun romp of a story featuring the rhino mercenary police force the Judoon locking off a village on Earth to find a fugitive. Halfway through, we get the return of fan-favorite Captain Jack Harkness. Then, just as we head into the third act, a massive bomb is dropped: Ruth Clayton is actually a previous incarnation of the Doctor that we’ve never seen before — one that’s even a mystery to the Doctor. For an era that began with an utter lack of surprises and risks, it really pulled the rug out from everyone here.
8 Flux
BBC One
Whittaker’s third season, though still uneven, is probably her best. It consists of six episodes linked together in one epic story that sees the potential end of the universe, forces her to confront her adopted mother/kidnapper, introduces the great character of Dan, and develops the Doctor’s potential romance with Yaz. It’s a huge, messy story exploding with ideas that don’t get fully developed but are thrilling nonetheless. Plus, Village of the Angels may be the best Weeping Angels story since Blink.
7 Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror
Doctor Who always intended to feature historical stories that both educate and entertain viewers. This is where the 13th Doctor’s era truly shined. In Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror, the Doctor, and Fam work with the renowned inventor in stopping an alien invasion. Not only are the villains of the series menacing and scary, but the depiction of Tesla’s rival Thomas Eddison as a greedy businessman is long overdue. The only reason this episode isn’t higher is that there are other historicals that are even better.
6 The Haunting of Villa Diodati
Set during the dreary English summer, when Lord Byron invited friends to his villa for debauchery and creativity, The Haunting of Villa Diodati is both genuinely funny and creepy in its depiction of a lone Cyberman terrorizing the vacationers and inspiring Mary Shelley to write what is largely considered to be the first science fiction story: Frankenstein. The episode is firing on all cylinders and perfectly sets up the impending epic finale to Jodie’s second season.
5 The Power of the Doctor
Whittaker’s final story is a no holds barred, feature-length, epic adventure seeing the 13th Doctor forced to regenerate into her arch nemesis with the help of Cybermen and Daleks. Not only that, but it’s pure, unfiltered fan service. Classic Doctor Who companions Tegan and Ace return, and have chats with the incarnations of the Doctor they traveled with, while other classic Doctors also make an appearance. It is huge, blockbuster entertainment that doesn’t make the most sense in the world but is so much fun you can’t stop yourself from grinning.
4 Rosa
Other than the time traveling, this is as close to a pure historical the series has seen since the 1960s. Detailing Rosa Parks’ fight for Civil Rights along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the episode sees a white supremacist from the distant future making small changes to the past in order to stop non-whites from “forgetting their place.” Although it means forcing to stand by and watch institutionalized racism happen in order to preserve the timeline, the episode shines a light on those who sacrificed everything for small victories that continue to change the world.
