Thank god Rings has finally gone, I still don't know what the plot of that episode is...and I vageuly know the ending involved a leaf...not sure why the leaf was used but yeah its not a good thing if I cant remember the episode plot and the ending...its just dull...easily my least fave dr who episode..sorry those who like it.

164 Sleep No More

Series 9 Episode 9

Doctor: 12th

Companion: Clara Oswald

First aired: 14th November 2015

Writer: Mark Gatiss

The last Moffat (and also Clara) episode to appear for a short while...! This episode is one that's avoided being any lower than it already is by having a bold concept and trying something different. Unfortunately, I didn't find it to be a successful experiment and the episode is one big mindfuck in the end. The found footage theme of the episode was an intriguing idea, and I think it was actually fine for a one-off experiment. Sadly, I find the characters quite annoying throughout, from the buzz phrases the crew use ("may the gods look favourably upon you" every 10 seconds grows frustrating) to the oddly forced Geordie accent of Nagata. Then there's the Chopra and 474 side plot which isn't even a little compelling (the latter is such a rubbish role for Bethany Black to be remembered for as the show's first openly transgender actor!). I do like the concept of the Morpheus pods but I think they deserved more focus than producing sleep dust monsters...! The actual storyline is a total mess, but then suddenly we're told that that's the point, it's meant to present more questions than it answers because Rassmussen wants to spread the Morpheus signal across the galaxy. It's bold, and there's a real attempt to be complex which I can appreciate, but I don't actually find it enjoyable at all because it makes so little sense - even if that's the point, it makes for a frustrating watch. I'm so glad the threatened sequel Gatiss teased never surfaced...! (touch wood x)

The idea of the sandman can work (just look at the netflix series) it just doesn't seem to work here, maybe if it was a longer episode giving more time to flesh out the story it could of worked better

Sleep No More really is a disaster from start to finish. Rarely is there anything not to enjoy in an episode of Doctor Who, but that episode really takes it. And when you consider who wrote it too, hardly surprising.

Also if you rewatch The Rings of Akhaten it's fairly straightforward a concept to understand why the leaf became an important part of the story's resolution.

163 Orphan 55

Series 12 Episode 3

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair

First aired: 12th January 2020

Writer: Ed Hime

I remember thinking this wasn't as bad as everyone else said back when I first watched it, but I'm not sure I'd rewatched it until recently, not more than once anyway. Regardless, it turns out my memory had failed me somewhat...! After a two-part series opener in Spyfall that felt like it had listened to a lot of the criticisms of series 11 and improved on them, with a polished quality to it, Orphan 55 came along immediately after and had a distinctly amateur feel to it. The concept was a good one - a leisure resort that was actually on a desolate planet ruined by its inhabitants, there's real potential there. The result was clunky, with an on-the-nose message about climate change that was effectively delivered in a lecture by the Doctor at the end. The subplot of Kane and Bella's fraught mother-daughter relationship felt underdeveloped, particularly when they both sacrificed themselves at the conclusion for no real reason. The worst part of the episode, and memorable for that exact reason, was the terrible acting from Vilma, who took every opportunity to remind us she was looking for her husband by shouting "BENNI" every ten seconds. Memeworthy for sure but it felt like a parody! That said, I think it was one of Ryan's better episodes and I think I'd have preferred to see Bella just as a love interest for Ryan without any association with Kane.

4 hours ago, Calum said:

Also if you rewatch The Rings of Akhaten it's fairly straightforward a concept to understand why the leaf became an important part of the story's resolution.

Oh I agree the leaf made sense, to me I just feel it was too soon in her tenure, like we only knew this Clara for 1 episode and suddenly we having an episode about her parents meeting because of a leaf, and therefore being the most important leaf in whole of creation 😅 i dont even know who clara is yet 😅

Edited Monday at 22:132 days by 777666jason

Images you can hear (cursed edition)

I can still hear the persistent BENNY screams at night x

In all seriousness, both are valid to being at the bottom section...I mean the recent one I still can't believe they made the message so crystal clear that the doctor needed to give a lecture to her companions...like thats never been done before. Also I couldnt take the love interest and Ryan seriously when they started sucking their thumbs...

Sleep No More hmm...i think there is a good story in there somewhere just idk the found footage thing didnt work out how they wanted and the writing was half baked. If it was giving a flux style story setting and allowed it to all be fleshed out then I could see it being good perhaps.

162 The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos

Series 11 Episode 10

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair

First aired: 9th December 2018

Writer: Chris Chibnall

We arrive at the first episode written by the then-current showrunner to drop out, as well as the first series finale! Series 11 was an unusual run of episodes. It's one of the most obvious soft reboots the show's had, and it took a different tone, without a single returning villain from the show's history, and with a couple of episodes that are probably the closest we've got to pure historicals in modern Who. There's lots to say about series 11 as a whole but I think the entire package is dampened significantly by what it was all leading up to. Every other modern Who series has had a balls-to-the-wall finale, for better or for worse, with plenty of story threads leading us there. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos being what series 11 was leading to probably says quite a lot. Whilst it was good to see Graham confront his grief with a returning Tzim-Sha from the series premiere, almost nothing else happened in the whole episode. I think it's the most bored I've been by any Doctor Who episode, and the fact it's a series finale makes it even more underwhelming. Where were the stakes? What was the pay-off for the series? I don't think every finale has to involve the kitchen sink, but I think there needs to be a level of hype and excitement, and this certainly delivered on the complete lack of both of those things.

Dare I say might be the worst finale of modern who? Seems odd to me they had Jodie's doctor mock the big bad of the series in his very first episode so he wasn't menacing the whole series he was in oops

Great to see this, I've been getting more into the show recently with the 20th anniversary and I went to a special event held by the BFI where they watched a few S1 episodes and had a few cast members there. If you don't mind, I'll try and comment on these as you go, I can't promise I'll keep this up but we'll see how we go x

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Y'know I'd probably rank this last or close to it too, it's a stupid episode that would be something I'd just file under forgettable fluff (Mitchell and Webb as Robots were really badly used), but that last, cold act by the Doctor of mercilessly killing the villain (who really wasn't that bad by the standard of villains) leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. It didn't come back or play into anything in the Doctor's Arc later either, just a horrendous out of character moment that sours the whole episode for me.

Nightmare in Silver - I don't have many strong feelings towards this one, but it's definitely just a forgettable filler episode, given it had the Cybermen though, that's not great and a real waste of one of the greatest and most tragic enemies. They were portrayed as pretty unthreatening here and the chess game was a load of talky mumbo-jumbo.

In The Forest of the Night - Pretty weak, quite literally nothing happens, and there's a weird preachy message at the end that doesn't work. Defining filler so much they forgot to write anything for it.

The Rings of Akhaten - Admittedly my memory of this is fuzzy (mid-era Moffat did get exasperating with the Impossible girl storyline), but I didn't really mind this one much? Nothing amazing but diverting enough for a standalone, the singing was a bit naff but there's been cringier singing in the show x

Sleep No More - Little memory of this one (didn't help that it was a single parter in a season of two parters), but found footage was getting tired in 2016 and from what I recall, it really didn't work in a show like Doctor Who, pass x

Orphan 55 - Too high xx One of the worst episodes of the show ever, I actually can find very little to enjoy at all here - I guess Benny is quite unintentionally funny. Too many non-existent characters (I couldn't name one of them asides from Benny!), twist that doesn't work, rushed story, no atmosphere and the message delivery was eye-rolling to the extent it was downright insulting. The best way to deliver social commentary within sci-fi is to use subtlety and to show not tell, which the show's done well before which made this condescending lecture even more shocking. I know there's a younger audience, but they are not that stupid that they need it quite literally spelled out. grr, this episode aggravates me!

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos - I didn't hate this, but it was a disappointing end to a poor season. Indeed, no stakes at all, Tzim-Sha (or Tim Shaw x) is a really weak villain that went from literally shrinking the Earth to being shoved in a glass cage, and Graham's arc wasn't really fleshed out - he just says he's gonna kill Tzim, then he doesn't, there's nothing building up to this and it's telling not showing, one of the many problems that Chibnall had.

TBORAK really did not feel like a finale at all as you meantioned yourself where are the stakes , like yes Moffat finales kept throwing more and more at us but here just give us something 😅

Thank you all for your comments, I've loved reading them all so far, please do keep them coming, whether you agree or disagree!!

161 The Tsuranga Conundrum

Series 11 Episode 5

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair

First aired: 4th November 2018

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Calum can rest easy now as Tsuranga "finally" departs, in our third Whittaker era episode in a row. In the middle of the series, the Doctor and her "fam" are taken to a medic ship after being caught in a sonic mine. Of course, this episode birthed the iconic Pting, a creature so deadly that it can devour pretty much anything despite being about 10cm tall. The Pting is the only memorable part of the episode, though. There's a lot of walking around, a lot of chat, and not very much action, which makes it a pretty tedious episode all round. It'd be entirely harmless (other than its dullness) without the subplot of the pregnant man, which is a waste of time and pretty cringe. The other side characters are highly forgettable and the Pting barely even features in most of the episode so there's not really much to write home about.

Think TTC is made even worse when the only good thing about it the Pting, is later undone in Revolution of the Daleks, this creature that can devour anything, is easily kept in a cage makes no sense

I don't remember TCC that well I gotta admit so can't fully comment but I do enjoy the Pting even if the plot hole happens in the season after

160 Legend of the Sea Devils

2022 Easter Special

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Dan Lewis

First aired: 17th April 2022

Writer: Ella Road & Chris Chibnall

Fourth Jodie episode on the trot, but it's the last one for the time being. This is the first special episode to drop out, though, and it's quite comfortably the lowest one too. Jodie's penultimate episode as the Doctor was the subject of much anticipation as the Sea Devils, classic series villains, were finally staging a return. They were arguably the most notable classic villain that hadn't made a comeback by then, so it was long overdue! The episode as a whole was an odd mess, though. The Sea Devil design was cool, it felt faithful to the original but with a more modern update. The plot wasn't super riveting but it had potential, and I think it was largely screwed up by editing and pacing. It's the only special episode not to be at least an hour long, instead clocking in at 48 minutes, which was standard for regular episodes at the time. Was it cut to pieces in post-production? It felt a bit like it because it ended up feeling really chaotic, without any elements really developed or given breathing space, and I'm not sure I've ever quite wrapped my head around what was going on. The scene between 13 and Yaz at the end was really well acted by both Jodie and Mandip, though - "Thasmin" becoming canon felt too little, too late, but they really made that scene feel believable even if it wasn't quite what the diehard shippers wanted. As for the Sea Devils, let's hope The War Between the Land and the Sea can provide some redemption for them in terms of 21st Century Who!

I think part of the reason Doctor Who sometimes fails is it puts itself under immense pressure to answer a lot and build up to a major climax in the finale - whether a single episode or a big two-parter - with so much seeded throughout the series. And I think TBORAK not being what's at the end of that traditional path and standing out as a finale that doesn't need to be all frills, explosions, high stakes, etc sits unfavourably with fans. But I think it works when you consider the mission they set out to achieve with series 11 as a whole. As much as Tim Shaw ended up being one of the biggest damp squib attempts at a new recurring villain ever, I liked what they did with the finale. Wasn't perfect by any means, but was perfectly enjoyable.

Tsuranga hung on for too long there Joseph, too long. Had the sweats Legend of the Sea Devils really could have been a triumphant return for the Sea Devils too had they just allowed the special to be exactly that and not chopped it to pieces in post. A story that probably did read absolutely fine on paper (it is a great concept!), but brought to life horrendously.

LOTSD was probably the most unspecal special ever, it was basically a middle of a series episode pushed as a special, it had so much potential too, given a special run time of 60/65 minutes it really would of been so much better

Edited yesterday at 14:271 day by 777666jason

159 Love & Monsters

Series 2 Episode 10

Doctor: 10th

Companion: Rose Tyler

Also featuring: Jackie Tyler

First aired: 17th June 2006

Writer: Russell T Davies

My last place episode on the original countdown only just lands in the bottom 10 this time! And that's not just because of newer episodes, either. I still largely don't think much of Love & Monsters. I've always found it a bit of an odd watch, but little bits of appreciation have crept in over the years. I do like that it shines a light on those left behind, namely Jackie, when companions abandon their everyday lives to travel in the TARDIS, and it's arguably Camille Coduri's finest moment in the role. l have little interest in LINDA and their musical endeavours, which ultimately feels a bit like a waste of time, and I think that's where the episode falls down for me - it takes too long for anything significant to happen. Time is spent setting up LINDA, and then establishing who Victor Kennedy is, but there's not much in the way of action. I also struggle to believe that any of them would just allow Victor to take over their social club so easily...!! The Abzorbaloff is daft, too. I know it came from a Blue Peter competition and I actually don't think it's a bad idea, but the execution was poor and the resolution, with Ursula being brought back as a paving slab, was REALLY bad. Ultimately, an episode with ideas I can appreciate, and I'll always have some respect for a script that does something different (the first Doctor-lite episode!), but it still firmly lands as the lowest episode written by Russell T Davies, and the first Tennant episode to drop.