APZonerunner
Member
4 = 5 > 3 > 2 > 9 > 1 > 8 > 7 > 6
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Doctor Who Series 9 |OT| Let Zygons Be Zygons
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N7Commander95
Member
9>5>4>8>1>7>6>3>2
Zeouterlimits
Member
I don't know that I could really rank the seasons, merely make a list of my favourite episodes.
Hot Coldman
Banned
All I know is 9 is the best, and 5 isn't far behind. Fight me.
Exterminieren
Banned
Fortunately, I can do that too!
Gridlock
Vincent and the Doctor
Heaven Sent
The Doctor's Wife
The Day of the Doctor
The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances
Midnight
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
The Zygon Invasion/ The Zygon Inversion
Flatline
I'd probably agree were it not for Donna.
CrimsonFist
Member
3 > 1 > 4 > 6 > 5 > 2 > 8 = 9 >>>>>>>> 7
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
Season 5 is I think quite clearly the best. It has the best opener of any season, and probably the best finale too, plus some great episodes like the Lodger, Vincent and the Doctor, and the Angels two-parter. Its only let down is a lack of a "great" episode in the vein of Blink or Midnight, but the quality through-out is just so consistent that this is forgiveable.
Season 4 is closely behind. If we ignore the opener (oh god this was terrible), it has a consistent run of episodes that are at least mediocre and at best fantastic all the way up to the sadly terrible finale. Donna is a fantastic companion, and Midnight is in top contention for best NuWho episode with the Vashta Nerada two-parter also being a series highlight.
Season 8 is also in this group of the three best seasons, with a clear gap between these three and the rest. Season 8 has more variable quality than seasons 4 and 5, with some stinkers like Kill the Moon, Robot of Sherwood, and In the Forest of the Shite; but in return we get Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, Listen, and that absolute rarity, into the Dalek - a good Dalek episode! The season finale is also probably the second best of the series to date, staying relatively compelling through-out and Missy proving a wonderful antagonist.
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Season 3 isn't comparable to the above, because while it has some classics, including the Family of Blood two-parter and Blink, the quality overall is just too erratic and Martha just a little too grating as a companion. The opener is standard fare, neither bad nor good, and the finale starts of incredibly, but finishes with an unfortunate whimper in the form of a dreadful Deus Ex machina. Tennant performs well through-out.
Season 1 has a fine opener, a good-ish finale that only retrospectively hallmarks the DEM tendency of the RTD era, the classic Empty Child two-parter, and a good Dalek episode. On the flipside, it was also before the series really found its feet and we had to deal with the grating and terrible Slitheen episodes among some other rather weak offerings.
Season 6 is odd because it's worse than the sum of its parts. The opening is exceptionally well-filmed and the Silence are genuinely threatening. The Doctor's Wife is an all-time great. The Rebel Flesh two-parter is surprisingly good. The God Complex is definitely above par. The trouble is that a) there are some shockers (Black Spot), and b) the finale is so cringingly bad it retrospectively ruins the opening and in many ways the rest of the season by dumping character and threat development. It was probably the hardest season for me to place.
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Season 7 suffered from the two-way split. There are some good episodes - Hide was great, and I think not mentioned enough in terms of surprisingly enjoyable Dr. Who episodes. But there's no consistency through-out, the great Intelligence is absolutey wasted despite Simeon's fantastic portrayal, the Angels Take Manhattan was a weak way to see the Ponds off, and Clara is paper thin the whole season through, contributing to a very weak finale.
Season 2 suffers from having Season 2 Rose, the most insufferable companion of the series. There's some good here - the Impossible Planet, the Girl in the Fireplace - but also a lot of wasted potential. However, the back-to-back combo of Love & Monsters and Fear Her almost sent this straight to last place.
Season 9 has nothing redeeming. There is one okay-ish two-parter, one fantastic episode, and then the rest is trash, despite the magnificent efforts of Capaldi to save it.
Season 4 is closely behind. If we ignore the opener (oh god this was terrible), it has a consistent run of episodes that are at least mediocre and at best fantastic all the way up to the sadly terrible finale. Donna is a fantastic companion, and Midnight is in top contention for best NuWho episode with the Vashta Nerada two-parter also being a series highlight.
Season 8 is also in this group of the three best seasons, with a clear gap between these three and the rest. Season 8 has more variable quality than seasons 4 and 5, with some stinkers like Kill the Moon, Robot of Sherwood, and In the Forest of the Shite; but in return we get Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, Listen, and that absolute rarity, into the Dalek - a good Dalek episode! The season finale is also probably the second best of the series to date, staying relatively compelling through-out and Missy proving a wonderful antagonist.
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Season 3 isn't comparable to the above, because while it has some classics, including the Family of Blood two-parter and Blink, the quality overall is just too erratic and Martha just a little too grating as a companion. The opener is standard fare, neither bad nor good, and the finale starts of incredibly, but finishes with an unfortunate whimper in the form of a dreadful Deus Ex machina. Tennant performs well through-out.
Season 1 has a fine opener, a good-ish finale that only retrospectively hallmarks the DEM tendency of the RTD era, the classic Empty Child two-parter, and a good Dalek episode. On the flipside, it was also before the series really found its feet and we had to deal with the grating and terrible Slitheen episodes among some other rather weak offerings.
Season 6 is odd because it's worse than the sum of its parts. The opening is exceptionally well-filmed and the Silence are genuinely threatening. The Doctor's Wife is an all-time great. The Rebel Flesh two-parter is surprisingly good. The God Complex is definitely above par. The trouble is that a) there are some shockers (Black Spot), and b) the finale is so cringingly bad it retrospectively ruins the opening and in many ways the rest of the season by dumping character and threat development. It was probably the hardest season for me to place.
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Season 7 suffered from the two-way split. There are some good episodes - Hide was great, and I think not mentioned enough in terms of surprisingly enjoyable Dr. Who episodes. But there's no consistency through-out, the great Intelligence is absolutey wasted despite Simeon's fantastic portrayal, the Angels Take Manhattan was a weak way to see the Ponds off, and Clara is paper thin the whole season through, contributing to a very weak finale.
Season 2 suffers from having Season 2 Rose, the most insufferable companion of the series. There's some good here - the Impossible Planet, the Girl in the Fireplace - but also a lot of wasted potential. However, the back-to-back combo of Love & Monsters and Fear Her almost sent this straight to last place.
Season 9 has nothing redeeming. There is one okay-ish two-parter, one fantastic episode, and then the rest is trash, despite the magnificent efforts of Capaldi to save it.
Freewheelin'
Member
Favourite episode from each season
The Doctor Dances
The Impossible Planet
The Family of Blood
Midnight
Amy's Choice
The Girl Who Waited
Cold War
Listen
Heaven Sent
The Doctor Dances
The Impossible Planet
The Family of Blood
Midnight
Amy's Choice
The Girl Who Waited
Cold War
Listen
Heaven Sent
I had too much trouble adjusting to Matt Smith to have fond memories of season 5 (I really liked in after that), but I can understand for season 9, I thoroughly enjoyed every episode except Sleep No More.
For me I guess it would be: 4 > 9 > 3 > 7 > 8 > 2 > 1 > 6 > 5
Though it doesn't mean I don't like the ones I put last, some of my favorite episodes are in season 1, 5 and 6.
Hot Coldman
Banned
I love Donna, but I just didn't think S4's stories were terribly interesting. I have soft spots for Pompeii and Unicorn, Turn Left is chilling, and Library is obviously classic, but the rest is pretty flat. That two-parter is fairly masturbatory.
Oh, there's Midnight, but er, yeah... not a massive fan of that one.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
Mine is:
The Doctor Dances / The Empty Child
The Girl in the Fireplace
Blink (but very difficult to choose over Human nature / The Family of Blood, this was a struggle)
Midnight
The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
The Doctor's Wife
Hide, maybe? Don't know, had the most difficult for this season, there's nothing stand-out but there's not enough shockers to narrow the field from the other end either.
Flatline
Heaven Sent
acheron_xl
Member
The Parting of the Ways
School Reunion?
Utopia
Midnight
Amy's Choice
The God Complex
The Power of Three
Flatline
Heaven Sent
S5 is far and away the show's best yet, and nothing else comes close...
...but I'll rank them anyway!
5 > 4 > 8 > 7 (including the specials) > 9 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1
That 3/6/9 grouping is a bit nebulous and could probably go another way. All three have some of my favorite all-time episodes weighed against some of the worst -- which in 3 and 6's cases, happened to be in the very end. I'll give 9 the edge above 3 and 6 because it had a much much stronger landing.
Father's Day
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
Blink
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
The Eleventh Hour
The Doctor's Wife
The Name of the Doctor
Listen
Heaven Sent
...but I'll rank them anyway!
5 > 4 > 8 > 7 (including the specials) > 9 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1
That 3/6/9 grouping is a bit nebulous and could probably go another way. All three have some of my favorite all-time episodes weighed against some of the worst -- which in 3 and 6's cases, happened to be in the very end. I'll give 9 the edge above 3 and 6 because it had a much much stronger landing.
Father's Day
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
Blink
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
The Eleventh Hour
The Doctor's Wife
The Name of the Doctor
Listen
Heaven Sent
The Parting of the Ways
The Girl in the Fireplace
Blink
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
The Eleventh Hour
The Doctor's Wife
Asylum of the Daleks
Listen
Heaven Sent
A lot of Moffat on my list.
tonysidaway
Member
I really love the spaghetti western segment at the beginning of Hell Bent, and the way Murray Gold plays up to that with the Ennio Morricone homage.
The framing device is so beautifully complemented by the reveal that the Clara TARDIS is literally framing the whole encounter.
Has anybody correctly identified the theme played by Doctor Who at about 55 minutes? He starts with a rather sad take on Clara. Then she says maybe some lost memories turn into tunes, and his response is to turn lyrical on the guitar. I've been through a few of Murray Gold's themes and I don't hear this one.
It begins at around 30 seconds on this video.
https://youtu.be/rDD1VWwtPmw
I told my family I'd ask "the guys" about this.
The framing device is so beautifully complemented by the reveal that the Clara TARDIS is literally framing the whole encounter.
Has anybody correctly identified the theme played by Doctor Who at about 55 minutes? He starts with a rather sad take on Clara. Then she says maybe some lost memories turn into tunes, and his response is to turn lyrical on the guitar. I've been through a few of Murray Gold's themes and I don't hear this one.
It begins at around 30 seconds on this video.
https://youtu.be/rDD1VWwtPmw
I told my family I'd ask "the guys" about this.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
I don't know if I could rank seasons, even the best ones are really uneven. I'd say 4 and 3 are my favorites if pressed. I was not a fan of 5 or 6, but liking it better by 7. 8 and 9 are pretty good but haven't quite recaptured the magic. 1 and 2 are kind of a different beast and hard to compare. I quite liked them at the time. I'll post favorite episodes later when not on mobile.
The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances
The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit
Human Nature / Family of Blood
Silence In The Library / Forest of the Dead
Vincent And The Doctor (Amy's Choice is close)
The Doctor's Wife
The Name Of The Doctor
Dark Water
Heaven Sent
Those RTD-era two-parters were something else, for sure. They utilized the format really well most of the time.
Exterminieren
Banned
The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances
The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit
Gridlock
Midnight
Vincent and the Doctor
The Doctor's Wife
The Crimson Horror
Flatline
Heaven Sent
SictorVullivan
Member
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit
Utopia
Midnight
Vincent and The Doctor
The Girl Who Waited
Asylum of The Daleks
Time Heist (Listen is real close to beating this though)
Heaven Sent
The Parting of the Ways
School Reunion
Blink
Turn Left
Pandorica Opens/Big Bang
The Doctors Wife
Asylum of the Daleks
Mummy on the Orient Express
Heaven Sent
S1) Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways
S2) Impossible Planet/Satan Pit
S3) Human Nature/Family of Blood
S4) Midnight
S5) The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
S6) The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
S7) The Day of the Doctor
S8) Flatline
S9) Heaven Sent
Some really tough choices there, particularly in seasons 1, 2 and 5 for me.
CrimsonFist
Member
Tie between Dalek, Empty Child/Doctor Dances and Bad Wolf/Parting of Ways
Impossible Planet/Satan Pit
Family of Blood/Human Nature
Turn Left (Waters of Mars if we count 4.5)
Amy's Choice
Tie between The Doctors Wife and God Complex
Nothing really stands out. If we can count the specials then Night/Day of the Doctor
Last Christmas
Heaven Sent
Incendiary
Banned
Just binge-watched most of the series this weekend: watched from The Girl Who Died to the finale over the last two days and I gotta say, I love Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. Matt Smith is still my favorite overall, but I think Capaldi has outseated Tennant for second place now. It's weird though - as much as I love Capaldi's Doctor, I'm not sure how I'd rank his overall seasons. I need to rewatch series 8 I think. And series 7. Probably should just rewatch the whole series from the reboot just to be sure.
S1: Dalek
S2: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
S3: The Sound of Drums
S4: Midnight
S5: The Eleventh Hour
S6: The Doctor's Wife
S7: Journey to the Center of the TARDIS
S8: Flatline
S9: Heaven Sent
There are some close seconds: Blink for S3, Bells of St. John for S7, Listen for S8. Overall, just as a quick once-over, I'd probably rank seasons something like... 5 > 3 > 8 > 4 > 7 > 9 > 1 > 6 > 2.
That's just spitballing though because if I start really trying to rank the seasons I'd collapse my own brain in on itself, especially because I need to rewatch a lot of them.
S1: Dalek
S2: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
S3: The Sound of Drums
S4: Midnight
S5: The Eleventh Hour
S6: The Doctor's Wife
S7: Journey to the Center of the TARDIS
S8: Flatline
S9: Heaven Sent
There are some close seconds: Blink for S3, Bells of St. John for S7, Listen for S8. Overall, just as a quick once-over, I'd probably rank seasons something like... 5 > 3 > 8 > 4 > 7 > 9 > 1 > 6 > 2.
That's just spitballing though because if I start really trying to rank the seasons I'd collapse my own brain in on itself, especially because I need to rewatch a lot of them.
BrokenFiction
Member
Yeah, Ecclestion is pretty amazing.
http://badwilf.com/drwhodaniel-upda...ristopher-eccleston-and-a-visit-from-realsfx/
http://badwilf.com/drwhodaniel-upda...ristopher-eccleston-and-a-visit-from-realsfx/
acheron_xl
Member
Eccleston is aging more slowly than any of the other Doctor actors, with the possible exception of McGann, I swear.
Dalek
Girl in the Fireplace
Blink
Midnight
Amy's Choice
The Doctor's Wife
Journey to the Center of the TARDIS (Nothing really stands out from this series)
Mummy on the Orient Express
Under the Lake/Before the Flood
davidcotton
Member
The first War Doctor boxset from Big Finish is now out!
APZonerunner
Member
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
Human Nature/Family of Blood
Midnight
Vincent & The Doctor
The Girl Who Waited
Asylum of the Daleks (what a mediocre series)
Flatline
Heaven Sent
Time for more John Hurt yeeeeeeees
I dunno, David Tennant has aged pretty gracefully so far, and Matt Smith well is Matt Smith
The Elite
BOSS
I am really curious about this. Will get around to it.
funkystudent
Member
Replace Midnight with the Library 2 parter and thats pretty much my list.
Man-say what you will about this season-but Capaldi is the greatest of all time. Just watch this again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEImPSzLIPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEImPSzLIPk
APZonerunner
Member
Same series.
Meant to write Midnight! Dunno what happened there. I file them in similar bits of my brain, I guess. Double banked eps, excellent, et al.
Tennant's aged well, though I think the main thing - noticeable in Day of the Doctor, even - is that his hair isn't quite how it was during his run, and he can't carry off the sort of wild vaguely styled thing with it as much any more. They clearly very consciously styled it in a more subdued way in Day of the Doctor, and it was fine, but it was just different, the first sign years had passed. I reckon Smith, with his longer swishy hair in the role, will face the same problem if he ever tries to do it with natural hair (though he did two episodes with a wig thanks to shaving it for Teminator etc, so at least that's established), as I guess hair just loses some of that over the years.
Yeah me too! I think Series 8's was released in March? But I have no idea if they did it the same each year or not. I sure hope it's sooner rather than later, but even the Blu-Rays themselves are taking forever to come out. Currently Amazon has the blu-ray box set listed for APRIL (wtf?) So who knows :/ (Part 2 is out Jan. 26 but the complete isn't until April)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018V1ZWW0/?tag=neogaf0e-20
peanutbutterlatte
Member
I'm going to try putting some effort into this because I think list posts from here until Series 10 in 2017 will be unbearable...
Season 1:
The Doctor Dances
When we finally saw Eccleston's character come into his own. Really well written by Moffatt too, and of course great supporting character in Jack. In the sea of farting aliens, burping bins, and inexplicably Anne Robinson robots, this two-parter shines out.
Season 2:
Again like Series Six, this series was such a horrible introduction for Tennant. Probably Girl in the Fireplace, though it's far from the best thing Moffat's done with the series.
Season 3:
Probably Utopia. Wrote an amazing check the finale couldn't really cash, and obviously a sadly short-lived performance from Jacobi. Tennant's performance when he hears there's another Time Lord... amazing.
Season 4:
Journey's End. Yes, cheesy as all hell, a little bit too much "kitchen sink" approach to storytelling, but damn if this episode doesn't show up Moffat efforts like A Good Man Goes to War. RTD managed to build up several incredibly likable supporting cast members over his tenure. With Moffat, we have very, very few that it would be great to have a reunion episode with.
Season 5:
Vincent and The Doctor. Because of course it is. The closest thing to a perfect Who episode we have I think. Curtis needs to return, stat.
Season Six:
Hard because this season stinks. Probably A Good Man Goes to War. For some great Matt Smith moments, I must be the 5% of the Doctor Who fans who think he actually does angry Doc really well.
Season 7:
Probably Name of the Doctor. Not for the episode as a whole, but for three things. The concept, the intro ("Who would steal a faulty TARDIS?" followed by This is Galifrey, come on), and the cliffhanger (OH MY DAYS JOHN HURT.)
Followed closely by Day of the Doctor, which I think fits into this series?
Season 8:
Mummy on the Orient Express. First episode you really feel Capaldi coming into his own.
Season 9:
Heaven Sent, much like Utopia, creates a high point the following episode just can't match. Truly unique, and an excellent performance from Capaldi once again.
Season 1:
The Doctor Dances
When we finally saw Eccleston's character come into his own. Really well written by Moffatt too, and of course great supporting character in Jack. In the sea of farting aliens, burping bins, and inexplicably Anne Robinson robots, this two-parter shines out.
Season 2:
Again like Series Six, this series was such a horrible introduction for Tennant. Probably Girl in the Fireplace, though it's far from the best thing Moffat's done with the series.
Season 3:
Probably Utopia. Wrote an amazing check the finale couldn't really cash, and obviously a sadly short-lived performance from Jacobi. Tennant's performance when he hears there's another Time Lord... amazing.
Season 4:
Journey's End. Yes, cheesy as all hell, a little bit too much "kitchen sink" approach to storytelling, but damn if this episode doesn't show up Moffat efforts like A Good Man Goes to War. RTD managed to build up several incredibly likable supporting cast members over his tenure. With Moffat, we have very, very few that it would be great to have a reunion episode with.
Season 5:
Vincent and The Doctor. Because of course it is. The closest thing to a perfect Who episode we have I think. Curtis needs to return, stat.
Season Six:
Hard because this season stinks. Probably A Good Man Goes to War. For some great Matt Smith moments, I must be the 5% of the Doctor Who fans who think he actually does angry Doc really well.
Season 7:
Probably Name of the Doctor. Not for the episode as a whole, but for three things. The concept, the intro ("Who would steal a faulty TARDIS?" followed by This is Galifrey, come on), and the cliffhanger (OH MY DAYS JOHN HURT.)
Followed closely by Day of the Doctor, which I think fits into this series?
Season 8:
Mummy on the Orient Express. First episode you really feel Capaldi coming into his own.
Season 9:
Heaven Sent, much like Utopia, creates a high point the following episode just can't match. Truly unique, and an excellent performance from Capaldi once again.
Then I'm part of that 5% as well. I liked the way Matt played the Doctor when angry. The scene in The Impossible Astronaut where Amy, Rory and River try to convince him of going to 1969 is also great. He's not angry, per se, but quite unsettling and in a bad mood. The contrast between happy, quirky Doctor (which I think was the worst part of 11 in series 6 and 7, because it felt so tacked on and unnatural) and actually pretty creepy Doctor was quite significant.
But Matt was always the best in the tender moments, like several times in Vincent And The Doctor, his monologue to little Amy in the end of The Big Bang, most everything in The Name of The Doctor etc.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
About the only time I like Matt Smith was when he was angry or underhanded.
But Jack...and the sonic cutting through barbed wire...lol...and those creepy gas masks!?
tonysidaway
Member
I enjoy Heaven Sent quite a lot, and I think it's going to get the Hugo nomination and may well win another one of those cute little rocket ship trophies for Moffat. I must say I feel Hell Bent eclipsed it easily, though. This is the most satisfying series finale since The Wedding of River Song, in my view.
"Same thing that happened to you. I let Clara Oswald get inside my head. Trust me, she doesn't leave."
NOOOOOOOOOOOO
D:
peanutbutterlatte
Member
I know you have some outspoken views but christ alive.
Not saying Name of the Doctor/Death in Heaven were outstanding, but leagues, heads, miles above TWORS. Which appropriately, rearranges to "WORST". As in, one of the worst episodes of Doctor Who ever conceived.
I wanted to love that episode so much, and there are definitely good things in it, but it just didn't really work.