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[Dalek]

Every Single Doctor Who Story, Ranked from Best to Worst

I'll post the top 21 "Classics" -rest at the link.

Spoiler

I went to 21, because Listen is one of my all time favorites.

This weekend, Doctor Who returns, continuing a rich history of time travel and wild adventures. But which of the over 250 Doctor Who stories is the best, and which is the worst? Here’s our stab at ranking every single Doctor Who story, in order of quality.

Note: this is based on seeing every Who story that’s extant at least once, and in most cases multiple times. We welcome disagreements, or even attempts to come up with entire competing rankings. This is a conversation starter, rather than the last word.

For stories that were erased due to the BBC’s idiotic policy of wiping its old TV shows, we listened to audio recordings, and in some cases watched “telesnap” reconstructions that use existing off-screen photographs. Sorry, no novels or Big Finish stories included here, because that would be an insane list!

And finally, this list is divided roughly into five categories: Classics, Good Stories, Decent Stories, Below-Average Stories, and Disappointments.

1) Caves of Androzani (1984)- Yes, it really is that good. Peter Davison’s final story as the Doctor is both thrilling and fascinating, thanks to a complex plot, intense performances and beautifully staged action. The Doctor is dying from the first moments of the story, and this is all about him making his final hours count.

2) Blink (2007) - You could argue that it deserves the top spot. This insanely inventive story about stone statues that can get you when you’re not looking, and a DVD extra showing a missing time traveler dispensing cryptic advice, is still unrivaled, even after years of imitations.

3) City of Death (1979) - Douglas Adams co-wrote this witty story about an alien fractured in time, who is creating duplicate Mona Lisas as part of a ploy to time-travel and erase humanity from history. The most stylish classic Who, but also the cleverest.

4) The Doctor’s Wife (2011) - The TARDIS is made flesh, and we finally get to the bottom of the Doctor’s relationship with his time machine, in this intensely moving story.

5) Midnight (2008) - When the Doctor’s gift for being the “cleverest man in the room” is turned against him, he’s at the mercy of human nature at its most revolting, in this misanthropic, scary story.

6) Vincent and the Doctor (2010) - Of all the “meeting famous people” stories, this is the most heart-breaking. An astonishing look at art and madness and what being able to see things that nobody else can see might do to someone.

7) Pyramids of Mars (1975) - justly revered, this story about mummies and pyramids is a great example of Tom Baker’s Doctor coming up with three or four plans to defeat an ultimate menace... all of which fail. Sutekh is a fantastic villain, and it’s great that we’ve never seen him since.

8) The Ark in Space (1975) -Years before Ridley Scott’s alien, a wasp creature laid its eggs inside cryo-preserved humans. The Doctor is at his wits’ end coming up with plan after plan to try and defeat the Wirrn.

9) The Genesis of the Daleks (1975) - The Daleks’ origins as space Nazis are fully displayed here, and the ethical debates in this story are absolutely mind-boggling. Their creator, Davros, is a master manipulator who gives a human face to the Daleks, in his one really great outing.

10) Day of the Doctor (2013) - Matt Smith’s Doctor meets David Tennant’s, along with a previously unknown version played by John Hurt, and confronts the greatest crime he ever committed. The subplot involving a Zygon invasion and magic paintings is sort of disposable, but as a story about the Doctor facing up to himself it totally works.

11) Turn Left (2008) - a fantastic alternate-universe story where one little change wrecks everything, and we see just how bleak things could really get.

12) Dalek (2005) - A single Dalek brings more danger, and more emotional intensity, than a whole fleet. The Doctor’s arch-enemies have never been more iconic. Or tragic.

13) The Deadly Assassin (1976) - The Master returns and the Doctor’s people are redefined forever. The show’s penchant for gothic horror and twisty intrigue is at its absolute best here, and Tom Baker seems determined to prove he doesn’t need a companion, by giving enough of a performance for three time-travelers.

14) The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005) - The creepy gas mask people are a huge part of making this such a memorable epic—but a lot of the magic also comes from the introduction of Captain Jack, and the Doctor’s determination to save absolutely everybody.

15) The Robots of Death (1976) - This is such a brilliant story, in which the alien robot-dependent society is beautifully depicted and thought-out. Mostly structured as a murder mystery, but it opens up a ton of questions about identity and subaltern relationships, with loads of witty dialogue.

16) The Curse of Fenric (1989) - the “dark Doctor” story to end all “dark Doctor” stories—facing an ancient evil from the Dawn of Time, the Doctor is willing to manipulate everyone, including his companion Ace. So much cleverness and creepy darkness, you can forgive the dodgy vampire effects.

17) Rose (2005) - The best introduction to the Doctor, this story is all about the mystery of the time traveler who brings death in his wake. There’s a reason why this story was such a captivating launch to the new series.

18) The Waters of Mars (2009) - The real horror here isn’t the water zombies killing everyone on an isolated base—it’s what happens when the Doctor decides to throw out the rulebook and do what he wants.

19) The Girl in the Fireplace (2006) - probably the best “unstuck in time” story, where the Doctor meets Reinette at various points in her life, and winds up shaping her life story only to lose her after they share an intense intimacy.

20) A Christmas Carol (2010) - There are lots of time-warping stories on this list, but this one uses temporal pokery in the service of a great story, where the Doctor tries to change a harsh man to save his friends, only to find that it’s not as simple as he’d hoped.

21) Listen (2014) - I can’t decide if this is an all-time classic, or just a weird experiment. The Doctor becomes obsessed with proving a weird theory, which leads to a really strange exploration of the nature of fear, and why we fear what we cannot see. The final moments, where Clara sees a whole new side of the Doctor, probably push it over the edge into “classic.”

 

[The Auxiliary]

Caves of Androzani... Always my pick for best story. Probably the last really great episode from Classic Who.

 

[Divvy]

218) Kill The Moon (2014)

I'm surprised this isn't even lower

 

[Dalek]

I'm surprised this isn't even lower

People either love that episode or hate it. I love it.

 

[thesuperfunk]

12) Dalek (2005) - A single Dalek brings more danger, and more emotional intensity, than a whole fleet. The Doctor’s arch-enemies have never been more iconic. Or tragic.

Def one of my fave 'New Who' episodes ... also the one with the Dalek that thought it was a human ...

 

[Toxi]

17) Rose (2005) - The best introduction to the Doctor, this story is all about the mystery of the time traveler who brings death in his wake. There’s a reason why this story was such a captivating launch to the new series.

Wat

Rose sucks. It's not a good episode, nor an interesting one. Smith and Jones, The Eleventh Hour, and Partners in Crime were all far superior series intros. Outside of Boom Town and The Long Game, it's probably the worst Ninth Doctor story.

People either love that episode or hate it. I love it.

I'm in the love it camp, but I admit that if those last five minutes weren't there I'd probably consider it below average.

 

[Divvy]

People either love that episode or hate it. I love it.

Makes sense, something only a Dalek could love

 

[Dalek]

Makes sense, something only a Dalek could love

 

[Dalek]

Wat

Rose sucks. It's not a good episode, nor an interesting one. Smith and Jones, The Eleventh Hour, and Partners in Crime were all far superior series intros. Outside of Boom Town and The Long Game, it's probably the worst Ninth Doctor story.

Yes-I agree. And it's aged poorly.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Blink is what convinced me to watch Doctor Who. Out of all the episodes to just randomly change the channel to, it's kind of amazing to me it was that one.

 

[Switch Back 9]

The Girl in the Fireplace is so sad :'(

 

[Putzweg]

ios 9

 

[acheron_xl]

Caves and Pyramids are the two most overrated Classic stories. And I'm not sure if I think Blink is overrated now, or if it's just lost its magic to me.

And Listen is extremely overrated. It's maybe the 4th or 5th best story of Series 8.

edit: Looking further... the Christmas Invasion #22?

This list is garbage.

 

[TheJoRu]

I'm in the love it camp, but I admit that if those last five minutes weren't there I'd probably consider it below average.

Indeed. All the side characters were just awful, empty nothings and the whole premise with the moon felt, while kinda interesting on paper, incredibly rushed. But Capaldi/Coleman-acting and chemistry blew me away in the final scenes, and that whole conflict felt pretty well built up during the episode and the series, so fair dues!

 

[Darth Pinche]

LOL!

 

[Vibranium]

Where is The Tomb of the Cybermen? Does this person hate Troughton or something?

Caves is the best, people call it overrated but I still feel it is something special.

 

[Divvy]

Where is The Tomb of the Cybermen? Does this person hate Troughton or something?

It's 37th

 

[Bluth54]

Wat

Rose sucks. It's not a good episode, nor an interesting one. Smith and Jones, The Eleventh Hour, and Partners in Crime were all far superior series intros. Outside of Boom Town and The Long Game, it's probably the worst Ninth Doctor story.

Yeah I'm not sure how anyone could say Rose is the best intro episode to Doctor Who when the 11th Hour is superior in every way (and honestly is probably the best intro episode to Doctor Who).

 

[zou]

doctor's wife at 4? yeah no, fuck that whole rivers plot.

 

[Vibranium]

It's 37th

That is awful. It should be in the top 5. The conversation between Two and Victoria is one of the best in the series.

 

[Fried Food]

Ive never seen even a 5th an episode of Dr Who.

 

[ClivePwned]

Talons of Weng Chiang at 69? well, there's a sign of how the world has changed.

 

[meow]

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.

 

[Toxi]

That is awful. It should be in the top 5. The conversation between Two and Victoria is one of the best in the series.

Even though I love Tomb of the Cybermen too, I can understand how they might have knocked off some points for the story being unbelievably racist.

 

[genjiZERO]

er... Having seen every episode and talking to others who have too it seems to me that the near consensus on the best series is the War Games.

Caves of Androzani is very good though.

 

[The Elite]

Glad to see Midnight up there.

Never been much of a fan of The Ark in Space.

It's very NuWho heavy in the top 20.

er... Having seen every episode and talking to others who have too it seems to me that the near consensus on the best series is the War Games.

Caves of Androzani is very good though.

War Games is phenomenal. One of my favourites as well.

 

[Darth Pinche]

I think Vincent and the Doctor should be higher. I cried like a baby in its beauty. Getting choked up right now thinking about it.

 

[genjiZERO]

Talons of Weng Chiang at 69? well, there's a sign of how the world has changed.

Great series, but racist as fuck.

 

[Oidisco]

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.

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.

That's exactly when I stopped watching aswell. My interest in the show had been dying slowly since Moffat took over, but that episode was awful in so many ways that I just couldn't bring myself to care about the show anymore.

 

[The Elite]

I'm surprised this isn't even lower

The reviews at the time were very positive for me. Such a divisive episode. I didn't like it.

 

[thequickandthedead]

can a modern fan watch Caves of Androzani standalone?

 

[The Elite]

can a modern fan watch Caves of Androzani standalone?

I think so. I haven't watched it in a while.

 

[CorvoSol]

I'm surprised this isn't even lower

Why would anybody ever want to remember this horrible, weird as fuck episode exists.

The time where the Doctor browbeat Clara like a hundred thousand times over some weird as fuck abortion symbolism.

 

[Dryk]

doctor's wife at 4? yeah no, fuck that whole rivers plot.

You're thinking of The Wedding of River Song. The Doctor's Wife is the one where the TARDIS is a bitey mad lady.

 

[Dalek]

doctor's wife at 4? yeah no, fuck that whole rivers plot.

River is not even mentioned in that story. Welllllll....

Spoiler

Idris's dying words to Rory are only a hint

 

[genjiZERO]

Caves of Androzani... Always my pick for best story. Probably the last really great episode from Classic Who.

I agree with you, but don't let those crazy McCoy fans hear you say that, ha!

I didn't quite like it whilst I was watching it, but in retrospect Survival is actually a great series. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is too, but man.... those McCoy years were fucking weird sometimes.

can a modern fan watch Caves of Androzani standalone?

Sure, but it makes more sense in the context of Davison if you've seen some of his other things.

 

[mclem]

Every Single* Doctor Who story

* Except the books, the spin-offs, the audio plays and the comics

 

[CorvoSol]

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.

Angels Take Manhattan was such an awful awful episode. Gave so little conclusion to Amy and Rory, with so many damn holes in it.

 

[The Elite]

Resurrection of the Daleks should be higher.

Love that episode and Tegan's exit. One of my favourite exits by a companion.

Yeah, that's one massacre too much.

 

[Divvy]

The reviews at the time were very positive for me. Such a divisive episode. I didn't like it.

Why would anybody ever want to remember this horrible, weird as fuck episode exists.

The time where the Doctor browbeat Clara like a hundred thousand times over some weird as fuck abortion symbolism.

I hated it. It was so bad I stopped watching the season for months.

I agree with Midnight being so high, that episode might be my absolute favourite.

 

[genjiZERO]

doctor's wife at 4? yeah no, fuck that whole rivers plot.

Bwahaha, I hate River Song too. She's such a terrible character that she pollutes series she's not even in ;P

Resurrection of the Daleks should be higher.

Love that episode and Tegan's exit. One of my favourite exits by a companion.

Yeah, that's one massacre too much.

Oh, in my opinion it's the best character exit. You could really feel how difficult the decision was and how broken up the Doctor and she were about it. The funny thing about Tegan is that I found her mostly insufferable in her first few series (because she was constantly complaining), but she grew on me quick and I'd say she's one of the all-time best companions. Certainly the best since Sarah and possibly the best since then too (although I see why people like Ace so much).

 

[The Elite]

240) In The Forest of the Night (2014)

Yup.

I loved last season but it delivered a couple of really bad stinkers.

 

[Henchmen21]

Resurrection of the Daleks should be higher.

Love that episode and Tegan's exit. One of my favourite exits by a companion.

Yeah, that's one massacre too much.

Everything classic who should be higher.

 

[Oidisco]

23) The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

Nope Nope Nope! Those episodes were really bad!

 

[User 463088]

I'm so glad to see Vincent and the Doctor get love.

I adore everything about that episode. I love van Gogh, so I'm probably a bit biased. I just think it did something so unique that no other show could really pull off.

: starts singing :

...and I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

 

[The Elite]

23) The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

Nope Nope Nope! Those episodes were really bad!

I loved them.

The Big Bang opening blew my fragile mind.

They were a lot of fun.

I'm so glad to see Vincent and the Doctor get love.

I adore everything about that episode. I love van Gogh, so I'm probably a bit biased. I just think it did something so unique that no other show could really pull off.

: starts singing :

...and I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

It's deserving of all the praise.

 

[Htown]

That is awful. It should be in the top 5. The conversation between Two and Victoria is one of the best in the series.

That conversation is one of the best moments, I agree, but I don't think the story as a whole should be that high.

It's probably not even the best Cyberman story of Troughton's era.

 

[Dalek]

23) The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

Nope Nope Nope! Those episodes were really bad!

You're bad and you should feel bad. Those episodes are fantastic.

The only bad thing about them is Moffets hand waving. "We need to find out who blew up The TARDIS." It's never mentioned again until 4 years later in a passing reference.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I can let a lot of stuff slide, but Spearhead at 90? 90?! C'mon people.

 

[The Elite]

79) The Time Meddler (1965)

One of my personal favourites. I don't think it needs to necessarily be higher but it was a standout the first time I watched it.