Rating of Each Episode of “Doctor Who”

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-08-25 08:11pm

This is my rating breakdown for every episode of the new series of Doctor Who so far...

Overall Show Rating - 5/5

Season One
“Rose” - 3/5
“The End of the World” - 5/5
“The Unquiet Dead” - 4/5
“The Aliens of London” - 4/5
“World War Three” - 3/5
“Dalek” - 5/5
“The Long Game” - 3/5
“Father’s Day” - 4/5
“The Empty Child” - 5/5
“The Doctor Dances” - 4/5
“Boom Town” - 4/5
“Bad Wolf” - 4/5
“The Parting of the Ways” - 5/5

Season Two
“The Christmas Invasion” - 4/5
“New Earth” - 3/5
“Tooth & Claw” - 3/5
“School Reunion” - 5/5
“The Girl in the Fireplace” - 4/5
“Rise of the Cybermen” - 4/5
“The Age of Steel” - 3/5
“The Idiot’s Lantern” - 3/5
“The Impossible Planet” - 4/5
“The Satan Pit” - 4/5
“Love & Monsters” - 4/5
“Fear Her” - 3/5
“Army of Ghosts” - 4/5
“Doomsday” - 5/5

Season Three
“The Runaway Bride” - 4/5
“Smith & Jones” - 4/5
“The Shakespeare Code” - 4/5
“Gridlock” - 4/5
“Daleks in Manhattan” - 3/5
“Evolution of the Daleks” - 2/5
“The Lazarus Experiment” - 3/5
“42” - 3/5
“Human Nature” - 5/5
“The Family of Blood” - 5/5
“Blink” - 5/5
“Utopia” - 5/5
“The Sound of Drums” - 4/5
"The Last of the Time Lords" - 4/5

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-08-25 10:25pm

Due to being evil I must retort.

S1 av 4.3 - slow start but great overall

x01 - 3/5
x02 - 4/5
x03 - 3/5
x04 - 4/5
x05 - 4/5
x06 - 5/5
x07 - 5/5
x08 - 5/5
x09 - 5/5
x10 - 5/5
x11 - 3/5
x12 - 5/5
x13 - 5/5

S2 av 3.6 - spotty but some awesome stuff

xCS - 4/5
x01 - 3/5
x02 - 3/5
x03 - 4/5
x04 - 6/5
x05 - 4/5
x06 - 4/5
x07 - 2/5
x08 - 1/5
x09 - 4/5
x10 - 4/5
x11 - 2/5
x12 - 5/5
x13 - 5/5

S3 av 3.2 - alternates between sublime and offensively bad

xCS - 3/5
x01 - 4/5
x02 - 3/5
x03 - 2/5
x04 - 2/5
x05 - 2/5
x06 - 3/5
x07 - 3/5
x08 - 5/5
x09 - 5/5
x10 - 5/5
x11 - 6/5
x12 - 2/5
x13 - 0/5

Vaporous · Post by **Vaporous** » 2007-08-26 02:48am

Not giving "The Girl in the Fireplace" 5/5 reeks of heresy.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-08-26 03:46am

In my defense I gave Girl in the Fireplace and Utopia six out of five.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-08-26 04:07am

(_/5)

The Series
Overall 3.5

Series One
Overall 3.8

Rose 3
End of the World 4
Unquiet Dead 3
Aliens of London 2
WW3 3
Dalek 5
Long Game 2
Father's Day 5
Empty Child 4
Doctor Dances 5
Boom Town 2
Bad Wolf 4
Parting of the Ways 4

Christmas Invasion 4

Rarely less than watchable, except for the slipup with the flying pig and two pretty pointless episodes to set up the finale.

Series Two
Overall 3.5

New Earth 3
Tooth & Claw 2
School Reunion 3
Girl in the Fireplace 5
Rise of the Cybermen 3
Age of Steel 3
Idiot's Lantern 2
Impossible Planet 4
Satan Pit 5
Love & Monsters 5
Fear Her 2
Army of Ghosts 4
Doomsday 4

Runaway bride 4

Saved by two of the greatest episodes in the series. If Tooth and Claw hadn't dragged it down, it would've been as good as the first series.

Series Three
Overall 3.4

Smith & Jones 3
Shakespeare Code 4
Gridlock 4
Daleks in Manhattan 2
Evolution of the Daleks 1
Lazarus Experiment 3
42 3
Human Nature 3
Family of Blood 4
Blink 5
Utopia 4
Sound of Drums 4
Last of the Time Lords 4

A very slow and bleak start with lots of middle-of-the-road episodes that may be fun on first viewing but deflate afterwards. Then halfway through the series, someone remembers how to make good television.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-08-26 02:54pm

Season One in a Nutshell - Has a faltering start with the somewhat disposable "Rose" but picks up brilliantly with "TEotW" then carries on with the rather decent "The Unquiet Dead" and the competent yet silly Slitheen two parter. "Dalek" is the first and best Dalek story of the recent series while "The Long Game" was a watchable filler episode that sets up the far better two parter adequately enough. "Father's Day" was somewhat overrated but a interesting distraction. "TEC" and "TDD" was perhaps the best two parter of the first season, while "Boomtown" was a underrated character driven episode that cut back on the Slitheen cheese. "BW" and "TPoW" was a great RTD two parter that capped off a great first season.

Season Two in a Nutshell - "The Christmas Invasion" was a good enough introduction for David Tennant, but the begining of Season Two proper was pretty uneven with the rather average "NE" and "T&C", two episodes that were initially enjoyable but did not hold up so well to repeat viewing. "School Reunion" was by far the highpoint of the first half of Season Two, while "TGitF" was well written by Moffat but something somehow felt a little off. The Cyberman two parter was mostly decent, but was sullied somewhat by the soapy ending and "The Idiot's Lantern" was somewhat flat in comparison to Gatiss' last effort. I generally liked the well tailored Satan two parter and "Love & Monsters" was a guilty pleasure. "Fear Her" was an odd episode that was better than the sum of it's parts. The Torchwood dominated two parter with Cybermen and Daleks really hits the spot, a shame it directly led to a hokey spin-off and equally hokey next season two parter...

Season Three in a Nutshell - RTD made Catherine Tate tolerable in last year's Christmas special, while Season Three proper started off better than expected with "S&J", "TSC" and "Gridlock", three episodes that are not outright classics but are fairly well written, very well presented and hold up to repeat viewing. But then Season Three hits the wall HARD with the watchable but rather turgid and underperforming Dalek two parter - "Evolution of the Daleks" is by far the worst Dalek story so far and perhaps the worst overall story of the new series. Season Three then coasts along with "TLE" and "42", two passable but semi-forgettable filler episodes. But then we have the season saved by an absolute tour de force of four classic episodes - "HN", "TFB", "Blink" and "Utopia". Paul Cornell, Steve Moffat and Russell T. Davies are at their very best in this set of outstanding episodes. Season Three is finally capped off by the consistently entertaining but pretty wobbly "The Sound of Drums" and "The Last of the Time Lords".

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-08-26 06:35pm

Season One - Slow start... underappreciated foreshadowing... excellent use of Eccleston... Boom Town weakness... silly finale that works dramatically.

Season Two - Poor start and spotty overall... GitF equal best DW episode ever ... good Cyberman two-parter leading into an excellent finale... the first truely 'bad' episode of the new series.

Season Three - Passable intro for Martha then straight downhill... longest streak of rubbish yet seen... biggest waste of a Dalek two-parter concievable... dramatically picks up with the excellent Human Nature... Utopia equal best DW episode ever... falls on it's ass with the disgustingly preachy agenga-soaked finale of failure.

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2007-08-26 10:13pm

Season 1 - Early shakes were thrown off with fantastic episodes throughout with a finale that lived up to the grand scale they aimed for. The ending may have been slightly deus ex machina but it then lead to more Captain Jack tied in plotlines that softened the blow of that.

Season 2 - A lot to worry about in this season that was saved by some glorious episodes like Girl in the Fireplace and the 2 parter that included the Satan Pit and. The opener and the finale felt rushed for me.

Season 3 - The season felt flat because the best chances were wasted - Dalek and Master episodes. Otherwise all very good which is the slight irony.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-08-27 09:21am

The Guid wrote: Season 2 - A lot to worry about in this season that was saved by some glorious episodes like Girl in the Fireplace and the 2 parter that included the Satan Pit and. The opener and the finale felt rushed for me.

Season Two improved on a lot things, but some things went down hill as well - I still think "Doomsday" is all together the best season final, with the best executed and less contrived Deus Ex ending so far. Not really rushed, since it ties into the solidly entertaining Cybermen two parter very well and gives the popular Rose a good send off.

Season 3 - The season felt flat because the best chances were wasted - Dalek and Master episodes. Otherwise all very good which is the slight irony.

They screwed up the Dalek episodes, by bringing back the Cult of Skaro a year too soon (the Daleks should take a break anyway and stay off the radar for a long time) and having a rather silly plan at saving their species - but the Dalek two parter was watchable in a B-list schlocky kind of way and I loved the scene were a Dalek emerged from the art deco elevator (hence the 3/5 score for a otherwise dismal episode).

I found the Master episodes nowhere near such a horrible cock up in comparison, although Derek Jacobi and John Simm must've elevated the writing material, making it seem better than what it actually was. I enjoyed "The Last of the Time Lords" immensely, but yet another Deus-Ex ending and being set on Earth made it lose a point - although I do not mind most of Russell T. Davies' writing, when he leaves in over a year's time who ever is going to take should set Doctor Who well away from contemporary Earth, even though many great episodes took place there (like "Blink").

I'm still looking forward to fourth season of DW I do not mind seeing Catherine Tate again as a older, less childish companion but I heard really bad news about Steve Moffat and Paul Cornell are not going to write any episodes (Sod's Law that Helen Raynor is returning after her Dalek turkey, but she may improve like Torchwood hopefully will in it's next season).

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2007-08-27 11:28am

The Daleks wont appear for a looooonnng time, since the expiry date for their use of the Daleks from the Nation Estate has finished.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-08-27 01:47pm

Big Orange wrote: I found the Master episodes nowhere near such a horrible cock up in comparison, although Derek Jacobi and John Simm must've elevated the writing material, making it seem better than what it actually was. I enjoyed "The Last of the Time Lords" immensely, but yet another Deus-Ex ending and being set on Earth made it lose a point - although I do not mind most of Russell T. Davies' writing, when he leaves in over a year's time who ever is going to take should set Doctor Who well away from contemporary Earth, even though many great episodes took place there (like "Blink").

The setting's not so important as the writing itself. Though it would be nice to see some more episodes away from Earth/New Earth. The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit were both well done examples as to why we should get more imo.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-08-27 02:12pm

General Zod wrote: The setting's not so important as the writing itself. Though it would be nice to see some more episodes away from Earth/New Earth. The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit were both well done examples as to why we should get more imo.

New Earth was an entirely alien planet set on a distant galaxy, but the far future episodes set on Satellite 5 were just as alien as any alien planet/station/ship location that could be executed on a BBC budget. But in the season after next year they really should leave contemporary Earth far behind at the beginning and set the season final in another galaxy, where the Doctor would lose his TARDIS in a big battle against Season Five's Big Bad.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-08-27 02:15pm

It's a sad commentary when Big Orange's patented Stupid Ideas are really not that unrealistic.

Can anyone believe they gave the woman who ruined a Dalek two-parter MORE episodes next season? Madness. Clearly, BO is secretly an actual BBC author testing his story ideas, instead of some Outpost Gallifrey gestalt spouting fannish nonsense.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-08-31 01:53pm

Stark wrote:It's a sad commentary when Big Orange's patented Stupid Ideas are really not that unrealistic.

Yes, it is a bad sign...

Can anyone believe they gave the woman who ruined a Dalek two-parter MORE episodes next season? Madness. Clearly, BO is secretly an actual BBC author testing his story ideas, instead of some Outpost Gallifrey gestalt spouting fannish nonsense.

We could be pleasantly surprised by Helen Raynor getting her act together by the fourth season, in much the same way that I hold out hope that Torchwood will not be 75% shit come the second season - but Raynor did pen the rather decent "Ghost Machine" and she was perhaps trying to sow a silk purse out of a pig's ear, with the overused Daleks in a basement being a plot bottleneck anyway.

I may be sprouting rubbish (as usual) but we need more variety after a two year build up mainly on Earth and we need established alien powers out there that would be a continual menace or presence, without being far too powerful (like the defunct Daleks or Time Lords) and very rarely think about Earth. If the Daleks in several years time do decide to come back, yet again, if they're a multi-galactic empire perhaps they would be kept in check by the People or some other very powerful race?