A 13th Doctor Poll - the Dross

 

Now that the 13th Doctor has left the TARDIS it is possible to take an overview of all of her stories and so rank them. I came across a poll conducted by someone else - the doctorwhotv site - which I found to match fairly closely my own opinions. The thing about this poll is that it was created as the series went along. After each episode aired, the site asked fans to rate it on a scale of 1 - 10. I participated myself. 

So this is what people thought at the time - not a view from four years distance in some cases.

There are 31 Jodie Whittaker episodes in total - each instalment of Flux being considered a separate episode.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. Here are the worst ranked stories - numbers 31 to 21.

The Top half tomorrow.

31.

In last place, with a score of 4.25 is Legend of the Sea Devils. 

It also had the lowest audience figure of the era. Very much a wasted opportunity, badly plotted. It wasn't my own personal worst - that comes shortly.

30.

The Vanquishers - with a score of 4.56. Flux really did fall apart at the end. The demise of Azure and Swarm after such a big build up was hugely disappointing. That stupid Sontaran chocolate addiction scene - embarrassing.

29.

Orphan 55 - with a score of 4.97. Benni! Terrible acting, terrible plotting, complete lack of subtlety in its messaging. Unoriginal - Charlton Heston was there back in 1967. My own personal second worst overall, and worst of Series 12.

28.

The Tsuranga Conundrum - with a score of 5.17. My own personal worst. Shown so early on, I just knew that the Chibnall era was never going to deliver its promise if this was the best he could come up with for his first series.

27.

Praxeus - with a score of 5.43. More sledgehammer messaging. Far too many characters with not enough room for all of them. Globe-trotting to exotic locations does not make up for a poor story. My second worst of Series 12 and in the bottom five overall.

26.

Once, Upon Time - with a score of 5.68. Not one I wholly agree with. It did jump around a lot but once you grasped what was happening it wasn't all that bad. Readers of the site were obviously just not enjoying Flux.

25.

The Timeless Children - with a score of 5.87. The most divisive of stories, though the damage had actually been done in an earlier story which features much further up the poll - so there must have been something else people disliked, or maybe it was just the fact that they went ahead and confirmed it all. Whittaker does nothing for most of it. It's Sacha Dhawan's episode.

24.

Arachnids in the UK - with a score of 5.91. The Trump caricature. A TARDIS team we just weren't warming to. The Doctor's inaction. You know there's something wrong when the unlikeable villain is the one who sorts the problem out at the end.

23.

Survivors of the Flux - with a score of 5.92. They really, really weren't getting Flux, were they? The sense that Chibnall hasn't thought the whole story through, and is just making it up as he goes along. Bel turns up half way through, but needn't have bothered. The Grand Serpent suddenly becomes significant after zero development in the first half of the series. UNIT history screwed around with.

22.

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos - with a score of 5.93. Weakest series finale since 2005. The battle is over before the episode starts - that's how awful this is. Religio-maniacs are talked into abandoning their god just because the Doctor says he's bad. The god in question is the feeble Tzim Sha, a character unworthy of any sort of sequel.

21.

Can You Hear Me? - with a score of 5.94. I suspect it was the Doctor's failure to help with Graham's concerns about his illness coming back - entirely defeating the message of the story that we should be listening out for people's worries. (Made all the worse when you read that Chibnall had himself undergone a cancer diagnosis). Also the utterly pointless detour to ancient but right-on Aleppo.

The next three stories all just happen to be the New Year Dalek stories - 20. Revolution of the Daleks (5.98), 19. Eve of the Daleks (6.38) and 18. Resolution (6.54). Personally, I would have put Resolution above Eve, but agree with Revolution as the better one.