Yesterday we listed the bottom half of Jodie Whittaker's stories, according to the doctorwhotv.co.uk poll. Just to remind, these scores were gathered each week that the series were running, so reflect opinion of the time. However, I suspect that any overview conducted now would probably mirror this fairly closely.
The three Dalek New Year Specials were situated in the middle of the rankings, and now we move on to the top 17 episodes...
17.
The Witchfinders - with a score of 6.65. A real folk horror feel (Blood on Satan's Claw comes to mind) and a nice guest turn by Alan Cumming as King James.
16.
Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror - with a score of 6.71. An interesting monster in a celebrity historical, and an exciting enough story. It certainly looked good and perked the series up again after the nonsense that was Orphan 55.
15.
The Ghost Monument - with a score of 6.84. This I totally disagree with. I recently wrote about Chibnall's failure to grasp the concept of "show, don't tell", and this is the perfect example. We hear about all the dangers on this planet yet see none of them bar some of the stupidest robots ever and some flying bandages. Also introduces the worst TARDIS interior to date. Very much a bottom 10 story for me.
14.
Demons of the Punjab - with a score of 6.85. Glad this isn't top 10 as it may be a perfectly fine historical tragic-romance, but it's a rubbish Doctor Who story. The TARDIS crew play no role in events whatsoever. Even the aliens are superfluous.
13.
The Halloween Apocalypse - with a score of 6.94. It was a promising start, setting out its stall with various characters introduced. Shame it all went downhill soon after.
12.
Spyfall Part 2 - with a score of 7.01. A big drop from Part 1 as you'll soon see. There's a long tradition of showrunner scripted two-parters coming off the rails in the second half.
11.
War of the Sontarans - with a score of 7.06. Could have been called "The Rehabilitation of the Sontarans" after Moffat trashed them by turning them into a joke. The concept has always been funny, but humour should come from the drama. A pity Chibnall wrote that stupid chocolate scene and screwed up his own good work.
10.
It Takes You Away - with a score of 7.12. I wouldn't have placed this so high. The frog is either a work of genius or the most ridiculous thing we'd seen for a long time. Not at all sure about the abusive father escaping consequences. The messaging from Chibnall is all over the place in Series 11. If you're going to insist on hitting us over the head with your messages, kindly have the courtesy to be consistent.
9.
Kerblam! - with a score of 7.26. Let's champion faceless corporations over the rights of workers! You see what I mean about messaging this series.
8.
Ascension of the Cybermen - with a score of 7.30. One of the better Cyberman stories of recent times in that they're actually a real threat and seen to be winning. Ashad was an interesting character, so good to see more of him.
7.
The Woman Who Fell To Earth - with a score of 7.35. A perfectly fine introduction to the new Doctor and companions, though the villain was weak, and unoriginal if you watched Star Trek: Voyager.
6.
The Power of the Doctor - with a score of 7.41. Probably about the right placing. Take away the Doctor cameos, the old companions and the regeneration and it is a good story, just not a great one. As with The Timeless Child it really belongs to Sacha Dhawan. Jodie was so often a passenger in her own series.
5.
Spyfall Part 1 - with a score of 7.43. After the huge disappointments of Series 11 I was so happy to have an episode I actually enjoyed. The big gamble to bring back the Master so soon after the hugely popular Missy incarnation pays off. That man Dhawan is certainly one of the highlights of the era, and I sincerely hope he is used by RTD.
4.
The Haunting of Villa Diodati - with a score of 7.56. My only concern, as I stated in my review, was that it would have been nice to separate the celebrity historical haunted house story from the Cyberman one. The former could have stood up as a story on its own, though I suppose the Cyberman / Frankenstein link had to be repeated.
3.
Village of the Angels - with a score of 7.79. I totally agree with this being the very best instalment of Flux. The Weeping Angels really need the right setting to work, and this got it right. A great cliffhanger, plus a popular guest character in Professor Jericho, played by the wonderful Kevin McNally.
2.
Rosa - with a score of 7.94. Just manages to avoid the trap of Demons of the Punjab, if the Doctor and company couldn't play any active role in proceedings. Graham causing the famous bus incident by accident - trying not to intervene - was a nice touch. If it has a flaw it's the pathetic villain.
1.
And finally, the lamp on the TARDIS roof is Fugitive of the Judoon, with a score of 8.01.
Up to now I've thought that the idea of scoring stories as you went along was a good one, but here we witness the drawback. There was a definite kneejerk reaction to the sudden appearance of a strange new Doctor, plus the return of Captain Jack. (Take them both away and you are left with very little). It was only later, when people realised what Chibnall was telling us, did we start to get concerned. Most certainly not my favourite story of the era, but I can see why people rated it so highly at the time.
I don't really have a set favourite myself - it wavers between the Angels episode and the first part of Spyfall. I've only watched Power once - waiting for the DVD next week for the rewatch - so it might well have grown on me.
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