Daleks, the TARDIS
and Other Stuff.

Episodes listed by popular vote - marks out of 5 using scores from Outpost Gallifrey. Series One is Red, Series Two is Blue and Series Three is Green, Series Four in Gold. This list is interesting to compare to the DWM's might 200.

Are These Results Fair?

On Outpost Gallifrey, after each episode is broadcast, the fans are asked to rate the episode with a figure between 1 and 5. It is the norm for about 3000 fans to vote within about a 24 hour period and I think this is a superb barometer of opinion because, unlike End of Season Polls in the DWM, all the ratings are subject to the same "wow" factor because the viewer as just watched the episode. It is normally a statistical fact that something seen more recently gets higher ratings (Sylvester McCoy was voted the greatest Doctor of all time during the late 80s) so this is a much more level playing field by always canvassing opinion straigh after the broadcast.

Patterns and Two-Parters

What I find interesting is the fact that this table gives different results to the ones in Doctor Who Magazine in which people are being asked to measure their appreciation of the episodes in a different way.

In agreement with the Letter of the Week in the Radio Times following the broadcast of Human Nature, 9 out of the top 13 episodes when rated on their own are two-parters. Surely in the budget-conscious world of BBC Wales they should have realised by now that the single-part stories just don't hit the mark unless they're an exceptionally good piece of writing.

I personally have to put the season finales in their own category when looking at these tables because they include the kind of emotionally charged content which simply isn't "allowed" during other stories. You can't play any tricks on the viewer about companions (or even the Doctor) dying during episode three, and nor to you want to blow all the massive plot twists before the end. So with that in mind, it is wonderful to see Human Nature, The Empty Child and The Impossible Planet up where they belong in the hall of fame. It is a great shame that the lower viewing figures for The Impossible Planet were used as ammunition by RTD to back up his argument that stories should not be set on other planets. This adventure was acclaimed by fans and norms alike and only the hot weather kept people away from their screens, as also happened with the hugely popular Blink.

Monsters

3 of the top 10 are Dalek stories and, although these monsters are undoubtedly popular, the high ranking of these episodes is as much to do with emotional mind-games played with the audience during end of season finales, as mentioned above. When the Daleks returned in the rather badly conceived Manhattan story, they dropped away down the list to outside the top 20. I personally was sad to see the glorious return of the Cybermen so low down the list. A magnificent portrayal and a very traditional story with lots of fan-pleasing moments should have done better.

The Less-Well-Loved

In any list, there has to be a last place and unsurprisingly it's Fear Her. Hopefully the new series won't sink this low again, with such terrible acting, awful dialogue and lack of monsters. The newsreader's speech about a "beacon of love" is perhaps the worst writing in the history of the show and that really is saying something. Sadly also down the bottom is Love & Monsters which, although not everyone's cup of tea in terms of a Doctor Who story, wasn't actually bad television in its own right, and should be higher on the list just for innovation.

You might be interested to know that if Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords were were rated in their own right, they would be placed 6th, 15th and 30th respectively. This is the first time in the new series that the season finale has not been a ratings winner, and in fact was rated the worst episode of season three.

The above I find extraordinary and I'm not sure what it really means. Do we have a warped view of the new series because it is exciting and new? Are people overly critical of the old series? I can honestly say I would rather sit and watch Warriors of the Deep, despite its flaws, than any of the new series episodes at the bottom. Do people honestly think Fear Her is better television than The TV Movie? I mean, I know the McGann outing divides opinion, but seriously? Chloe Webber versus Eric Roberts? No contest!

And School Reunion - a nostalgic look back at Sarah Jane - is apparently better than actually seeing her in her hayday in Terror of the Zygons? Very strange results indeed. The Christmas Invasion is better than The Five Doctors?? Oh I give up.