Top 10 Most Overrated Doctor Who Stories

I love Doctor Who. I want to make sure everyone knows that before I get started here because this is the kind of list that would probably get me throttled at sci-fi conventions. When I began to delve deeper into this long-running television program I needed a way to separate the wheat from the chaff without having to try and track down over 750 episodes and watch them all. Naturally, I turned to websites like Outpost Gallifrey and The Doctor Who Ratings Guide to see what long-time fans had to say. For the most part they served me well, but there are a handful of stories that I feel are given far more praise than they deserve. Likewise, there are certain stories I think are far better than the majority of the fans rate them, but I'll save that for another blog.

In 2003, the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who, Outpost Gallifrey conducted a poll asking its readers to rate all 159 of the original stories (as well as Doctor Who: The Movie and various specials, none of which I'm including here). My basis for this list was this poll in addition to postive reviews and ratings I've seen elsewhere. All of the stories I mention are in the top half of the poll and I've listed them in descending order. For instance, City of Death (#1 on my list) came in 5th place out of all the original Doctor Who stories while Resurrection of the Daleks (#10 on my list) came in at a middling 77th. The other stories I mention here placed somewhere in between.


1) City of Death (Fourth Doctor: Tom Baker; Season 17; Story 105)

Tom Baker, a script by Douglas Adams, location shooting in Paris, a villain played by Julian Glover and a Pythonesque cameo by John Cleese…I must be mad to say this story isn’t genius! Well, it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely the best story of the otherwise atrocious season 17, but is it perfect? Far from it if you ask me. There are numerous holes in the plot, Lalla Ward is too cute by half as Romana, and just what kind of accent does Professor Kerensky have anyway? Russian? Romanian? Italian? Who can tell? Furthermore, Scaroth’s rubber mask with plastic eye isn’t really that convincing, so why does director Michael Hayes decide to zoom in on it fully lit? And I haven’t even mentioned the endless padding, Tom Baker and Lalla Ward running up and down the streets of Paris just so we’ll all know they're on location. Is it a good story? Absolutely. Does it deserve praise as one of the top 10 Doctor Who stories ever? Not a chance. I'm not even sure it's in my top 10 Tom Baker stories.


2) Earthshock (Fifth Doctor: Peter Davison; Season 20; Story 122)

I’ve mentioned in a previous review that I don’t really care for Peter Davison’s Doctor, but he’s not the real problem when it comes to Earthshock. Like so many Fifth Doctor stories, this one starts off strong (apart from the bickering in the TARDIS) and goes down hill from there. This is a much-loved, much-remembered story due to the involvement of the Cybermen and the death of Adric, the Doctor’s very own Wesley Crusher. I happen to think it’s a load of crap. Here the Cybermen are only different from humans in appearance, being annoyed one minute and irate the next, and are far from the emotionless beings they were in the 60s (or in the new series, come to think of it). And would someone tell me why the Cybermen need android servants? I’ll tell you why…to keep the audience from realizing Cybermen are the villains until the end of the first episode. While it does boast some nice effects and music, there are serious problems with Earthshock…and the silent epilogue for Adric at the end is definitely one of them. The realization that Adric is no longer on board the TARDIS is at least some compensation.


3) Logopolis (Fourth Doctor: Tom Baker; Season 18; Story 116)

To prove I’m not just picking on Davison, here’s another story from my favorite actor to play the role of the Doctor – Tom Baker. Of course, it’s not his fault it's a bit of a stinker. In fact, Baker is probably the best thing about Logopolis. I’m not a big fan of Anthony Ainley's Master, mainly because he seems to use an over-the-top laugh as a substitute for punctuation, but I think what really doesn’t work in Logopolis is the writing. There’s just too much going on in this story for a four-parter. We have the introduction of Tegan, the return of the Master and Nyssa, the mysterious (and while spooky, rather pointless) appearance of The Watcher and the death of the Fourth Doctor all in about an hour and a half. Speaking of the Fourth Doctor’s death…he falls off a radio telescope. That’s it, really. After facing the Daleks, Davros, Sutekh, Magnus Greel, and countless other baddies, how does the Master finally defeat the Doctor? Gravity. Apparently, the Fourth Doctor’s fatal flaw was an extremely weak grasp.


4) Revelation of the Daleks (Sixth Doctor: Colin Baker; Season 22; Story 143)

Whether you like Colin Baker or not it’s hard to deny that his tenure as the Sixth Doctor marked a nadir in the history of Doctor Who. The “other” Baker was at helm when the show went off the air for an eighteen month hiatus, right in the middle of his two seasons in the role. While it might seem that I’m being awfully forgiving of the leads, here again I cannot fault C. Baker for this shoddy story. In the one season of the original Doctor Who where stories were divided (mostly) into two 45 minute episodes, why on earth would you spend one of those episodes with the Doctor and Peri walking around aimlessly before reaching Tranquil Repose? At the end of that first episode a statue of the Sixth Doctor falls on him, but at the beginning of the second episode it turns out to have been a fake, not heavy enough to really hurt him. The Doctor says it was part of an “elaborate practical joke,” but I think the joke is on the viewers. What was the point? And don’t get me started on Alexei Sayle as the DJ, who may win top honors for the most annoying character ever to appear on television. Sure, he’s less offensive once he’s not doing his on-air persona, but that doesn’t dull the ache of what has come before, or of his weapon that shoots an “ultra sonic beam of rock and roll” to destroy the Daleks before he dies like a chump. In the end, Davros and the highly underutilized Daleks cannot save this sloppy story that many fans inexplicably consider the Sixth Doctor’s best.


5) The Mind Robber (Second Doctor: Patrick Troughton; Season 6; Story 045)

I almost feel guilty saying that The Mind Robber is overrated, especially given that so few of the Second Doctor’s stories survive today. Conceptually speaking I have to say that it’s the best story on this list, but the execution leaves much to be desired. The first episode is a surreal trip that has little to do with the actual story proper, but upon repeated viewings I found it may be the best of the five that make up The Mind Robber. After that we’re into the Land of Fiction where anything can happen – toy soldiers, mythological beasts, various literary figures appear, but they don’t do very much, really. Maybe my suspension of disbelief needs some work, because I can imagine seeing this as a child I would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker, but having watched it for the first time at the bitter age of 32 I just found it rather unconvincing. Fictional characters just seem to be thrown at the Doctor and his companions at random and by the end of the story there are quite a few unanswered questions. For example, who built the Master Brain computer the Master of the Land uses to conjure up all these literary characters? Then there’s the fact that after five episodes of general chaos, Jamie and Zoe defeat the computer simply by pressing buttons at random. While The Mind Robber is somewhat overrated by fandom, it’s maybe the most unique story within a very unique show and treasured primarily for that very reason.


6) The Five Doctors (Fifth Doctor: Peter Davison; Season 20; Story 122)

What a spectacular mess. This movie-length 20th anniversary story is essentially a Doctor Who convention on film. It’s got everything: Cybermen, Daleks, Yeti, Time Lords, the Master, a gaggle of companions and five, well, four…um…okay, three Doctors all in one massive story! I just like to pretend it doesn’t exist, really. One would think that if one of your lead actors was dead (William Hartnell) and another refused to participate (Tom Baker) that you’d just think of something else to do, right? Nah, just use a stand-in and some old film footage and work around them instead. Nothing in this convoluted waste of film makes any sense and the only real reason to watch it from an objective point of view is Patrick Troughton’s brilliant performance as the Second Doctor. Everyone else seems to be phoning it in or hamming it up. However, if you're watching just to see how past stars have aged there's nothing better than The Five Doctors.


7) Black Orchid (Fifth Doctor: Peter Davison; Season 19; Story 121)

Maybe it’s a little unfair to be picking on this inoffensive little two-part time filler, but I had such high expectations for it based on the reviews I'd read that I think it needs singling out. It all hinges on the fact that somewhere on Earth there’s a girl who looks exactly like Nyssa, companion to the Doctor and native of Traken. This sort of thing pops up a lot in Doctor Who, such as Romana looking just like Princess Strella in The Androids of Tara, but there’s not quite enough going on in this story to warrant another one of these highly unlikely coincidences. Basically, the first part of the story involves the Fifth Doctor playing an inordinate amount of cricket and Adric stuffing his face at a masquerade ball. (You know you have problems when a two part story has this much padding.) The thrilling conclusion being that someone wearing the Doctor’s mask and costume ends up killing the girl who looks just like Nyssa and for the entire second episode the Doctor has to prove he isn’t the murderer. Often touted as the best of the two-parters, I’ll take The Edge of Destruction, The Rescue or The Sontaran Experiment any day of the week. The best thing about Black Orchid is the title.


8) Carnival of Monsters (Third Doctor: Jon Pertwee; Season 10; Story 066)

Along with City of Death and The Mind Robber, Carnival of Monsters is another story that I actually enjoy, but I don’t quite think it’s worthy of its legendary status. The premise here is that the Third Doctor and his companion Jo Grant end up materializing inside an illegal device called a Miniscope. It's a machine that contains miniaturized worlds and creatures for the viewing pleasure of anyone willing to buy a ticket. Essentially, it's Jurassic Park meets Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (though obviously predating both) and while it is very entertaining, it’s one of the ugliest stories in Doctor Who. The sets look particularly dodgy, the aliens are rather unimpressive, and the costumes make the Sixth Doctor’s coat look tasteful by comparison. Carnival of Monsters is a fine example of a Doctor Who story that works despite its superficial flaws, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. All in all, it’s a great story with solid performances let down only by its unparalleled gaudiness.


9) The War Machines (First Doctor: William Hartnell; Season 3; Story 027)

As the only surviving story to feature companions Ben and Polly, I really wanted to like The War Machines. I’m also a big fan of William Hartnell’s portrayal of the Doctor, but what remains of his final season is rather disappointing stuff. Everyone points out the fact that this story is the prototype on which the earthbound Doctor Who stories were built (The Invasion, Spearhead from Space, Doctor Who and the Silurians, etc.) and that’s certainly true, but that doesn’t make it terribly enjoyable. It’s filled with too many plot holes for me to begin to mention here while the WOTAN computer and the War Machines make for fairly dull villains. Dodo Chaplet, the Doctor’s companion at the beginning of the episode, makes her exit off-screen, which is another disappointment. Perhaps the biggest gripe of all, however, is that WOTAN constantly refers to the Doctor as “Doctor Who.” It’s a petty complaint, but one that never fails to get under my skin. A forward thinking story, but a boring one.


10) Resurrection of the Daleks (Fifth Doctor: Peter Davison; Season 21; Story 134)

What a surprise, another Peter Davison story! Resurrection of the Daleks has perhaps the most perplexing tangle of plot threads ever to make its way into a Doctor Who story. It all starts off well enough (there’s that Fifth Doctor jinx again), but falls to pieces in the latter half of the story. We’ve got Davros, Daleks, renegade Daleks, doppelgangers and mercenaries all in a big Doctor Who gumbo, all vying for air time and everyone acting independently of one another. It’s too crowded and many characters exist solely for their input regarding one small aspect of the overall story and are then nonchalantly discarded. Speaking of being discarding, Resurrection of the Daleks is well-known for being one of the most violent Doctor Who stories ever aired. It contains numerous on-screen deaths and many of them are rather horrific. By the end of this story even the normally pacifistic Fifth Doctor is holding a gun to Davros’s head. While I’ve always scorned the Fifth Doctor for not being more aggressive, this seems like an immediate about face for the character as played by Davison. As with several of the stories on this list, the biggest fault lies in the script.


All in all, it's easy to poke holes in Doctor Who stories. They were incredibly cheaply and quickly made and even the best of them has something that stands out as inadequate. These days, however, that's really part of the charm of the original series. While these stories are singled out as overrated, it doesn't mean they're all bad or that you should avoid them altogether. Just don't go in with particularly high expectations and you'll likely find them rewarding in one way or another. I know I did!