Favorite and Least Favorite Episodes

[April Bloodgate]

I've been doing a re-watch of Seasons/Series 2-7 in the lead up to Season/Series 8, and I've realized there are a fair number of episodes I don't care to see again. So I thought it might be fun to discuss favorite and least favorite episodes. I'll start with a handful I chose to skip in this rewatch. I don't necessarily hate all of these, but I don't want to watch them again. 

 

Tenth Doctor:

Love and Monsters

Fear Her

The Unicorn and the Wasp

The Waters of Mars

Planet of the Dead

 

Eleventh Doctor:

Amy's Choice

Night Terrors

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

A Town Called Mercy

The Rings of Akhaten

Cold War

[mledawn]

Oh yes, Fear Her is definitely not a favourite of mine, but I did sort of like A Town Called Mercy.

 

I'll have to ponder this a little more before replying with my selections...

[taanja]

The Doctor Dances.

 

it always comes to mind when I think of my favorite ep.

 

The music. The hot looks of Rose and the Doctor when she challenges him to "dance" with her. Captain Jack. Everybody lives!

 

oh also Blink is right on the top of the list!

 

When I don't like an ep I kind of forget it immediately. There were several during the Amy Pond years. I didn't like her. I wasn't a big fan of Rory. Same with River Song. Bored now.

Edited August 13, 2014 by taanja

[ajsnaves]

I too have been doing a rewatch from Rose onward.  And I too skipped some episodes.  Some I skipped because I just watched them recently.  Some I skipped because I wanted to get this done in the next day or so so I can take a bit of a break and build my excitement.  And some I skipped because I really disliked the episodes.  So Favorite episodes

 

Nine

1. Dalek
2. Empty Child/Doctor Dances
3. Boom Town (Unpopular opinion I know)
4. Parting of the Ways.

Ten

1. School Reunion
2. Girl in the Fireplace
3. Human Nature/Family of Blood
4. Blink
5. Midnight

Eleven

1. Amy's Choice
2. Vincent and the Doctor
3. The Doctor's Wife
4. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
5. The Crimson Horror.

 

Least Favorite: Episodes that I will never watch if I can avoid them.

1. The Long Game
2. Fear Her
3. Daleks Take Manhattan
4. 42
5. Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
6. The Rebel Flesh/Almost People

 

I enjoy the rest. Some more than others. Some that seem to be universally hated (I will stand in defense of The Unicorn and the Wasp).  But those 6 stories are the only ones that I will always skip.

[alias1]

My favorite Nine episode is Fathers Day.

 

I love almost ALL of Ten (except Fear her and Love and Monsters).  I especially love The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, Doomsday, Planet of the Ood, Turn Left, Journey's End, The End of Time (yes, just about all of them).

 

I didn't like much of Eleven.  No fault of Matt, just didn't like the Amy saga and the more I knew about River the less I even cared.  But I did love Vincent and the Doctor and The Crimson Horror.  

[Dust Bunny]

Liking this thread.
 
Ninth Doctor:
Favorites:

• "Dalek": I like it because we see PTSD Doctor after the Time War. It introduces the Daleks to newbies like me, while also showing the nuances of identity.
• "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances": great story. Also, Jack Harkness.

Least favorite:

• "The Long Game". Adam is a waste of a character, and the jelly monster is unpleasant.

 
Tenth Doctor:
Favorites:

• "The Runaway Bride": I could watch it once a week and not get sick of it.
• "Girl in the Fireplace": beautifully done.
• "School Reunion": Tennant does a brilliant job of demonstrating the continuity of relationships through his reunion with Sarah Jane.
• "Partners in Crime": See "The Runaway Bride"
• "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead": Tennant does a great job of setting the stage for a meaningful 11th Doctor & River relationship
• "Midnight": a brilliantly-acted bottle episode that still freaks me out. Also shows the Doctor's need for his trusted and true companions.
• "Turn Left": shows that causality can be a thing.
• "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End": I'm a sucker for team-efforts.

Least Favorite:

• "Fear Her": meh. The ending is really eyeroll-inducing.

Most and Least Favorite:

• "The End of Time, Parts 1 & 2": Breaks my heart every damn time.

 

Eleventh Doctor

Favorites:

• "The Eleventh Hour": strong introduction.
• "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang": good team-effort and return of Rory.
• "The Doctor's Wife": absolutely brilliant, fun, and meaningful. Obviously written by Neil Gaiman.
• "The Girl Who Waited": shows the powers of time and choice.
• "The Lodger": playful and we get to see a different side of the Doctor. Also James Corden.
• "The Name of the Doctor": some good narrative payoffs here.
• "The Time of the Doctor": Matt Smith knocked it out of the park. 

Least Favorites:

• "Amy's Choice": unnecessarily dramatic.
• "The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People": eww.
• "The Rings of Akhaten": boring.

 

Bring on Season 8!

[April Bloodgate]

I'm glad others have chimed in on this. Now for my favorites.

Ten:

The Girl in the Fireplace

Blink

Human Nature/The Family of Blood

Midnight

The Stolen Earth/Journey's End

 

Eleven:

The Eleventh Hour

Vincent and the Doctor

The Lodger

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

A Good Man Goes to War

[Kalliste]

I'm glad others have chimed in on this. Now for my favorites.

Ten:

The Girl in the Fireplace

Blink

Human Nature/The Family of Blood

Midnight

The Stolen Earth/Journey's End

 

Eleven:

The Eleventh Hour

Vincent and the Doctor

The Lodger

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

A Good Man Goes to War

My Ten favourites are very similar to yours. Although I didn't like Midnight, I'm not a big fan of bottle episodes however it was very creepy.

 

My other favourite for Ten were Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

 

Nine was The empty Child/The Doctor Dances

 

and I'm not sure about 11. I liked Vincent and the Doctor, but not sure what else.

[SnideAsides]

Random favourite? The Idiot's Lantern. It's kind of ridiculous, but that is the point. I also love the New Earth trilogy, Tooth and Claw, The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp, The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, The Waters of Mars, The Beast Below (quiet), and Cold War. Hmm. Not a lot from the Moffat era.

 

Least favourites: Blink (incredibly overrated), The Unquiet Dead (I don't think I've ever managed to sit through it without falling asleep), pretty much any of the other timey-wimey episodes.

[jah1986]

I just finished Blink. I have to say the Weeping Angels just completely freak me out, so a lot of this was seen through my fingers. Not a lot of Doctor in this episode but I still liked it, does that make sense? I liked seeing this introduction of the Weeping Angels because the first time I saw them was with Eleven and I had no idea what was going on or what they did to people. I thought they just killed you, what actually happens is almost  a little sadder.

[proserpina65]

My favorites:

 

9th Doctor: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, hands down my favorite for Nine, even though I loathe Captain Jack.  I'm also very, very fond of The Unquiet Dead (a bit surprising given my thing about zombies), Father's Day, and Dalek.  I even manage to really like Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways, despite how those episodes mark the beginning of Rose as the most super-specialist companion evah.  I wish Christopher Eccleston had been willing to do more than one season, because I liked his Doctor a lot.

 

10th Doctor: Although Tennant was easily my least favorite reboot Doctor, I did end up liking a lot of his episodes, either because of the storyline, the other characters or just the hot guys (that would be Tooth and Claw, thank you very much).  My favorites of his run would be Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, Human Nature/Family of Blood, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Waters of Mars, Midnight (not just for introducing me to Lesley Sharp but that's one hell of a bonus) and the aforementioned Tooth and Claw (Hey, hot Scotsmen! And no, that doesn't include DT).

 

11th Doctor: Although I could do without the Amy/Clara super special snowflake aspects, I find I tend to rewatch more of Matt Smith's episodes.  I particularly loved The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, The Vampires of Venice, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, The Crimson Horror, A Good Man Goes to War, The Name of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor.

 

 

Least favorites:

 

9 - I can't remember the name of it, but it was the first one with the Slitheen - never found the fart jokes funny, although the second part was better.  And I didn't like The Long Game at all.

 

10 - Too many to really list, but Love and Monsters was a complete waste of time, Planet of the Dead was a good idea ruined by some horrible acting (Michelle Ryan), and I hated both parts of The End of Time.  In fact, I hated any episode featuring the Master because I thought the actor was terrible in the role.  (Not including the one with Derek Jacobi turning out to be the Master, obviously.)  Basically I got so sick of the whole lovey-dovey Rose crap that I've tried to blank out most of her episodes after School Reunion.

 

11 - The Rings of Akhaten was dreadful, and The Beast Below was built on an intriguing idea but the execution was seriously lacking.  Most of the rest of his episodes I liked enough of that I could overlook what I didn't like.

[Llywela]

Favourite...I have many favourite stories. My absolute favourite is The Ark in Space. I go back to that one again and again and still always love it.

 

I'm not sure I have a least favourite. Possibly The Happiness Patrol. I usually have a high tolerance for the idiosyncracies of the Sylvester McCoy era because Sylv was My Doctor when I was a child, I watched his stories live just as I was old enough to really be hooked, I loved his Doctor and I loved Ace...but I really dislike this story.

[ohjoy]

Favorites --

Nine:

• The Doctor Dances
• The Parting of the Ways

Ten:

• The Girl in the Fireplace
• Blink
• Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead

Eleven (My first Doctor, and still my favorite after watching Nine & Ten, though I'm really looking forward to Twelve):

• The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone
• The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
• The Impossible Astronaut
• A Good Man Goes to War
• The Name of the Doctor

Ten & Eleven:

• The Day of the Doctor

Least Favorites --

Nine:

• Aliens of London / World War Three (slitheen are gross)

Ten:

• The Satan Pit
• Fear Her
• Doomsday (sacrilege, I know, but beautiful acting doesn't make up for completely disappointing story/character developments)
• Journey's End (see above comment)

Eleven:

• The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
• The Curse of the Black Spot
• The Rebel Flesh
• Hide(it's not a ghost story, but it's not a love story either)
• Journey to the Center of the TARDIS (I need more than two tolerable scenes to keep an episode from being completely irrelevant)

ETA -- Favorite AND Least Favorite

The Time of the Doctor -- It's a favorite because it's the first episode I ever saw, and it's a least favorite because, well, after watching the rest of NuWho, I realized that the whole episode could have been as awesome and heartbreaking as the regeneration scene, but it... wasn't. I watch it, but more out of nostalgia and appreciation for Matt's and Jenna's performances than out of love for many of the different elements.

Edited August 17, 2014 by RandomMe

[alias1]

I already replied to this, but then I thought, my favorite episode of all time is The Day of the Doctor (50th Anniversary Special).  I don't think anyone else has mentioned it.  if so, I apologize.  I have a question for anyone who has the DVD.  I understand they've included the 7 minute Paul McGann mini episode on the DVD, and also something called The Last Day.  Does anyone know what that's about?

 

Oh sorry, RandomMe and proserpina65.  I just saw that you both mentioned The Day of the Doctor.

Edited August 18, 2014 by SierraMist

[April Bloodgate]

I already replied to this, but then I thought, my favorite episode of all time is The Day of the Doctor (50th Anniversary Special).  I don't think anyone else has mentioned it.  if so, I apologize.  I have a question for anyone who has the DVD.  I understand they've included the 7 minute Paul McGann mini episode on the DVD, and also something called The Last Day.  Does anyone know what that's about?

 

Oh sorry, RandomMe and proserpina65.  I just saw that you both mentioned The Day of the Doctor.

 

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/11/watch-new-doctor-mini-episode-last-day/

[alias1]

Thank you, Denay!

[Mayonegg]

I'm just listing my favourites from NewWho because I don't dislike any episode enough to call it a least favorite.

Nine:

The Empty Child

The Doctor Dances

Ten:

School Reunion

The Girl in the Fireplace

The Imposible Planet

The Satan Pit

Love & Monsters (unpopular opinion, I know)

Gridlock

42

Blink

Silence in the Library

Forest of the Dead

Midnight

Turn Left

The Stolen Earth

Journey's End (my second favourite season finale to anything ever)

Eleven:

The Eleventh Hour

Vincent and the Doctor

The Lodger (second favorite over all)

The Pandorica Opens

The Big Bang (my favorite season finale of any show)

The Doctor's Wife (my favorite episode)

A Good Man Goes to War

The Girl Who Waited

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

The Crimson Horror

[jah1986]

So I've been catching up on Nine and Ten, as I started watching faithfully with Eleven, and I just got to Journey's End.  I'd seen bits of it before and the end but never the entire episode and certainly not after watching the entire season.  Can I say how much I hate what the Doctor did to Donna.  I enjoyed the episode with getting the band back together etc. but then Donna, I was near tears. Why was there nothing else to be done for her, just completely wipe out all her memories of the Doctor and send her back to her former shallow, empty life. I'm not sure I even want to go forward, at least for a while.

[ohjoy]

So I've been catching up on Nine and Ten, as I started watching faithfully with Eleven, and I just got to Journey's End.  I'd seen bits of it before and the end but never the entire episode and certainly not after watching the entire season.  Can I say how much I hate what the Doctor did to Donna.  I enjoyed the episode with getting the band back together etc. but then Donna, I was near tears. Why was there nothing else to be done for her, just completely wipe out all her memories of the Doctor and send her back to her former shallow, empty life. I'm not sure I even want to go forward, at least for a while.

 

I had the exact same problem as you jah1986. I had watched all of Eleven, and then started over with Nine. I was really enjoying Donna, and then the "the gang's all here" approach to the finale, and then... Grrrrr. I had to quit my marathon for a while, and even when I started back up again I had to skip the first two of Ten's specials (finally got on board again watching "The Waters of Mars," since I had actually seen the end of it already). Still makes me mad just thinking about it.

[DanaK]

As a new viewer, I'm starting to watch past seasons, though just certain picks for now. I caught Waters of Mars, Fires of Pompeii, and The Doctor's Wife the last couple of days. Though they all had their issues, especially with overacting, I thought they, the first two especially, were ultimately really terrific, profound and emotional episodes that showed a lot about how the Doctor is.

The Waters of Mars especially had a terrific interaction between The Doctor and another character, this time Commander Duncan of the Mars mission. Duncan was a balls-to-the-walls character who went toe to toe with the Doctor and she ultimately understood the effect of being saved when she wasn't supposed to be and sacrificed herself to keep history on track. I thought David Tennant went overboard at times during the episode with his acting, but where it counts, he was just superb with showing the Doctor wrestling with his power vs not being able to change certain points in time. And this time, he chose to do something and it backfired on him. It was also interesting with the way they showed references to the crew's biographies (and them changing), indicating how the Doctor knows what happens and what can't change (or what he thinks can't change).

Fires of Pompeii was similar in wanting to save the residents of Pompei, with Donna pleading with the Doctor to stop the eruption and save the residents, but he knew he couldn't because it was a fixed point in time. This was another episode where there was overacting, especially from Tennant, but there were profound and emotional moments as well. Donna's pleading finally got the Doctor to save just one family and he did. What was interesting was that though the Doctor couldn't stop the eruption or save the majority of the people, he was able to save one family without consequence. This was similar to the Mars episode where two other crew members were saved and were able to go on with their lives, but Duncan had to die. It was interesting that even though the audience is told numerous times in numerous episodes that set points in time can't be changed, that they have to happen, in at least some cases where people die, some people from an event can be saved without any apparent consequence. I don't know if the show explores that more in the future, but it's interesting. At the same time, who would you save? Saving one or two people while many others die in an event is certainly not something I'd want to live with.

Another one that I caught was The Doctor's Wife. It was a strange, weird episode with the usual overacting in places along with the usual craziness, but the Tardis's consciousness being put into a woman and being able to talk to the Doctor was the highlight of the episode. Though I'm a newcomer to the show, it held a certain emotional value for the Doctor to finally speak with the Tardis in a normal manner, along with understanding how the Tardis sees events and time, Matt Smith and the guest actress speaking for the Tardis did a really nice job with their interaction, especially the final one

[chitowngirl]

The Doctor’s Wife is one of my favorite episodes!

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I can watch older episodes numerous times  and still enjoy them. This new season's writing  has gone so SJW and PC that I have zero interest in ever watching them again. Say what you will about how horrible Moffat or Davies wrote, but I enjoyed their storylines and companions. And I bet the dvd and blu ray sales of those older seasons will far__ outsell season 11's dvd and blu ray sales.    

[Last Time Lord]

Only episode I actively hated was Tooth And Claw. 

 

I was was not amused. 

[Ham On Wry]

blob:https://tenor.com/4ad93de6-0498-4f69-9abd-c959d7aa3fe4

Edited July 31, 2019 by Ham On Wry
trying to load my first gif unsuccessfully so far

[AnimeMania]

New     My Doctor: David Tennant    Episode: "Partners in Crime" where fat people could lose weight by taking a pill, going to bed, and waking up weighing less. The extra fat would go to hatching a baby of the Aliens called Adipose. The baby aliens were adorable. All I can say is "Sign Me Up!"

Old     My Doctor: Tom Baker    Episode: "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" They had a small creature on the show called the "Peking Homunculus" that scared the hokey-pokey out of me. I never knew why. All I can say is "Leela in a prehistoric bikini! Sign Me Up!"

[libgirl2]

going back to the classic Doctors I would say Ghostlight (Doctor 7) was one of the worst things I have ever seen. I still don't know what it was supposed to be about except everyone was in Java or something. I saw it about 30 years ago and thought it was bad. Saw it a couple of more times just to remind myself how awful it is. 

My favorite of all time is probably Vincent. I wept at the end of that and it made me appreciate Van Gogh a lot more than I did. 

Edited August 1, 2019 by libgirl2

[ElleryAnne]

Favorite Classic Who: 

• The Horror of Fang Rock. 

Favorite NuWho:  (I could list probably 80% of the first 10 seasons here, but I'll stick with a handful of favs from throughout them.)

• The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
• Smith and Jones (Martha is and always will be my favorite companion.)
• Gridlock
• Blink
• Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
• Midnight
• Stolen Earth/Journey's End
• Amy's Choice
• The Angels Take Manhattan
• The Bells of Saint John
• The Pilot
• Knock Knock
• Twice Upon A Time

Least favorites?  I guess it would be something from the middle of S11.  Arachnids in the UK or The Tsuranga Conundrum or something.  I didn't really like anything from that season very much.

[DanaK]

On my Favorite list: Series 11’s Demons of the Punjab

[Anduin]

I never liked Genesis of the Daleks. It's just endless running around and all the normal nonsense. Except the Do I Have The Right speech. I liked that bit.

Same with Talons of Weng Chiang, with added yellowface. I've never been interested in the Victorian era, the whole thing leaves me cold. Besides, I found it too long. If it had just stopped at four eps, I would have found it all right. Only it drags on for two more.

One I've always liked is Battlefield, at least the novelisation. It has a great story. Shame it was so trimmed for TV with such a low budget. Funnily enough, Ben Aaronovitch is my current favourite author.

[Llywela]

11 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

going back to the classic Doctors I would say Ghostlight (Doctor 7) was one of the worst things I have ever seen. I still don't know what it was supposed to be about except everyone was in Java or something. I saw it about 30 years ago and thought it was bad. Saw it a couple of more times just to remind myself how awful it is. 

See, while I agree that Ghostlight is an abstract mess, I've never had any trouble following what the plot is supposed to be (aliens messing with a Victorian household while conducting ongoing cataloguing of life on Earth, incorporating surrealist take on evolution theory). It might help that having watched it for the first time when it originally aired, when I'd have been about 10 or 11, I also grew up reading the novelisations and have vivid memories of reading this one. The aired episodes of this serial were chopped to bits but the book gets to keep all the stuff that got edited out, so perhaps helps smooth out the plot a little.

(I think the only person in the story who talks about Java is the girl Gwendoline who is brainwashed and deeply traumatised and believes that when people die they go to Java, which would have been a British colony at the time, part of Victoria's empire - the whole story is steeped in Victorian imperialism, critique thereof).

Edited August 2, 2019 by Llywela

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, Llywela said:

See, while I agree that Ghostlight is an abstract mess, I've never had any trouble following what the plot is supposed to be (aliens messing with a Victorian household while conducting ongoing cataloguing of life on Earth, incorporating surrealist take on evolution theory). It might help that having watched it for the first time when it originally aired, when I'd have been about 10 or 11, I also grew up reading the novelisations and have vivid memories of reading this one. The aired episodes of this serial were chopped to bits but the book gets to keep all the stuff that got edited out, so perhaps helps smooth out the plot a little.

(I think the only person in the story who talks about Java is the girl Gwendoline who is brainwashed and deeply traumatised and believes that when people die they go to Java, which would have been a British colony at the time, part of Victoria's empire - the whole story is steeped in Victorian imperialism, critique thereof).

I guess the most memorable part for me is the Java! 

[DanaK]

New favorites, from Series 12: Spyfall, Parts 1 and 2, and Fugitive of the Judoon

[PonStan]

Satan's Pit.
Favourite just because of the music on the moment that Doctor and Rose meet. Can more people talk about this, please.

 

 

-Stanley

[JustHereForFood]

Favorite:

Nine: Practically all of season 1, but especially Dalek, The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, Boom Town, Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways.

Ten: School Reunion, The Shakespeare Code, Human Nature, The Family of Blood, Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead, Midnight, Turn Left, The Waters of Mars, The End of Time 1&2.

Eleven: The Doctor's Wife, The Snowmen, The Name of the Doctor, The Night of the Doctor (not starring Eleven, but from that era), The Time of the Doctor.

Twelve: Robot of Sherwood, Listen (the first half of the episode), The Magician's Apprentice, The Witch's Familiar, Heaven Sent, The Husbands of River Song. Twelve was my most favorite Doctor, but he didn't have that many episodes that would stand out for me. 

Thirteen: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, It Takes You Away, Spyfall 1&2, Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, first half of The Haunting of Villa Diodati (before the cyberman showed up). A bit similar to Twelve - I like her and I like both seasons in general, but there aren't many episodes that would stand out for me. 

 

Least favorite:

Ten: season 2 in general, especially The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Love & Monsters, then 42 (I don't think I remember a single thing from it).

Eleven: not much of a fan of Amy Pond era, but I especially didn't like the second part of season 6: Night Terrors, The Girl Who Waited, The God Complex and the first part of season 7: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, A Town Called Mercy, The Angels Take Manhattan - the departure of Amy and Rory was drawn longer than Ten's departure and that is saying something.

Twelve: Kill the Moon (WTF was that?), Sleep No More, The Return of Doctor Mysterio.

Thirteen: Arachnids in the UK, Ascension of the Cybermen, The Timeless Children. I am not making any judgement on that reveal yet, but I am so tired of Cybermen hijacking season finales, especially now that there are less episodes in total and they took 3 of them! And especially considering how many of the finales with Master/Missy they were in (Yes, Master is my favorite villain and Cybermen the least favorite, so season 8, 10 and 12 finales were especially frustrating for me).