Every Season Of Modern Doctor Who, Ranked Worst To Best

Airing in late 2018, Series 11 of "Doctor Who" is the first to introduce Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor to the show. This was, for a while at least, an incredibly exciting prospect: Whittaker was the first female Doctor, she was to be accompanied by a larger TARDIS team for the first time since Series 1, and it felt like the show was about to get a fresh burst of energy with a new showrunner, Chris Chibnall, taking control.

Sadly, Series 11's execution leaves a lot to be desired. Aside from holding the distinction of featuring two of the show's lowest-rated post-2005 episodes up until this point — "Arachnids in the UK" and "The Tsuranga Conundrum" — even the season's better episodes just don't cut through. "Demons of the Punjab" and "It Takes You Away" may have taken the season in slightly more interesting directions, for example, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any fan of the show who can remember too much about either.

The only exception to the disappointment of Series 11 is "Rosa," a historical episode in which the Doctor and her "fam" meet Rosa Parks. Easily the best episode of the season, "Rosa" was described by Rachel Leishman of The Mary Sue as "one of the greatest episodes from the show" itself, even after five decades on the air. Sadly, it isn't quite enough to save Series 11, and the Thirteenth Doctor's first outing sinks to the bottom of the pile.

Better known as "Flux," the 13th season of "Doctor Who" did something that the show hasn't attempted since 1986's "Trial of a Time Lord": tell one overarching story over the course of an entire season. That said, "Flux" was a drastically shortened serial by "Doctor Who" standards, featuring just six episodes in as many weeks.

Unfortunately, the ambitious storytelling "Flux" hopes to pull off is hampered by Chris Chibnall's continuing insistence on deep-diving into the mythology of "Doctor Who." The result? A hugely complicated and nigh-incomprehensible mess of competing side plots, unnecessary side characters, and bizarre tonal beats, including a Doctor who seems worryingly comfortable with committing genocide.

"Village of the Angels" provides the only real highlight of "Flux," offering a genuinely scary new spin on the classic villains, but even this is dragged down by the season-wide arc. Things aren't helped by the fact that the final episode, "The Vanquishers," leaves whole plotlines unresolved and provides few satisfying answers to the season's many questions. Perhaps "Flux" is best summed up by Escapist critic Darren Mooney. In his review of the final episode, Mooney wrote that "'The Vanquishers' ends 'Flux' with a cacophony of sound and fury, signifying... well... very little."

The Twelfth Doctor's final season, Series 10 is almost the dictionary definition of "good, but not great." Notably, few episodes score above an 8.0, but only one is rated lower than a 6.0.

But that's not to say the "great" isn't there. Standout episodes in Series 10 include the final two-parter, "World Enough and Time" and "The Doctor Falls," which feature the return of John Simm's Master and place him opposite his own gender-swapped self, played by Michelle Gomez. Coupled with the looming inevitability of Twelve's regeneration, this makes for a finale that is equal parts hilarious, horrific, and heartbreaking — one that Alasdair Wilkins of The AV Club called, "the best series finale in all-new 'Doctor Who.'"

Showrunner Steven Moffat becomes demonstrably bolder in terms of both representation and political statement. Twelve's companion is Bill, a working-class Black lesbian; "Thin Ice" sees the Doctor punching a racist in the face; "Oxygen" is more or less a deconstruction of capitalism. These are brave moves for a mainstream sci-fi series to make, and stand in remarkable contrast to the more conservative story beats of Chris Chibnall's era — which The Guardian argues border on the offensive. All of this makes for a season that, despite having a handful of slight missteps, is at least confident enough in its own storytelling to remain memorable in most viewers' minds.

Season 2 of "Doctor Who" faced two monumental challenges when it began airing in 2005. It had to prove that the show's immensely popular first season wasn't a fluke, and that showrunner Russell T Davies was capable of shepherding the Doctor's adventures into the future. But it also had to do this with a brand-new Doctor, because Christopher Eccleston, the Ninth Doctor, had opted to depart the show after just 13 episodes.

And boy, did Davies pull it off. Series 2's average IMDb rating almost doesn't do it justice, mostly because this is the season that introduced the world to David Tennant's instantly iconic Tenth Doctor. Tennant roared into his time on the show as a devilishly handsome, ditzy, genius, "Lion King"-quoting buccaneer, planting himself so firmly into fans' hearts and minds that he still tops "Best Doctor" polls to this day.

Of course, Series 2 was marred by some of Davies' more extravagant excesses as a writer, best evidenced by tonal outliers such as "Love & Monsters" and "Fear Her." Frankly, though, who cares? The season is an amazing ride, anchored by a heartbreaking love story between Ten and Rose Tyler, and dotted with flashes of true brilliance, such as the deeply disturbing "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" two-parter. Throw in a nifty K9 cameo and that scene on the beach, and you've got something pretty special.

After Rose Tyler's heartbreaking exit at the end of Series 2, "Doctor Who" brought in its second full-time companion to the Doctor: Martha Jones. Series 3 is Martha's only full series, although she would later return for a few episodes in Series 4.

With one notable exception, all of Series 3's best episodes are anchored by Martha. "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" may have seen the Tenth Doctor transformed into a human and sent into hiding in pre-war England, but Martha's frustration as the amnesiac Doctor's caretaker gives the episode a decidedly human element. Meanwhile, the show's first three-parter, "Utopia," "The Sound of Drums," and "The Last of the Time Lords," quickly evolves from a dazzling showdown between the Doctor and the newly-returned Master into Martha's own post-apocalyptic epic. In 2015, CultBox's Peter Sharples suggested that Martha Jones might be the show's most underrated companion, and these episodes make it hard to argue otherwise.

The exception to this rule, of course, is "Blink." Written by Steven Moffat, this so-called "Doctor-lite" episode featured neither Martha nor the Doctor (save for a few cameos) — but it did introduce the terrifying Weeping Angels, who have since become one of the show's most iconic monsters. Today, "Blink" is IMDb's highest-rated episode of "Doctor Who" past or present, making the case that the show literally doesn't get any better than this.

Series 9 of "Doctor Who" looks a little different from the others. It's made up almost entirely of two-parters, save for one single episode and a three-parter to bring it all home. Even more remarkably, there's only one episode in Series 9 that didn't receive a positive audience response: "Face the Raven," the aforementioned solo episode. Aside from that, the show is on absolutely top form during this season.

After a shaky start with Series 8, where Steven Moffat and the show's writers appeared a little lost when it came to the Twelfth Doctor's characterization, Series 9 has him down to a tee. Gone is the awkward, sometimes-grumpy-sometimes-wacky pseudo-Doctor, replaced instead by a hilarious, fascinating, guitar-wielding badass — this, finally, is the "100 percent rebel Time Lord" that Capaldi first envisaged when he took the role. And we get to see this all through Series 9: the season in which Twelve brings a tank to an axe-fight, plays dodgems with the Daleks, and gives the mother of all anti-war speeches.

Best of all, though, is "Heaven Sent," which is probably the only episode of "Doctor Who" to have given "Blink" a run for its money. This one-hander (Peter Capaldi is the only cast member present) sees the Doctor trapped in an eternal time loop, destined to die and live and die again. It'd be a shame to spoil anything, of course, but suffice it to say: "Heaven Sent" is by far the Twelfth Doctor's finest hour.

From 2008 to 2010, David Tennant's Tenth Doctor and showrunner Russell T Davies embarked on their "Doctor Who" swan song: five seasonal special episodes leading, eventually, to the Doctor's long-awaited regeneration.

Together, these episodes hold a remarkably high average IMDb score, which is more of a testament to the later episodes' quality than anything else, considering "The Next Doctor" and "Planet of the Dead" are mostly forgettable. Still, "The Waters of Mars" — which sees the Doctor caught up in a doomed mission to Mars — is horrifying and gut-wrenching in equal measure, ending with the Doctor's infamous assumption of the title "Time Lord Victorious." The episode (and this scene in particular) takes the Doctor to a darker place than ever before, finally asking why this all-powerful alien should ever be beholden to the laws of space and time. It's just a shame that "The End of Time" discards this new characterization almost immediately.

Both parts of "The End of Time," meanwhile, are about as silly as "Doctor Who" has ever been. Beneath the terrible prosthetics and the atrocious dialogue, however, is one of the show's most affecting regeneration stories, made so largely because, for once, it stars a Doctor who simply refuses to die. There's no moment of acceptance here, no reassuring speech to the companion, no final, mischievous glimmer in the outgoing Doctor's eye — all we get is a cracking voice and a final, desperate plea: "I don't want to go." It's devastating.

Much like David Tennant, Matt Smith rounded off his time on "Doctor Who" with a handful of specials that are generally thought to be distinct from his seventh season.

Being made up of only two episodes (putting aside "The Name of the Doctor," which is very much part of Series 7, and "The Night of the Doctor," which wasn't broadcast on television) is bound to offer an advantage here, simply from a mathematical perspective. Even so, you can see why these episodes take the top spot. "The Day of the Doctor" is a thrilling journey into the Doctor's past starring the Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, and War Doctor, featuring a cameo by Fourth Doctor Tom Baker as a future version of the character. Suitably, the episode ends with a stirring appraisal of what it means to be the Doctor, and, in his words, to take a journey "home, the long way round."

"The Time of the Doctor," meanwhile, says goodbye to the Eleventh Doctor with a more intimate yet no less wonderful story: one in which Eleven spends many hundreds of years defending a town called Christmas from the threat of invasion. Destined to regenerate at the end of the episode, "The Time of the Doctor" is probably the show's most downbeat Christmas special — but this sad, strange atmosphere actually works in its favor, giving Eleven a send-off that's both melancholic and inspiring. It's the exact kind of feeling that "Doctor Who" does best.