This should be a nice and quick one, as there are only 4 stories to rank and review. In 2009 we didn’t get a season of the show per say, but instead we got a few high-budget stories spread out over the year. These are a bit hit or miss, but how would I rank Tennant’s final run of episodes?
You can check out some other Doctor Who goodness below:
4 – Planet of the Dead
Rating: C-
It’s nice to see the show actually film on location, it’s just a shame the episode itself was so unbelievably boring. It sets up the remaining specials quite nicely though with the “knock four times” foreshadowing.
3 – The Next Doctor
Rating: C+
Doctor Who Christmas specials are never that high in quality, and to be fair this is probably one of the better ones.
The whole dynamic of a man who is genuinely believes he is the Doctor is an interesting one, but the cybermen designs in this episode are just plain stupid (I know, let’s build a massive cyberman! People will love that!)
2 – The End of Time
Rating: B
The first part of this regeneration two-parter is a bit of a mess, but the second part is soooooo gooooooood.
The showdown between the Doctor and the Master is fantastic television, and the minutes leading up to Tennant’s inevitable regeneration is some of the most heartbreaking television I’ve ever seen. That line “I don’t want to go” kills me on the inside ever time.
1 – The Waters of Mars
Rating: A+
For me, this is the single greatest episode of Doctor Who we’ve ever had.
The Flood is the scariest monster we’ve had hands down, they’re proper horror movie nightmare fuel. What sets this episode apart from the rest is “The Timelord Victorious”, a dark version of Tennant’s Doctor that provides the best Doctor scenes I’ve ever witnessed – “The laws of time are mine, and THEY WILL OBEY ME!”. I don’t think I’ll ever see a better episode of sci-fi television.
Season Rating: B-
Not bad really, the inclusion of “Waters of Mars” put this season in the B tier rather than C. Let’s see the stats:
- 1 A (25%)
- 1 B (25%)
- 2 Cs (50%)
Not bad, a little disappointing considering the budget and time they had but still a pretty good selection of episodes. Now for David Tennant’s tenure:
- 11 As (33%)
- 12 Bs (36%)
- 5 Cs (15%)
- 2 Ds (6%)
- 2 Es (6%)
- 1 F (3%)
- 33 Stories
Very good, only 15% of stories were sub-par, with 69% being at least good and a whopping 1 in 3 stories were amazing.
Russell T Davies as show-runner:
- 14 As (33%)
- 15 Bs (35%)
- 9 Cs (21%)
- 2 Ds (5%)
- 2 Es (5%)
- 1 F (2%)
- 43 Stories
Russell had a fantastic tenure as show-runner, with only 12% of his stories being sub-par, and 2/3 of them were at least good. That’s why I think he’s the best show-runner we’ve had.
Aaaaaand that’s it for Tennant. Next we’ll look at one of the best seasons the show has ever put out, but until then you should check out some of my other posts:
David Bowie – Every Album Cover Ranked
I’ve ranked just about every possible Bowie-related thing under the sun, so when I went back through my previous lists I was astounded to find there was a glaring omission – I haven’t done the album covers yet! Can you believe that?!? Well, I’d better crack on with it then before I get labelled asContinue reading “David Bowie – Every Album Cover Ranked”
James Bond – Every 007 Actor Ranked
James Bond is the longest running film franchise we have, and while I would have loved to see an 80 year-old Sean Connery strutting his stuff in Skyfall and beyond, I think it only makes sense that the actors have to change as the franchise goes on. Every single transition between actors and eras couldContinue reading “James Bond – Every 007 Actor Ranked”
“american dream” (LCD Soundsystem) – Songs Ranked
I get the impression that a few people were underwhelmed by this album, and how LCD Soundsystem dragged themselves out of retirement for it. To that I say – what the hell?!? This album’s fire! The awesome dance beats, a whole range of diverse tracks … why were people so underwhelmed?!? Maaaaaybe it doesn’t quiteContinue reading ““american dream” (LCD Soundsystem) – Songs Ranked”
