Doctor Who Episodes With The Wrong IMDb Rating

IMDb is a platform where anyone, professional or casual, can leave reviews for TV and film. As a result, every episode of every TV show has a rating out of ten with it – including the hundreds of Doctor Who episodes.

For context, anything below a 7.5 is a pretty sub-par episode of television by IMDb standards. 7.5-8.0 is pretty good / solid. 8.0-8.5 is great. And I’d say 8.5 and above is some cracking television.

Having seen every Doctor Who episode multiple times (and forming lots of controversial opinions, I’m sure), I can confidently say that some of the public ratings are way off.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

• 2019: The Year In Music
• God Of War: Ragnarok – All Nine Realms Ranked
• “Rick And Morty” Season 8 – Every Episode Ranked
• Every “Stranger Things” Season Ranked
• 2018: The Year In Music

Boom Town (S1E11)

IMDb Rating: 7.1

I can see why people dislike “Boom Town” – it’s a slow-burn pseudo-thriller near the end of the first season, and it brings back the farting alien from “World War Three” as its villain.

It’s an episode that has nothing going for it … but I still really like it. It helps cement the relationships between the Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Jack, and the scenes between the Doctor and the Slitheen are pretty intense.

My score would be something like an 8.0.

The Fires of Pompeii (S4E2)

IMDb Rating: 8.0

Okay, I know an 8.0 is a respectable score, especially for a show as hit or miss as Doctor Who … but c’mon. This is “The Fires of Pompeii”. One of the great Doctor Who historicals.

It’s an extremely fun romp with amazing character work. There are multiple soul-crushing moments across the episode, and the ending is a high point of the Tenth Doctor’s run.

Any episode where the Doctor fights a fiery monstrosity with a water pistol deserves at least an 8.5 score, probably even a 9.0.

The Curse of the Black Spot (S6E3)

IMDb Rating: 6.6

Like “Boom Town”, I can see why many think “The Curse of the Black Spot” is a waste of time. It’s a silly filler episode with a childish appeal.

But people forget that Doctor Who is a show for children, and this is a great swashbuckling adventure. It’s far from a masterpiece, but I think it’s at least a 7.0 or 7.5 rated installment.

The Wedding of River Song (S6E13)

IMDb Rating: 8.4

We’ve hit the first of the Doctor Who episodes where I think the IMDb rating is too high. “The Wedding of River Song”, the Season 6 finale, is a mess.

I’m racking my brain as to why people rated it so well, but I can’t think of anything. It’s a convoluted episode with a cop-out twist as to how the Doctor survived his death.

I wouldn’t rate it anything above a 7, probably something along the lines of 6.0 or 5.5.

A Town Called Mercy (S7E3)

IMDb Rating: 7.2

You’re having a laugh. “A Town Called Mercy”, the best episode in possibly the whole of Season 7, and you’ve all given it a 7.2? Huh?!?

The American set is fantastic, the cyborg gunslinger villain is awesome, and the Doctor is forced to make some tough choices. I’d personally give it an 8.5 but I’d settle for a reasonable 8.0.

The Name of the Doctor (S7E13)

IMDb Rating: 8.9

Season 7 has some of the most insane IMDb ratings of all. What do you mean “A Town Called Mercy” is 7.2 and “The Name of the Doctor” is 8.9? Did we watch the same show? Those scores should be swapped!

This is a boring finale with a few good moments here and there. Eleven crying is gut-wrenching. The villains are creepy. Trenzalore is a cool location. I think the twist ending where the War Doctor is revealed must have skewed opinion, as there’s no way this episode deserved an 8.9 – one of the highest ratings in the series.

I’d even go as low as 7.5, personally.

Hell Bent (S9E12)

IMDb Rating: 8.6

I’ve noticed a trend where all of the too-high rated episode are season finales. I guess people must’ve let the hype get to their heads at the time.

Capaldi certainly brings a badass aura to “Hell Bent”, but the story is a bit messy. The Doctor breaks some of his core principles to save Clara, and then Clara goes on a time-stopped magical adventure in one of the worst companion send-offs in the series.

If I’m being generous, I’d give “Hell Bent” a 7.0.

Thin Ice (S10E3)

IMDb Rating: 7.2

I imagine the anti-woke brigade had something to do with “Thin Ice’s” low (ish) score. It highlights a racist period in British history and the Twelfth Doctor has a dark-skinned companion. I’m sure some audience members lost their heads.

The ice-bound creature is a bit underwhelming, but the setting and story are otherwise great. And the Doctor punches a racist, which bumps the score up to a 7.5 or an 8.0.

Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror (S12E4)

IMDb Rating: 6.5

A lot of the Thirteenth Doctor episodes are low rated on IMDb, and fairly so … but I think people’s subjective hatred clouded their judgement of “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”.

Tesla’s actor is fantastic in the role, and they sell the time period and stakes well. The Racnoss clone is a bit cheap but otherwise I’d comfortably give this episode a 7.5 on a good day.

Boom (S”1″E3)

IMDb Rating: 7.6

I eagerly awaited Moffat’s writing return in “Boom”, and – for me – it delivered. Clearly other fans didn’t share the same sentiment.

The smaller scope was a bit risky but I thought the higher stakes more than made up for it. This was Ncuti’s finest hour as the Doctor in his first season, and I’d easily give this masterclass in tension an 8.5 score.

Joy to the World (Xmas 2024)

IMDb Rating: 6.7

The other Moffat-Ncuti episode, and another that was too low rated – this score in particular hurts me to my soul. A 6.7 for this? “Joy to the World” may have had some flaws but that’s far too low a rating, down there with some of the worst Doctor Who episodes.

The Time Hotel is a really fun and unique location, the side characters were surprisingly endearing, and the plot ended up getting some tears out of me. I’d easily venture my score into the 8.0 territory.

The Reality War (S”2″E8)

IMDb Rating: 6.3

For the last episode of this list, I wanted to look at a low-rated IMDb episode whose rating isn’t too low. In fact, it’s a miracle “The Reality War” got anything above a 5.

This is one of the worst Doctor Who finales, and one of the worst episodes by extension. It’s a poorly-written mess which wastes its villains and doesn’t understand its main characters. And the ending … we didn’t know for sure if Ncuti was going to regenerate at the climax of his second season, but he went out on the worst ending I’ve seen for a Doctor.

Call me salty, but I’d give this episode a 4.0. Yeah – it’s really bad.

Aaaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: