I like lists

[mllelaurel]

...Which is why I suddenly got the urge to list the episodes from both seasons of new DW, as well as Torchwood, in order of most to least favorite. And we all know how good my impulse control is, when it comes to this sort of thing.

*drumroll*


06. Dalek - 4*
10. The Doctor Dances - 4
08. Father’s Day - 4
09. The Empty Child - 4
13. The Parting of the Ways - 4
01. Rose - 4
03. The Unquiet Dead - 3
02. The End of the World - 3
11. Boom Town - 2 [With the choice the Doctor faced, I'd have preferred for him to play an active part in the TARDIS's de-aging of Margaret, tricking her into looking at the Time Vortex, maybe. As it stands, the ending played a bit too Deus Ex TARDIS for my liking.]
12. Bad Wolf - 2 [Much as I perv on Captain Jack nekkid, his gameshow segment added nothing to the plot.]
05. World War III - 2 [Weak lead-in episode, mostly, in addition to terrifically stiff competition from other episodes.]
07. The Long Game - 2 [Mostly the Doctor and Rose's final condemnation of Adam, when both of them had done, or would go on to do, much worse things. Personally, I fanwank it that the Doctor just never forgave Adam for leaving Rose behind, in "Dalek," and would have taken any excuse to dump him. Even so, that was needlessly cruel.]
04. Aliens of London - 2 [Alien farting. Nuff said.]

No 1's in this season. That's how fantastic we're talking.

Overall score: 3.11



00. The Christmas Invasion - 4
03. School Reunion - 4
04. The Girl in the Fireplace - 4
12. Army of Ghosts - 4
08. The Impossible Planet - 4
06. Age of Steel - 4
02. Tooth and Claw - 3
09. The Satan Pit - 3
13. Doomsday - 2 [I know I'm in the minority here, but I thought the reunion scene was unnecessary. Better to have left it at the heartwrenching wall scene, then do a montage of Rose in her new world, moving on with her life. Then pan back to the Doctor, heartbroken and hardly moving on. What can I say? I like my tragedy. Also, those Daleks were utterly unnecessary, and the Cybermen lost all the fear factor given to them in "Age of Steel."]
10. Love and Monsters - 2 [I liked this episode, but I never could think of a real reason why the LINDA members - intelligent, independent individuals - would follow Victor Kennedy at all. Wound up chalking it up to 'idiot stick for the sake of the plot.' Also, the Scooby Doo corridor run, at the beginning.]
05. Rise of the Cybermen - 2 [Total missed opportunity, having the Doctor go after Rose rather than Mickey. He (the Doctor, not Mickey) won the 'do nothing for whole episode' award in that scenario. Also, the cliffhanger would have been more effective had they cut a few seconds earlier. We've seen the Doctor in danger before, but having him say 'I surrender'? Now *that's* scary.]
01. New Earth - 2 [La la la, we don't watch DW for the science. La la la, I flunked science and I still know you can't use intravenous medication externally.]
11. Fear Her - 1 [The sap got to me, and I balked at too many abusive father stories in a row.]
07. The Idiot’s Lantern - 1 [That. Fucking. Ending. You all know what I mean. If not, ask and I'll explain in comments.]

Overall score: 2.86



10. Out of Time - 4
03. Ghost Machine - 4
08. They Keep Killing Suzie - 4
12. Captain Jack Harkness - 4 [The present day stuff was clumsier, but I don't even care. Too much fabulousity otherwise.]
01. Everything Changes - 3 [Missed opportunity to show Gwen as a competent policewoman. Having her bring people tea instead was a collossally bad move. I'd add Owen's aphrodesiac spray here as well, but they actually dealt with that in "Ghost Machine."]
12. End of Days - 3 [Demon Godzilla, plus a bit too much Gwen. It had redeeming features, though.]
05. Small Worlds - 3 [My suspension of disbelief doesn't stretch to pure fantasy in a sci-fi series.]
07. Greeks Bearing Gifts - 2 [I liked it better as "Earshot," in BtVS. Jane Espenson called. She wants her writing credit and compensation. Also, the story felt very rushed in places.]
06. Countrycide - 2 [With all the blood and horror, you'd think they would take the opportunity to make it even a little personal, for at least one of the characters. Come on, Chibnall, you had a character who couldn't die! Play with that a little. Why, yes, I'm a sadistic bitch. Need you ask?]
04. Cyberwoman - 2 [There was no reason for the Pterodactyl scene, save as a gimmic, and that killed the drama for me by utterly breaking my suspension of disbelief. See also the Daleks in Doomsday. And that's before I even mention that damn cyberwoman outfit.]
11. Combat - 1 [Gwen being absolutely attrocious without adequate reason, plus a main story that did nothing for me.]
02. Day One - 1 [Gwen's portrayal as an incompetent, hypocritical moron.]
09. Random Shoes - 1 [Creepy, boring loser of a guest protagonist, paired with Saint!Gwen. Ewww.]

Overall score: 2.62



09. Family of Blood - 4
12. The Sound of Drums - 4
08. Human Nature - 4
11. Utopia - 4
03. Gridlock - 4
02. The Shakespeare Code - 4
10. Blink - 4
01. Smith and Jones - 3
13. The Last of the Time Lords - 3
04. Daleks in Manhattan - 3
00. The Runaway Bride - 2
05. Evolution of the Daleks - 2
06. The Lazarus Experiment - 2
07. 42 - 1

Score so far: 3.14


* Personal scoring of 1, 2, 3 or 4; with 4 being highest and 1 being lowest. See also: "Lily is a dork."

Comments

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

Wow, your rankings within each score were different than mine but my scoring would have looked very similar for both 2005 and 2006 ...

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

To be honest, the rankings (particularly the ones at the top) are fairly interchangeable. A four is a four is a four. Out of curiosity, though, what would be the major ranking differences, for you?

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

I was presuming ranking in specific order; I'd have ranked the 4's as:

2005:
08. Father’s Day - 4
06. Dalek - 4
10. The Doctor Dances - 4
09. The Empty Child - 4
01. Rose - 4
13. The Parting of the Ways - 4

2006:
04. The Girl in the Fireplace - 4
03. School Reunion - 4
00. The Christmas Invasion - 4
12. Army of Ghosts - 4
08. The Impossible Planet - 4
06. Age of Steel - 4

I also had pretty much the same problems with "Doomsday," which along with "Love and Monsters" are near the bottom of my rankings for all seasons. Both were just way too reliant on clumsy emotional manipulation ... and considering the masterful emotional manipulation of "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "Dalek" I really expect better audience torture by now. ^_^

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

Well, the order was specific. It's just one of those things I change my mind about, minute to minute.

I quite like your ordering, too, as a matter of fact.

The thing about "Dalek" and "The Girl in the Fireplace" is that they were written by respectively Rob Shearman and Steven Moffat. Both are really in a league of their own, as DW writers go. Russell T. Davies, who wrote "Doomsday" and "Love & Monsters" (but also "Rose," "The Parting of the Ways," "The Christmas Invasion" and "Army of Ghosts") is still excellent, but not exactly the same calliber as those two.

Dammit, why isn't Shearman writing more? Why?

Err... you probably know all this already, but I'm a big writer geek.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

Davies really is uneven and I'm not sure why. (So's Cornell, who wrote some of the best and worst New Adventures.) I think he may have a tendency to go over the top ... there's a sense of excess in most of his bad stories.

Shearman's fantastic. I'd probably have a bunch of icons with his dialogue if the best lines weren't all spoilers. ^_~

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

With Davies, I think it's just the pressure to perform. If you've got fifteen episodes to write, at various times, they can't all be gems, I guess. (Well...some writers can do it, but for Davies it must be stretching too thin.)

I've been trying to get my hands on some of the DW books. Which ones did Cornell write? (Both good and bad - I have a perverse curiosity, in this regard.)