Ranking the Smith era

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

A lot of these I've never rewatched. In fact, I don't think I've seen a full episode of Series 6 since it was broadcast. I'm only going to list the ones I'm a fan of (and have seen in the last five years) and the ones I strongly dislike (which I probably won't watch again).

Great/Good:

The Crimson Horror
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
Hide
The Eleventh Hour
The Bells of Saint John
Cold War
A Christmas Carol

The dregs:

The Rings of Akhaten 
The Curse of the Black Spot
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Closing Time
The Wedding of River Song (I remember thinking "WTF" when I saw this. I couldn't believe how lousy a finale it was compared to the Pandorica two parter a year before)

[Deleted]

It's all awful

[ClockworkOcean]

Great:

The Eleventh Hour
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
Amy's Choice
Vincent and the Doctor
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
The Doctor's Wife
The Girl Who Waited
The God Complex

Decent:

The Beast Below
The Vampires of Venice
The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People
Cold War
Hide
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
The Crimson Horror

Mediocre:

The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
A Christmas Carol
The Curse of the Black Spot
A Good Man Goes to War
Night Terrors
The Wedding of River Song
A Town Called Mercy
The Angels Take Manhattan
The Snowmen
The Bells of Saint John
The Rings of Akhaten
The Name of the Doctor
The Day of the Doctor

Terrible:

Victory of the Daleks
The Lodger
Let's Kill Hitler
Closing Time
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Asylum of the Daleks
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
The Power of Three
Nightmare in Silver
The Time of the Doctor

[rushy]

GREAT
The Eleventh Hour
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
Vincent and the Doctor
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
A Christmas Carol
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
The Power of Three
The Rings of Akhaten
The Day of the Doctor

GOOD
The Beast Below
Victory of the Daleks
Amy's Choice
The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
The Lodger
The Doctor's Wife
The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People
The Girl Who Waited
The God Complex
A Town Called Mercy
The Snowmen
The Bells of St John
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
Nightmare in Silver
The Time of the Doctor

RUBBISH
The Vampires of Venice
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
The Curse of the Black Spot
A Good Man Goes to War/Let's Kill Hitler
Night Terrors
Closing Time
The Wedding of River Song
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Asylum of the Daleks
The Angels Take Manhattan
Cold War
Hide
The Crimson Horror
The Name of the Doctor

[Ludders II]

Good/Passable

Vincent and the Doctor
Amy's Choice
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
The Girl Who Waited
Cold War

Average/Mediocre

The Eleventh Hour
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People
Night Terrors
Asylum of the Daleks
The Angels Take Manhattan

The rest are either boring/forgettable, or just utter wank. I can't be bothered to put them in order, because despite Smith being much more preferable to Tennant, it's all really just one big blur of meh that I can't get worked up about either way, to be honest. The damage was already done for me by this point.
Bad things about this era that really put me off, include: the Paternoster Gang, River Song, and Moffat's smoke and mirrors story arcs.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

I forgot about Nightmare in Silver. The acting is so shit in that. Why are the kids there at all? Say what you want about the RTD Cyber stories, but they're much better than this tripe.

[rushy]

Apr 23, 2024 20:34:52 GMT Cherry Pepsi Maxil said:

I forgot about Nightmare in Silver. The acting is so shit in that. Why are the kids there at all? Say what you want about the RTD Cyber stories, but they're much better than this tripe.

You're not wrong, but I do get a kick out of Smith playing chess with Evil Smith. It makes no sense why the Cyber-Planner would act that way, but it's a fun villain performance nonetheless

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2024 20:34:52 GMT Cherry Pepsi Maxil said:

I forgot about Nightmare in Silver. The acting is so shit in that. Why are the kids there at all? Say what you want about the RTD Cyber stories, but they're much better than this tripe.

Moffat had a weird thing with kids. The boy and girl you mentioned whom Clara nannies, the schoolkids at Coal Hill, Amelia Pond herself, and numerous others. Maybe it was to try and make the show seem more relatable to younger children? Or just to make it more kiddy on the whole? Come to think of it, there weren't really any kid characters at all in the RTD era, at least not recurring ones. Its focus on adult humans and their problems made it seem a lot more mature, and also endlessly revisitable and relatable as an adult who grew up with it. I can't say the same of Moffat.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2024 20:40:38 GMT rushy said:

Apr 23, 2024 20:34:52 GMT Cherry Pepsi Maxil said:

I forgot about Nightmare in Silver. The acting is so shit in that. Why are the kids there at all? Say what you want about the RTD Cyber stories, but they're much better than this tripe.

You're not wrong, but I do get a kick out of Smith playing chess with Evil Smith. It makes no sense why the Cyber-Planner would act that way, but it's a fun villain performance nonetheless

Yeah. I'll always appreciate villain performers hamming it up. Soldeed is the obvious one, Eric Roberts in the TVM, even Michael Wisher and Terry Molloy as Davros to an extent. Even if it's a bollocks script, you get a lot of enjoyment out of it from the performances alone. 

[rushy]

Roberts is super underappreciated. Chang Lee is really the only time we see a proper 'Master companion' in the show, and it's brilliantly done. The Master is always at his best when he has someone to banter with (like Trenchard or Jo Grant) instead of just sneering at the Doctor.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Yeah, I like Roberts as the Master. He's a good actor in general.