Doctor Who: Every 9th Doctor Episode Ranked Worst To Best

9. Boom Town

Doctor Who The Parting of the Ways Billie Piper Bad Wolf
BBC Studios

Bringing back one of the most unpopular aliens (among fans anyway) was a bold move on behalf of Russell T. Davies, but luckily this episode features 90% less flatulence from the Slitheen. Boom Town operates as more of an intimate human drama compared to the previous big CGI alien story, but that by no means makes it immune to criticism.

The episode itself serves as nothing more than a not so subtle debate about the death penalty and the Doctor's moral dilemma about sending a surviving Slitheen to her death. While it is an interesting and surprisingly dark conflict that the Doctor faces, there is actually very little drama throughout as the Doctor feels no remorse at sending this murderer to be executed on her home planet.

There is some great comedy between the Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack, and Mickey, but Boom Town is ultimately recognisable as the compulsory low budget episode of the series.

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An avid cinephile, love Trainspotting (the film, not the hobby), like watching bad films ironically (The Room, Cats) and hate my over-reliance on brackets (they’re handy for a quick aside though).