Doctor Who: 10 Worst "New-Who" Episodes Ever
There aren't many misfires in Doctor Who's 16-year revival, but when New-Who is bad... it's bad.
Doctor Who is the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world. That’s an impressive feat for a show that spent much of its life as the scrappy red-headed stepchild of the BBC. When Doctor Who returned in 2005 it was with baited-breath that fans waited to see if the new show was going to be any good. The evidence speaks for itself and the fact that “new Who” is still on TV in 2021, sixteen years later, is amazing.
Like any show, particularly one with the lifespan and variety of writers that Doctor Who has had, there are bound to be a few stinkers in its huge back catalogue of episodes. For the most part, these are largely forgiven by the fanbase and consigned to the dusty DVD shelves of fans all over the world, never to be pulled out again.
After all, who would want to pull out all the worst episodes of a show and sit through them just to assemble an internet list? …Me. I’m that person. Be warned for spoilers fellow time travellers, these are the ten worst episodes of new Doctor Who.
10. The Power of Three
The Power of Three aired as part of season 7a and is one of the final episodes to feature Amy Pond and Rory Williams as played by Karen Gilan and Arthur Darvill. It was also penned by future showrunner Chris Chibnall (spoiler: it won’t be his last appearance on this list).
In this episode, the earth is invaded by thousands upon thousands of tiny black cubes. They don’t do anything, they don’t attack, they don’t shoot lasers or fly about all over the place. They just…sit there. Of course, humans being the oh-so-random hipsters that we are, people absolutely love these cubes and willingly take them into their homes. Of course, there is something sinister going on and the Doctor finds himself engaged in a waiting game with the cubes.
The episode does have its good points; namely the absolute hilarity that ensues when The Doctor is forced to remain on the ground, experiencing time in the right order as domestic life with The Ponds. But that cannot make up for the absolutely dumpster fire that is the ending of this episode. After introducing guest star Steven Berkoff as the villainous Shakri and building to a big confrontation on the alien spaceship everything just…kinda…ends. The Shakri take off for no real reason and the whole episode feels like a colossal waste of time, earning The Power of Three its place on this list.