Doctor Who: Every Doctor's WORST Episode
The Doctor's had many lives spread across many episodes, and not all of them are good...
We all have bad days, and given their multi-millennia life cycles, Time Lords probably have more than most. The Doctor has had at least 14 very bad days in the form of the worst episodes of Doctor Who for each of their incarnations.
What makes a Doctor Who episode the worst of a particular era? Well, it could be that it doesn't live up to the high standards maintained elsewhere in a Doctor's tenure. Whether that's down to a flawed script, poor execution, bad acting or a mix of all three.
Before we delve into which Doctor Who episodes are the worst of their respective eras, it's worth outlining who we won't be including in the line-up. John Hurt won't be included seeing as he's only in The Day of the Doctor - an episode that can't be counted as the worst of anything.
As he's only ever led in one full-length Doctor Who episode, we won't count Paul McGann's TV Movie - both the best and worst of his era, depending on how you look at it. We're also going to avoid ranking the Fugitive Doctor's cameo appearances between 2020 and 2025, given that she's yet to lead her own episode of Doctor Who.
14. The Sensorites (The First Doctor)
People often point to The Web Planet as the worst Doctor Who story of the William Hartnell era. But for all the incessant insect chirruping and bumblebee ballerinas, you cannot fault the production's ambition. After all, isn't being boring the biggest crime a Doctor Who story can commit?
Which brings us to The Sensorites, a story that has some genuinely weird-looking aliens and a solid handle on atmosphere, but one that very quickly outstays its welcome. The problem with The Sensorites is that it's so utterly forgettable, due in part to the poorly-developed human characters, and a massively elongated runtime.
We all might remember The Sensorites more fondly if it was a tight four-parter, that finally gives us more insight into the character of Susan Foreman. Instead it's a handful of good ideas and story beats that are drowned out by a lot of bland talking in rooms.