Doctor Who: Every Russell T Davies Episode Ranked From Worst To Best

34. New Earth

RTD’s second season opener rewarded returning viewers by bringing back Cassandra and her Robot Spiders.

However, for some unfathomable reason, it was also a bit of a farce.

New Earth does have some deeper moments, like the Diseased People being given a new lease of life and Cassandra coming to terms with her mortality.

But these are overshadowed by the business with the body swapping, which is far too silly and hardly sets the tone for the rest of Series 2. As a season opener, it’s practically setting up a different show.

It also doesn’t quite work as a second story for the Tenth Doctor – not least because David Tennant also has to spend some scenes playing Cassandra.

It’s frustrating, because the stuff with Cassandra and Chip at the end is actually quite profound. God knows why the previous forty minutes couldn’t have been like that too.