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

32. New Earth

After the grit and groundedness of Series 1's opener (dodgy wheelie bins aside), RTD's second curtain-raiser was, for some unfathomable reason, 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 series 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 has to spend half his time playing a different character.

It’s frustrating, because the stuff with Cassandra and Chip at the end is actually quite profound. God knows why the previous 40 minutes couldn’t have been like that too.