Doctor Who: Every Series 3 Episode Ranked From Worst To Best

11. The Shakespeare Code

With the show now in its third year, the "Doctor meets historical figure" hook was firmly in place and Dean Lennox as William Shakespeare is a solid choice. Taking the story into the Globe Theatre - a location so unshakeably linked with the legendary playwright - allows the setting to be grounded, especially for London residents and tourists who have stepped foot in the real theatre.

That grounding does little to hold onto an episode that just barely keeps itself together.

A few clever winks and nods are fine but this story feels like 50% gags about Bill's life and work. A more light-hearted adventure is not a problem but everything is quite under-baked here and it feels as though writer Gareth Roberts loses sight of the real drive of the episode amongst the desire to be funny.

The villains of the piece are pure pantomime, looking more like costume shop witches than anything original. Compared to last season's clash with the werewolf, they're the after-school CBBC versions of the folklore rather than a new twist. Worse yet, they're defeated by "the power of words". This series has a set of quite rubbish bad guys but this is pitiful.

Oh well, shout-out to Super Hans for putting way too much effort into his bit-part as an insane asylum resident.