10 Worst Doctor Who Moments Of 2024

Due to the return of David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa had to wait longer than most to get behind the TARDIS console.

So when his debut season did roll around – two years on from his casting – fans were more than ready for some Fifteenth Doctor action. But there wasn't as much action as we expected.

There’s no denying that Boom and Rogue gave Gatwa a chance to shine, and Space Babies, The Devil’s Chord, and the finale had their fair share of great Doctor moments too. But we also had two Doctor-lite episodes in the mix – and not only that, but two Doctor-lite episodes in a row.

73 Yards and Dot and Bubble are both brilliant stories, and in a 13, 12, or even ten-episode season, this wouldn’t have been as noticeable. But when you’ve only got eight episodes to begin with, making the Doctor a guest character for two of them back-to-back is kind of unforgivable. 

Fair's fair, this setup was dictated by logistics, since the first block of Season 1 filming overlapped with Ncuti’s work on Sex Education – but it was still frustrating! On the plus side, given that his attention was focused solely on Doctor Who for Season 2, this mistake shouldn't be repeated next year.