1. Steve Thompson
Episodes: The Curse Of The Black Spot (Season 6), Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS In Season 6, "The Curse of the Black Spot" is the black mark on what I believe is the 11th Doctor's best season. Stuck in between two exciting, well-written episodes, "Day of the Moon" and "The Doctor's Wife" (say what you will about the plotholes in "Day of the Moon," it's still awesome to watch), it's like biting into a sandwich and having the two slices of bread be wonderful and fresh, and the filling in between be stale and dry and awful. You wouldn't think an episode with the Doctor and pirates could possibly be dull, but Thompson somehow manages it, in one of the worst cases of missed potential I've ever seen. The pirates themselves aren't even that interesting, the monster isn't even scary (a wasted opportunity for guest star Lily Cole), and the big reveal at the end is kind of lame. Oh, and Rory dies, again. That's really not a spoiler anymore, as he almost always dies, most of the time for no good reason, and after a while we can't pretend to be worried about him because he always shows up again, via either wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey or bad writing. Or both. Actually, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey IS bad writing at this point you can't use it as an excuse for everything, especially if it's only to scramble to cover up plot holes. Anyway. Where was I? While "Curse of the Black Spot" is a bad episode, "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" seems passable - that is, until you really start thinking about it. First off, why doesn't the TARDIS not seem to like Clara? She's never had any problems with any companions before. And, the TARDIS knows the past, present, and future, so she knows how integral Clara is to the Doctor's survival. So why is Clara suddenly a problem? If this is just the TARDIS acting jealous over the Doctor, then that's stupid and bad writing on Thompson's part. Second, the episode has racist overtones with the three antagonists being black, although that might have been the casting director's choice, not the writer's. Third, we know the TARDIS has a pool and a library, and it's great to see both of them in the episode, but since it's a journey to the center of the TARDIS, shouldn't we see more of it? We do get to see the tree of living metal, but if the TARDIS' space is infinite, then there should be so many more incredible things for us to see. It all just adds up to one hell of a missed opportunity. Fourth...time zombies? Why did they turn into zombies? Why didn't they just burn up? Moreover, why did they feel the need to attack their past selves? To stop themselves from becoming time zombies, I suppose? This plot point is a bit vague. Fifth, the episode has two major cop-outs that destroy any sense of emotional appeal it could have. When the Doctor sets the self-destruct button on the TARDIS so that the Van Baalen Brothers are forced to help him find Clara or die trying, we can see how much Clara has come to mean to the Doctor and how much he cares about her. This makes it all the more disappointing when we find out later on that he was bluffing about the self-destruct button. We know the Doctor lies, but that lie in particular really cheapens a dramatic scene that could be seen as an emotional breakthrough for the Doctor who is afraid to let anyone get too close to his heart. The second cop-out is the ending, when, conveniently, everyone but the Doctor forgets everything that happened. If this is the case, then what was the point of the episode?? Long story short, with two bad episodes of Doctor Who under his belt, I wouldn't ask Thompson to return for fear he would just write another.
So, have I insulted your favorite Doctor Who writer? Slandered your favorite episode? Or have I missed a writer who should be included in this list? Have it out in the comments!