Doctor Who: Best And Worst Story Of Each New Who Doctor

It’s difficult to single out a worst story for the single season of the Ninth Doctor’s run. The debut season of New Who was one of those rare debut seasons where every episode is enjoyable, such as Jon Pertwee’s debut season in the classic series or Peter Capaldi’s in the modern (controversial statement, yes).

On balance though, the worst episode is probably “The Long Game”, falling exactly in the middle of the season, this episode has the unenviable position of being sandwiched between two of season one's best episodes; “Dalek” and “Father’s Day”.

Whilst there is nothing specifically terrible about “The Long Game” (it is still an enjoyable watch, unlike some earlier entries on this list), it ultimately feels like an episode whose sole reason for existing is to set up the finale two-parter. “The Long Game” takes place on Satellite 5, which will eventually become The Game Station seen in “Bad Wolf/The Parting Of The Ways.” Beyond that fact there doesn’t seem to be much reason for this episode to exist. The Doctor picked up Adam as a companion in the previous episode, simply to drop him again in this one. Why? Just to prove a point to Rose?

The episode features a guest appearance from Simon Pegg, playing the villainous editor and the whole role just feels wasted on an actor with his skillset. Though “The Long Game” may not be anywhere near a contender for worst Doctor Who episode ever, it is certainly on the list for one of the most wasted guest star performances ever.