In June last year JR from the Blue Box Podcast posted a link to a Dr Who “preference revealer”, an algorithm which asks you to continue to choose your favourite of two Doctor Who stories compared to each other, and then ranks your preferences based on your answers.
With 283 stories on the list, there’s a lot of preferences to pick before the list is locked in!
The result is interesting, because unlike a list of favourites or rankings that you would construct factoring in various things (such as wanting to balance or represent eras, for example, or perhaps placing some stories higher because reputation influences you view of where a story “should” belong) it’s just a raw ranking blind, by gut instinct.
The results I got in June didn’t really shock me; my favourites were at the top, and stories I really dislike at the bottom. But I was disappointed at how far down the list all the New Who stories were.
I speculated at the time that this was because when picking my favourite of two stories “by gut” in quick succession, the nostalgia and fondness for the classic series gave it a slight advantage over the New Series.
So 10 months later I’ve done the test again, this time more slowly and trying to give the New Series more credit where I feel it deserves it.
The full list is posted below.
No doubt most people will agree with many of the rankings, as its a personal choice thing. But I think it makes interesting reading.
Whilst my list is skewed towards the classic series (this will always likely be the case, as long held favourites win out), the New Series did better, perhaps going someway towards proving my theory.
My top 10 this time is:
| 1. Doctor Who and the Silurians |
| 2. The Seeds of Doom |
| 3. The Dalek Invasion of Earth |
| 4. Marco Polo |
| 5. Survival |
| 6. The Daleks’ Master Plan |
| 7. Human Nature / Family of Blood |
| 8. City of Death |
| 9. Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways |
| 10. Blink |
These are all personal favourites of mine, and I think very close to a Top 10 list I’d construct myself.
Although I would have Marco Polo in my Top 10, 4th does seem a little high, but clearly it won out when compared to others in the Top 10, as indeed did Survival coming 5th.
There are now three New Who stories in my top 10, compared to none last time, and I think as a result this is a much fairer list.
Eleven of the Top 30 are New Who, also a significant improvement.
These Top 11 New Whos are:
| 7. Human Nature / Family of Blood |
| 9. Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways |
| 10. Blink |
| 13. World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls |
| 14. Listen |
| 19. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances |
| 21. Dalek |
| 22. The Day of the Doctor |
| 23. Midnight |
| 26. The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End |
| 29. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit |
A pretty solid list that represents well my favourite of the New Series. Each of the New Series Doctors makes that list as well.
By Doctor, there’s certainly some interesting preferences….
Here’s the Top 5 of each Doctor:
Hartnell:
3. The Dalek Invasion of Earth
4. Marco Polo
6. The Daleks’ Master Plan
18. The Aztecs
25. The Daleks
Five stories inside the Top 25 (and three in the Top 10) is indicative of this being my favourite era of the show, and that all five are either historicals or Dalek stories says a lot as well. The Ark is also just inside the Top 30.
The lowest Hartnell is The Space Museum, 21st from the bottom.
Troughton:
12. The Evil of the Daleks
28. Tomb of the Cybermen
31. The Invasion
41. Power of the Daleks
44. Fury From the Deep
A reasonable spread, with traditional classics there. And indeed, something for each of his seasons.
The lowest Troughton is The Dominators, 33rd from the bottom.
Pertwee:
1. The Silurians
15. Inferno
17. Invasion of the Dinosaurs
20. Spearhead from Space
38. Ambassadors of Death
Not a shock that my Pertwee’s are basically “season 7 plus Dinosaurs!” Pertwee also gets the Green Death inside the Top 40.
The lowest Pertwee is The Monster of Peladon at 14th from the bottom.
Tom Baker:
2. The Seeds of Doom
8. City of Death
11. The Robots of Death
27. Pryamids of Mars
48. The Ark in Space
The Deadly Assassin at 49 also makes the Top 50.
I’m disappointed nothing from season 18 made the Top 50, as these likely would on a “constructed” list. There are a lot of Tom’s in the 50s and 60s.
Genesis of the Daleks came in far lower than it should.
The lowest ranked Tom Baker stories are Underworld at 5th last, and Creature from the Pit at 6th last.
Davison:
24. Planet of Fire
35. The Five Doctors
58. The Caves of Androzani
67. The Visitation
90. Frontios
Davison seems to be poorly served here. With Earthshock at 93 and Enlightenment at 99 he only has seven stories in the Top 100. I thought he’d do better, but it seems his stories didn’t win in my gut.
I also note his stories are heavily skewed towards season 21, as well.
His lowest story was The Awakening, 35th last. So he fairs better there with few real stinkers.
Colin Baker:
118. Terror of the Vervoids
146. The Mysterious Planet
152. The Two Doctors
154. Vengeance on Varos
183. Timelash
Oh dear.
This is a great example of how the revealer works. If constructing a list I wouldn’t have a Colin in the top 20, but I would have had him in the mix in the Top 50 at least. But here, his best story comes in at 118.
Curious that my top 2 Colin’s are both from Trial…
Sadly Colin doesn’t do well at the other end, either.
I have Twin Dilemma as 3rd worst, the lowest classic era story.
McCoy
5. Survival
16. Remembrance of the Daleks
43. The Curse of Fenric
55. The Happiness Patrol
65. Dragonfire
A fair assessment, I think. McCoy rightly is represented in the Top 10, and again in the Top 20. However, I don’t think his era bats that deep, and we have to go to 65th to get his top 5.
Ghost Light at 28th last is his lowest, one place below Time and the Rani. Its not the order I would have put them in if assessing manually.
McGann…. The TV movie is at 180.
Eccleston:
9. Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways
19. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
21. Dalek
51. Father’s Day
92. Rose
With only 10 stories, Eccleston places fairly well, getting three in the Top 30, and seven individual episodes in the Top 100.
A little surprised at the order the top 3 Ecclestons came out in, but they’re certainly my Top 3.
His bottom story is Boomtown at 15th, and Aliens of London/World War 3 at 16th from the bottom.
Tennant:
7. Human Nature/Family of Blood (also the top New Who story)
10. Blink
23. Midnight
26. The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End
29. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.
The Idiot’s Lantern at 33 and Turn Left at 36 mean DT gets seven stories in the Top 40, which considering I’m not a huge fan of his Doctor says something about the stories themselves, as it’s a very strong showing. Once again, nicely spread across his seasons.
Utopia makes it into the Top 50 at 50.
My lowest ranking of his era was The Lazarus Experiment which came 4th last.
Smith:
22. The Day of the Doctor
37. Amy’s Choice
42. Vincent and the Doctor
76. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
111. A Town Called Mercy
An era I’ve said before I didn’t enjoy much on broadcast, so although Smith gets three stories in the Top 50, he really doesn’t do well in the Top 100 compared to other Doctors.
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone only coming in at 119 surprised me; I would have placed this above both Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and Town Called Mercy if constructing this.
Smith’s lowest story is 2nd lowest on my list; Let’s Kill Hitler.
Capaldi:
13. World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls
14. Listen
32. Face the Raven
45. Under the Lake/Before the Flood
63. Eaters of Light
With Oxygen at 69 and Time Heist at 73, Capaldi has a good spread of his era across the higher end of the list.
I should also note, Heaven Sent came in at 95 when it really should be Top 40 (and a Top 3 Capaldi story), and I’m certain that this is because I kept getting confused between this episode and Hell Bent (which came 144)!
Sadly Capaldi also gets the lowest story on my list, as Dark Water/Death in Heaven came in at 283.
So there you have it!
I think its an interesting process to see how a list goes when constructed “blind” in effect, and I think the New Series is slowly started to work its way into the list more fairly!
Of course, its all about what stories I personally like and enjoy, and is not remotely a fair or objective assessment.
Here’s the full list…
| 1. Doctor Who and the Silurians |
| 2. The Seeds of Doom |
| 3. The Dalek Invasion of Earth |
| 4. Marco Polo |
| 5. Survival |
| 6. The Daleks’ Master Plan |
| 7. Human Nature / Family of Blood |
| 8. City of Death |
| 9. Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways |
| 10. Blink |
| 11. The Robots of Death |
| 12. The Evil of the Daleks |
| 13. World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls |
| 14. Listen |
| 15. Inferno |
| 16. Remembrance of the Daleks |
| 17. Invasion of the Dinosaurs |
| 18. The Aztecs |
| 19. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances |
| 20. Spearhead from Space |
| 21. Dalek |
| 22. The Day of the Doctor |
| 23. Midnight |
| 24. Planet of Fire |
| 25. The Daleks |
| 26. The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End |
| 27. Pyramids of Mars |
| 28. The Tomb of the Cybermen |
| 29. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit |
| 30. The Ark |
| 31. The Invasion |
| 32. Face the Raven |
| 33. The Idiot’s Lantern |
| 34. The Crusade |
| 35. The Five Doctors |
| 36. Turn Left |
| 37. Amy’s Choice |
| 38. The Ambassadors of Death |
| 39. The Tenth Planet |
| 40. The Green Death |
| 41. The Power of the Daleks |
| 42. Vincent and the Doctor |
| 43. The Curse of Fenric |
| 44. Fury from the Deep |
| 45. Under the Lake / Before the Flood |
| 46. Mission to the Unknown |
| 47. The Massacre |
| 48. The Ark in Space |
| 49. The Deadly Assassin |
| 50. Utopia |
| 51. Father’s Day |
| 52. The Romans |
| 53. Full Circle |
| 54. The Face of Evil |
| 55. The Happiness Patrol |
| 56. Horror of Fang Rock |
| 57. The Stones of Blood |
| 58. The Caves of Androzani |
| 59. Terror of the Autons |
| 60. The Moonbase |
| 61. The Mind of Evil |
| 62. The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky |
| 63. The Eaters of Light |
| 64. Terror of the Zygons |
| 65. Dragonfire |
| 66. Image of the Fendahl |
| 67. The Visitation |
| 68. The Brain of Morbius |
| 69. Oxygen |
| 70. Genesis of the Daleks |
| 71. The Mind Robber |
| 72. The Macra Terror |
| 73. Time Heist |
| 74. Logopolis |
| 75. Cold War |
| 76. Dinosaurs on a spaceship |
| 77. The Pirate Planet |
| 78. An Unearthly Child |
| 79. The Ribos Operation |
| 80. The Reign of Terror |
| 81. The Talons of Weng-Chiang |
| 82. The Rescue |
| 83. School Reunion |
| 84. Frontier In Space |
| 85. The Daemons |
| 86. The Keys of Marinus |
| 87. The Celestial Toymaker |
| 88. The Abominable Snowmen |
| 89. Robot of Sherwood |
| 90. Frontios |
| 91. The Web of Fear |
| 92. Rose |
| 93. Earthshock |
| 94. Smile |
| 95. Heaven Sent |
| 96. Warriors’ Gate |
| 97. The War Games |
| 98. State of Decay |
| 99. Enlightenment |
| 100. The Waters of Mars |
| 101. Planet of the Spiders |
| 102. Kinda |
| 103. Carnival of Monsters |
| 104. Robot |
| 105. The Time Monster |
| 106. The Sun Makers |
| 107. The Chase |
| 108. The Three Doctors |
| 109. The Myth Makers |
| 110. The Curse of Peladon |
| 111. A Town Called Mercy |
| 112. The Time Meddler |
| 113. Destiny of the Daleks |
| 114. Planet of the Daleks |
| 115. Thin Ice |
| 116. The Long Game |
| 117. Death to the Daleks |
| 118. Terror of the Vervoids |
| 119. The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone |
| 120. The Keeper of Traken |
| 121. Battlefield |
| 122. Day of the Daleks |
| 123. The Sea Devils |
| 124. The Pilot |
| 125. Revenge of the Cybermen |
| 126. The Highlanders |
| 127. Mummy on the Orient Express |
| 128. Knock Knock |
| 129. The Androids of Tara |
| 130. Colony In Space |
| 131. Nightmare in Silver |
| 132. Castrovalva |
| 133. Kill the Moon |
| 134. Mawdryn Undead |
| 135. Resurrection of the Daleks |
| 136. The Masque of Mandragora |
| 137. The Caretaker |
| 138. Time Crash |
| 139. The Seeds of Death |
| 140. The Wheel In Space |
| 141. The Android Invasion |
| 142. The Enemy of the World |
| 143. Paradise Towers |
| 144. Hell Bent |
| 145. The Empress of Mars |
| 146. The Mysterious Planet |
| 147. The Lodger |
| 148. The Unicorn and the Wasp |
| 149. The End of the World |
| 150. The Leisure Hive |
| 151. The Savages |
| 152. The Two Doctors |
| 153. In the Forest of the Night |
| 154. Vengeance On Varos |
| 155. The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood |
| 156. The Faceless Ones |
| 157. The Sontaran Experiment |
| 158. The Doctor’s Daughter |
| 159. The Time of the Doctor |
| 160. The Christmas Invasion |
| 161. The Claws of Axos |
| 162. The Unquiet Dead |
| 163. The Krotons |
| 164. The Next Doctor |
| 165. Warriors of the Deep |
| 166. The Sensorites |
| 167. Arc of Infinity |
| 168. The Power of Kroll |
| 169. Extremis |
| 170. Planet of Giants |
| 171. The Planet of the Ood |
| 172. The Time Warrior |
| 173. The Smugglers |
| 174. The Doctor’s Wife |
| 175. Gridlock |
| 176. Tooth and Claw |
| 177. Love & Monsters |
| 178. The Edge of Destruction |
| 179. Army of Ghosts / Doomsday |
| 180. Doctor Who (The TV Movie) |
| 181. Four To Doomsday |
| 182. Shada |
| 183. Timelash |
| 184. The Ultimate Foe |
| 185. The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang |
| 186. The Curse of the Black Spot |
| 187. The End of Time |
| 188. The Web Planet |
| 189. The Invasion of Time |
| 190. The Horns of Nimon |
| 191. The God Complex |
| 192. The Pyramid at the End of the World |
| 193. The Eleventh Hour |
| 194. The Invisible Enemy |
| 195. The Gunfighters |
| 196. The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon |
| 197. Closing Time |
| 198. The Lie of the Land |
| 199. The Girl in the Fireplace |
| 200. The Beast Below |
| 201. The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion |
| 202. Galaxy 4 |
| 203. The Return of Doctor Mysterio |
| 204. The Space Pirates |
| 205. The War Machines |
| 206. The Ice Warriors |
| 207. The Power of Three |
| 208. The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar |
| 209. A Christmas Carol |
| 210. Planet of Evil |
| 211. The Fires of Pompeii |
| 212. The Wedding of River Song |
| 213. The Hand of Fear |
| 214. Attack of the Cybermen |
| 215. Nightmare of Eden |
| 216. The Armageddon Factor |
| 217. Smith and Jones |
| 218. Partners in Crime |
| 219. Twice Upon a Time |
| 220. Snakedance |
| 221. The Sound of Drums / The Last of the Time Lords |
| 222. The Night of the Doctor |
| 223. The Shakespeare Code |
| 224. Hide |
| 225. The Husbands of River Song |
| 226. The Name of the Doctor |
| 227. Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel |
| 228. Last Christmas |
| 229. Time-Flight |
| 230. The Bells of St John |
| 231. The Vampires of Venice |
| 232. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead |
| 233. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS |
| 234. Deep Breath |
| 235. The Underwater Menace |
| 236. The Woman Who Lived |
| 237. The Crimson Horror |
| 238. The King’s Demons |
| 239. Greatest Show In the Galaxy |
| 240. Planet of the Dead |
| 241. The Girl Who Died |
| 242. Flatline |
| 243. Terminus |
| 244. Night Terrors |
| 245. Victory of the Daleks |
| 246. Black Orchid |
| 247. Delta And the Bannermen |
| 248. Meglos |
| 249. The Awakening |
| 250. Asylum of the Daleks |
| 251. The Dominators |
| 252. 42 |
| 253. Silver Nemesis |
| 254. Mindwarp |
| 255. Time And the Rani |
| 256. Ghost Light |
| 257. Revelation of the Daleks |
| 258. The Angels Take Manhattan |
| 259. The Runaway Bride |
| 260. Fear Her |
| 261. The Snowmen |
| 262. The Rings of Akhaten |
| 263. The Space Museum |
| 264. The Mark of the Rani |
| 265. New Earth |
| 266. Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks |
| 267. The Mutants |
| 268. Aliens of London / World War Three |
| 269. Boom Town |
| 270. The Monster of Peladon |
| 271. Sleep No More |
| 272. Voyage of the Damned |
| 273. The Girl Who Waited |
| 274. Into the Dalek |
| 275. The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People |
| 276. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe |
| 277. A Good Man Goes to War |
| 278. The Creature from the Pit |
| 279. Underworld |
| 280. The Lazarus Experiment |
| 281. The Twin Dilemma |
| 282. Let’s Kill Hitler |
| 283. Dark Water / Death in Heaven |
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