The worst episodes of Doctor Who ever, according to their rating on IMDb

It’s not looking good for the Jodie Whittaker era

6 months ago | UPDATED 2 weeks ago

Everyone has strong opinions on what era of Doctor Who they love the most, and the new Russell T Davies era with Ncuti Gatwa at the helm is proving divisive already. I’m personally loving it and ready to see where the 15th Doctor and Ruby take us, but after a choppy few years of Who there’s a bad taste in people’s mouths. But what episodes are actually the worst of Doctor Who, according to fans? IMDb lets users rate episodes out of 10 – so here is a rundown of the lowest scored and ergo wort episodes of Doctor Who ever according to their rating. Yikes.

10. Space Babies (5.7)

The premiere of the latest series has already managed to sneak its way into the worst episodes of Doctor Who ever on IMDb – and honestly, I think it’s a bit harsh. It’s a corny episode and definitely not one of my favourites, but the precocious story of babies who can speak older than their years facing off against a disgusting boogeyman creature isn’t quite as bad as this rating suggests.

9. Can You Hear Me? (5.7)

This season 12 episode of Doctor Who was praised for its spooks and its message with Graham, but criticised on its execution. A common problem during the Chibnall era, it must be said.

8. The Vanquishers (5.4)

The finale of the Flux saga was the worst of the bunch, according to the IMDb rating and my own personal opinion. Just a convoluted mess – and it’s a shame because Azure and Swarm were good and scary villains and it was nice having the angels back but the ending… yikes.

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7. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos (5.3)

The first finale episode of the Jodie Whittaker era got panned, like most of the series, for shocking writing and a general tepid vibe. It should have been a big showdown, but it fell flat as Chibnall span many plates and didn’t manage to keep any of them up.

6. Praxeus (5.2)

I actually didn’t mind this one… Don’t hate me. It’s all about the environment and the damage of plastics on the world as the show globetrots across Peru, Madagascar and Hong Kong investigating a mysterious virus and mankind threat. Honestly, it’s not THAT bad. But still not great. I remember the ending being touching.

5. The Tsuranga Conundrum (5.1)

This series 11 story has potential in theory – the gang are stuck injured in a mysterious hospital without the Tardis – but once again Chibnall’s incapability to write a classic and great Doctor Who storyline makes it one of the worst ever.

4. Arachinds in the UK (5.1)

Doctor Who worst episodes

Do you know, this was the first time I really realised how bad the Chibnall era of Who was going to be. Everything about this episode SHOULD be great. A scary, spider threat! Danny Huston playing a villain! A Sheffield romp! These are things that should be great, but the show is so lost and badly written it just can’t be saved and comes across as goofy. Who was goofy in the past, but always hit in a fun way. This is a mess.

3. The Timeless Children (5.1)

The less said about this major lore disruption the better, methinks.

2. Legend of the Sea Devils (4.6)

This was Jodie Whittaker’s second last episode as the Doctor, and it was dismal. Truly bad – and it’s a shame, because the previous Dalek centric episode was a bit of a romp. Legend of the Sea Devils is confused, cheap looking and boring – which kind of sums up the entire Chibnall era of Doctor Who. Which you can tell by the fact it takes up nine out of 10 of the worst rated episodes of Doctor Who on IMDb. Go figure.

1. Orphan 55 (4.2)

Doctor Who worst episodes

Oh dear, oh dear. Again – this episode SHOULD be good – a luxury resort under threat from a terrifying monstrous secret. But this episode is a mess, with a lot of the dialogue being changed in post production which results in lines being said by people not on the screen and a writing standard that has plummeted. This era of Doctor Who was plagued by bad writing, bad characters and a cast phoning it in – how could it ever stay afloat?

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